Every winter, Liverpool and Merseyside plumbers see a surge in emergency callouts. Burst pipes, boiler failures and frozen condensate pipes are all predictable and largely preventable. A little preparation before the cold arrives saves a lot of stress and expense. Here's your winter plumbing checklist.
Insulate Vulnerable Pipes
Pipes in unheated spaces (loft spaces, garages, outbuildings and external walls) are most at risk of freezing. Pipe lagging (foam insulation tubes) is inexpensive and easy to fit around exposed pipes. Pay particular attention to the pipes serving your cold water tank if you have one in the loft. In Liverpool's Victorian and Edwardian terraced stock, loft tanks are still common.
Find and Test Your Stopcock
Do this now, before any emergency. Your stopcock is usually under the kitchen sink. Turn it off (clockwise) and back on. If it's stiff, seized or won't fully stop the water, have a plumber replace it: a seized stopcock is useless in an emergency.
Service the Boiler Before Winter
An annual boiler service (typically September or October) ensures the boiler is running efficiently and identifies any wear before it causes a mid-winter breakdown. A boiler failing in January is one of the most miserable plumbing emergencies, and servicing it in autumn is significantly cheaper than an emergency repair in the cold.
Bleed Your Radiators
Air in the system prevents radiators from heating fully. Before the heating season starts, bleed each radiator to expel trapped air. If you find yourself bleeding the same radiators repeatedly, there may be an underlying system problem worth investigating.
Check the Boiler Pressure
Most modern combi boilers operate between 1 and 1.5 bar. If your pressure gauge shows below 1 bar, the system needs repressurising (usually a simple process via the filling loop). Check your boiler manual or call Jimmy Taps for guidance.
Protect External Taps
External taps are highly vulnerable to freezing. Fit an external tap cover (available for a few pounds online) or simply turn off the water supply to the external tap at the indoor isolation valve during the coldest months. Open the external tap to drain remaining water from the pipe run.
Know the Frozen Condensate Pipe Fix
Modern condensing boilers have a plastic condensate pipe that runs outside the property. In freezing temperatures this pipe can ice up, causing the boiler to lock out. The fix is straightforward: pour warm (not boiling) water over the frozen section outdoors, but it's good to know before it happens at 7am in January.
If You're Going Away
Never turn the heating completely off if the property will be unoccupied in cold weather. Set the thermostat to a minimum 10–13°C "frost protection" setting. A burst pipe in an empty house can cause catastrophic damage before it's discovered.
For any winter plumbing preparation, boiler checks or pipe insulation work across Liverpool and Merseyside, call Jimmy Taps on 07307 331103.