Glasgow winters are more damp than brutal, but a few nights well below freezing each year are enough to split a pipe in a cold loft or freeze a boiler's condensate pipe solid. The good news: nearly every winter plumbing emergency we see could have been prevented with an hour or two of checks in the autumn. Here's what to do.
1. Find your stopcock — before you need it
If a pipe bursts, turning the water off quickly is the single thing that saves your floors and ceilings. In most houses the stopcock is under the kitchen sink. In tenement flats it can be in a hall cupboard, under a floorboard near where the supply comes in, or in the close. Find it now, check it turns, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. If it's seized solid, get it replaced before winter rather than discovering it during a flood.
2. Lag pipes in cold spaces
Pipes in lofts, under suspended floors, in garages and along outside walls are the ones that freeze. Foam pipe lagging from any DIY shop is cheap and slides straight on. Pay attention to bends and joints, and don't forget the cold water tank in the loft if you have one — it needs an insulated lid and jacket, but leave the loft floor directly under it uninsulated so a bit of warmth rises from the house below.
3. Deal with outside taps
Outside taps freeze first. If yours has an isolating valve inside, turn it off, then open the outside tap to drain the short pipe. If there's no isolating valve, fit an insulated cover. Disconnect hoses — water trapped in a connected hose can freeze back into the tap.
4. Keep the heating ticking over
If you're going away, don't switch the heating off completely. Leave it on a low setting or use the frost setting on your thermostat so the house never gets cold enough for pipes to freeze. It costs far less than drying out a ceiling.
5. Know your boiler's condensate pipe
Most modern gas boilers are condensing boilers with a small plastic pipe that runs outside to a drain. In a hard frost it can freeze, the boiler detects the blockage and locks out — usually on the coldest morning of the year. Pouring warm (not boiling) water along the outside section usually thaws it, then you reset the boiler. If it keeps happening, the pipe can be re-routed or upsized.
6. Get the boiler serviced in autumn
An annual service before the cold weather catches small faults before they become breakdowns. At Southside Plumbing, boiler servicing is carried out by our independent Gas Safe registered partner engineer (Reg. No. 666283).
7. Bleed and check radiators
Radiators that are cold at the top have air in them. Bleeding them takes a radiator key and a cloth. If you have a combi or sealed system, check the boiler pressure afterwards and top it up if it's dropped below the level in your boiler manual.
8. Fix drips and slow leaks now
A dripping overflow or a weeping joint is a small job in October and a big one in January, when a frozen overflow can back up a cistern. Get small leaks fixed while they're still small.
9. Seal draughts around pipes
Where pipes pass through outside walls or into under-floor voids, gaps let cold air straight onto the pipework. Fill them with expanding foam or a suitable sealant.
10. Think about a leak alarm
A simple battery leak sensor under the sink, behind the washing machine or near the boiler costs little and warns you early. Smart versions send an alert to your phone if you're out.
If a pipe does freeze or burst
A frozen pipe with no leak can often be thawed gently with a hairdryer or warm towels, working from the tap end back. Never use a blowtorch or naked flame. If a pipe has burst, turn the water off at the stopcock, switch off the heating and hot water, open the cold taps to drain the system, and call us on 07414 946731. Our burst-pipe guide has the full step-by-step.
Winter is also a good time to plan a bathroom for spring. If yours has old pipework, a tired suite or a leak you keep patching, a new bathroom fixes all of it at once — and you'll go into next winter with fresh pipework and a proper heated towel rail.