Burst Pipe in Antrim — The Five Steps, In Order

The five steps that stop a burst pipe getting worse

Same drill in a terrace off the town centre or a new-build in an estate outside Randalstown. Work down the list.

1. Kill the supply. Stopcock clockwise until it stops. If you have never found yours, start under the kitchen sink, then check where the supply pipe enters the house, then look for an outside valve under a cover near the boundary.
2. Drain the system. Open all the cold taps and let them run. The water still sitting in the pipes has to come out somewhere — better a sink than a ceiling.
3. Secure the electrics. Anything wet near sockets, appliances or light fittings means electricity off at the consumer unit. One rule overrides all others: never touch switches or fittings that are wet, and never stand in water to reach the board.
4. Shut the boiler down. If the heating or hot water circuit is involved, or you have drained the system, turn the boiler off. A boiler running dry can be damaged.
5. Ring with a clear report. Where the water appeared, how fast it came, what you shut off. That is everything a plumber needs to arrive with the right plan and the right parts.

Frozen pipe behind the burst? Check before you thaw

Around Antrim the usual culprit is a mild, damp winter that sits near zero for a fortnight — long enough to freeze an uninsulated run in a loft, garage or external wall without anyone noticing. A tap that slowed to a dribble in the cold snap, followed by a leak in the thaw, is the classic pattern.

1. Water off first. If the ice is hiding a split, thawing with the supply on floods the house.
2. Open the nearest tap. Melting water needs an exit, and returning flow tells you the blockage has cleared.
3. Warm the pipe gently. Hairdryer on low or warm towels, starting from the tap end. Raise the room temperature if you cannot reach the pipe.
4. No flames. Ever. A blowtorch on frozen pipework is a fire risk and a good way to ruin the pipe. If the pipe has split, stop thawing, leave the water off, and ring.

What a DIY patch is allowed to do

One job only: hold a drained, depressurised pipe together until a plumber arrives. Pipe repair tape or a slip-on clamp over a small split is fine as a stopgap. Turning the water back on against a taped joint is not — you are gambling the ceiling on adhesive. Be doubly careful in older houses around the town's core, where pipework of several different ages often meets at fragile joints; disturbing one can open a second leak. Keep the supply off and let the permanent repair be a proper one.

Mains or your own pipework? Run this test

1. Close the stopcock fully.
2. Watch the leak. If it slows and stops, the fault is on your side, inside the property. That is a plumber's job.
3. Still flowing, or bubbling up outside? The fault is likely on the supply pipe or the main. As general UK guidance, the pipe from the boundary into your home is the owner's responsibility; the public side belongs to the water utility — in Northern Ireland, that is NI Water.
4. Unsure which side of the boundary? Say so on the call. A plumber can help you work out where the fault sits and who needs to fix it before anyone starts digging.