Hull & East Yorkshire · 24/7
A pipe has gone, the ceiling is dripping or the drains are coming up through the downstairs toilet. Ring us at any hour and we'll tell you what to do while we're on our way.
Most calls start inside the house. A compression joint lets go under the sink, a washing machine hose splits, a tank overflows in the loft and brings the bedroom ceiling down. In Hull's tall Victorian terraces, where the bathroom often sits over the kitchen or back room, a leak upstairs can work its way through two floors before anyone sees it.
The other kind comes from outside. Hull's drains are pumped, and most surface water shares a pipe with the sewers, so in a cloudburst the water can back up through gullies, manholes and low toilets. That water is dirty and needs handling differently from a clean pipe leak. If it's the Humber or a drain overtopping, the Environment Agency needs to know too.
There's a fuller version of this on our first-hour checklist for Hull homes, including every number worth keeping by the door.
A lot of Hull's housing is pre-1919 terraces built with solid brick walls and no cavity. Water wicks into that brick and lime plaster and stays there, so a wall that feels dry to the hand can be wet a few centimetres in. Getting dehumidifiers running on the first day is what stops that turning into blown plaster and mould a month later.
A sudden leak from pipes, tanks or appliances is normally claimed as escape of water on your buildings or contents policy. Flooding from outside is claimed under flood cover instead. Either way we photograph the damage, record the drying readings and write it up, so the claim has what an insurer or loss adjuster will ask for. See our claim pack if you want to keep your own record too.
Once the water is under control, our water damage cost estimator shows what the job is likely to cost and what you'd pay after your excess.
Mould starts growing within 24 to 48 hours of a leak. The sooner drying starts, the less damage and the lower the cost.
Call 01482 736003Usually under the kitchen sink, or low down where the supply pipe comes in at the front of the house. In some older terraces it's under the stairs or beneath a floorboard in the front room. If you can't find it, there is often an outside stop tap in the pavement near your front boundary.
Ring Yorkshire Water on 0345 1 24 24 24, day or night, because the public sewer is theirs. Then ring us to deal with the water that has already come into the house. Keep off the wet floors and wash your hands if you touch anything.
For a sudden leak, escape of water cover normally includes the work needed to stop further damage, such as extraction and drying. Policies differ, so ring your insurer early and tell them a restoration firm is attending.
A kitchen leak caught quickly can be dry in a few days. Solid-wall terraces and anything soaked by flood water take longer, often one to two weeks. We keep taking readings until the numbers say it's dry.
Ring us now, whatever the hour.