Emergency Plumbing

If the problem is genuinely something that falls under whatever arrangement you have with the original builder, it is worth checking with them first, since that route may cost you nothing. Where you are not sure whether it applies, or the builder has been unresponsive, an independent assessment at least tells you plainly what is actually happening, which is useful information regardless of who ends up doing the work afterwards.

Wherever is easiest for you and does not block your own access, and it is worth telling us in advance if there is a specific spot to use or avoid. On a narrow street or a shared driveway, mention that when booking so it is planned rather than sorted out awkwardly on the morning. If parking genuinely is not available nearby, say so — some jobs need equipment that has to stay close to the work, and knowing about a constraint in advance is far easier to work around than discovering it with a loaded van outside.

Whatever keeps it from getting worse without attempting a fix you are not confident in — often that means containing rather than correcting, and leaving the actual repair to someone who has seen the specific failure before. We can usually give you a rough idea of sensible interim steps over the phone, in plain terms, without needing to see it first. What we would rather you not do is attempt something irreversible on your own purely because waiting feels uncomfortable; an interim step that makes the eventual proper fix harder is worse than doing nothing.

Ask them to explain their reasoning, not just their conclusion — how they ruled out other explanations, what specifically they looked at beyond the reported spot. A real inspection has a chain of reasoning you can follow, even without technical knowledge of your own, because a person who genuinely looked can walk you through what they saw and why it points where it does. Someone who glanced and guessed usually cannot go much further than repeating the conclusion in slightly different words when pressed.

Yes, proportionate to the size of the work — a small job does not need the same depth of report as a major one, but you should still get something in writing describing what was found and what was done. Even a brief note is worth having; it is the difference between vaguely remembering a fitting got replaced and an actual record with a date and a description, and the second one is genuinely more useful if any question comes up later, however unlikely that feels at the time.

Usually a little, and you will be told exactly what and where the day before.

Yes, for their safety as much as anything — open tools, materials and an unfamiliar van are not a good combination with a curious animal. If pets have access to the garden or the area near the work, either keep them elsewhere for the day or let us know so gates and access points can be managed with that in mind. This is worth mentioning even for animals you consider calm; unfamiliar noise and strangers change behaviour more than owners expect, and it is easier to plan for than to manage on the day.

Whatever the quote says is excluded — and it will say. Typically that is anything hidden until work starts, which is priced separately and discussed before it is done.