It isn’t until someone tries to tackle a plumbing job themselves, that they realise what a highly skilled job plumbing is. Over the years the technology has become increasingly advanced, and we have to keep up to date with all aspects of the trade.

At IQ Plumbing Services we employ some of the best emergency plumbers in London. All are experienced in many different areas, and are fully qualified to City and Guilds level and beyond.

As a minimum qualification, a plumber in London must hold the City and Guilds NVQ level 2 certificate or equivalent. This gives students the knowledge, skills and certifications they need to work competently on modern domestic plumbing systems.

By using C and G qualified emergency plumbers in London, homeowners can be assured they are getting the services of highly qualified and council accredited professionals.  As well as a general technical certificate, the C and G course includes qualifications in:

•    Domestic copper pipework installation

•    Sanitary installation and maintenance

•    Water Supply Regulations 1999: It is illegal to work on the UK water supply without this, but following certification, students can register as a plumber with their local authority.

•    Unvented Hot Water Storage Systems – enabling plumbers to work on modern high pressure systems without storage tanks.

•    Power and gravity fed shower systems

•     Domestic electrical installer defined scope part p certificate. This is now also an essential qualification for emergency plumbers in London, as without it they are unable to work on any system where electricity is employed.

•    First aid and health and safety certificates

If you are looking for qualified emergency plumbers in London, those we employ at IQ Plumbing Services have undergone hundreds of hours of training to ensure they offer a first rate service to our customers.

Even though London streets are warmer than they used to be, the nights are just as cold. This means that emergency plumbers in London are going to be kept busy dealing with burst pipes this winter.

A common time for a burst to happen is after you’ve come home to a cold house and switched the heating on. The pipes may not have even been frozen, but the sudden difference in expansion and contraction rates is enough to cause a break, especially in old pipes. Well lagged pipes keep all the pipes at an ambient temperature, reducing this risk.

But winter isn’t the only time you may need the plumber. London homes often have old, deteriorating and brittle water pipes that can suddenly burst just through being worn out. They weren’t designed to take today’s high pressures, either.

We at IQ Plumbing Services are kept busy throughout the year, sending our emergency plumbers to London’s older homes.

However, a major cause of callouts for emergency plumbers in London this winter is through cold or frozen pipes, so minimise the risk of a burst by making sure your interior and exterior pipes are lagged in all unheated areas. If the lagging is powdery or old, it has lost its insulation properties – so replace it.

If you’re planning a short break, make sure the central heating is timed to switch on for a short period morning and night. This will help prevent a nasty surprise. However, if the worst does happen, and you need emergency plumbers in a hurry, we at IQ Plumbing Services will offer a fast, effective and affordable service.

With all the talk of global warming, it’s easy to believe that emergency plumbers in London get all their work from flooding and blocked drains rather than burst pipes. Which begs the question: why do people still bother with antifreeze – or lag their gardens for that matter?

Come Autumn, householders diligently chance the water in their cars, and protect their delicate green charges by moving them to the conservatory. They never stop to think that their household pipes are just as precious. Even if they lag those outside, they often neglect the ones in the loft, or rely on lagging that deteriorated years ago.  Yet above the insulation felt, it’s as cold indoors as out – often colder. You don’t need weeks of sub-freezing temperatures to suffer a burst pipe. One cold frost can do it, if your pipes aren’t properly lagged.

Burst pipes don’t always go on the coldest days, either. We at IQ Plumbers are kept busy throughout the year, repairing pipes.

Burst water pipes are a householder’s nightmare. Not only do you end up with emergency plumbers’ bills – you end up with hefty repairs, as well.

A burst pipe is potentially very dangerous. The place pipes most often burst are often isolated from the rest of the house. This means householders are unlikely to notice a burst pipe until they hear dripping water. If the fuses don’t blow, it could signal tragedy. The way most people discover where the leak is, is by stepping in the puddle on the floor…

A burst pipe can be much more than a callout to the emergency plumbers. London householders have died from discovering – too late – that water and electricity don’t mix.

When we at IQ Plumbing are called out to blocked drains, it’s usually a case of flushing out congealed kitchen or bathroom waste, or accumulated silt and debris from the garden.

However, there are times when the problem is a bit more complex. The one thing that must never be done is to continue trying to force the blockage through. This could result in total drain collapse, or even the disappearance of your garden! Luckily, our emergency plumbers have a whole load of resources to call on, including CCTV analysis.

Here are some of the more common reasons why our emergency plumbers are called out to blocked drains from external causes:

1. Fractured pipe. This is a structural defect caused by pressure (commonly flooding or building work) from above ground. Fractures and cracks in the drain allow water to leak out, which destabilises the surrounding ground. When the drain isn’t in use, this leaches back, bringing soil with it. It needs urgent treatment as it can cause subsidence and will eventually collapse – a far more costly repair.

2. Collapsed drain. This self-explanatory problem has many causes, ranging from contractors drilling into the pipe, to severe flooding, to increased traffic on the road above.

3. Tree roots. This is caused by roots seeking moisture, cracking and fracturing the pipe as they go. Material flowing through the drain will snag on the roots, worsening the blockage. This can be avoided by sensible planting, but where trees are long established it’s best to replace clay pipes with PVC, which tree roots simply snake round.

Don’t leave it until you have to call out the emergency plumbers. In London, we at IQ plumbing Services will happily do a routine CCTV check of your drains, to ensure all is well.

It looks as though we’re in for a cold and wet winter this year. Householders and businesses can do a lot to help avoid the need to call out emergency plumbers. Below are some guidelines that we at IQ Plumbing Services provide our customers to help avoid winter plumbing problems.

Check the pipes in your house or business. Are they all properly insulated? This is especially important for pipes in inaccessible areas, like the loft, or unheated areas like outdoors. Insulating your pipes with inexpensive plastic foam from a home improvement store will provide protection against burst pipes and the expense of repairs.

Any water tanks in your loft should be properly insulated too. They should be covered in insulating material that fits closely the shape of the tank. This can easily become dislodged, so it’s important to check everything’s in place before the onset of winter. A burst water tank can turn a home into a disaster area. Avoid the issue by carrying out this quick, simple check.

Improve the efficiency of your heating system by using a key to vent air from your radiators. This will help ensure your home is heated evenly and effectively.

It’s also worth checking your heating in good time. Before the cold weather arrives in force, test your heating to make sure it’s working properly. If your system needs attention, it will be far more difficult to find a heating engineer during a cold spell.

Finally, if you have an outside tap, see if you can isolate it using a stop-cock inside the house. Open the tap to drain the water and leave it that way through winter.

In case you do have any trouble, be sure to have the numbers of good emergency plumbers such as ours to hand.