Plumbing Care Services

We are proud to serve the Bristol, Gloucestershire & Somerset area for all plumbing and heating needs. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for those problems that simply can’t wait. With over 50 years combined experience in dealing with all kinds of plumbing emergencies and installations in Bristol, we are one of the leading plumbing and heating companies in the local area. In all of our installations and repairs, we pride ourselves in using the very best quality parts and equipment for all of our work and are Gas Safe Registered  and have been given Approved Installer status from a variety of very well-known names in the industry, including Worcester Bosch, Glow Worm, Baxi and Vaillant.

From an annoying dripping tap to an entire plumbing refit for your home or business, we do it all!

Common Plumbing Emergencies

Dripping Taps

This can be one of the more frustrating issues to deal with for any homeowner. Not only does it cause anxiety with the constant drip, drip sound, but also knowing that water is being wasted on a minute by minute basis. Did you know that for every minute of 10 drips, your water bill will increase by about 3 litres of water a day? It may not sound much, but if this is left for a few weeks, you will notice it on your next water bill. Don’t despair with this as we’re here to help our customers in Bristol and  Somerset. This is a quick and easy fix for us and won’t take much more time at all to repair this, so you can then sit back and relax knowing it’s taken care of. Don’t put up with this for another night, by calling us right now!

Leaking Toilets

Here at Plumbing Care Services of Bristol, we provide a toilet repair service in the Bristol, Gloucestershire & Somerset area.

One of the most common plumbing repairs is probably toilet repairs as there are many parts and connections which can go faulty after some time. Understanding the potential damage that leaving this can do, we recommend that if your toilet doesn’t stop running, or you notice a dripping from the pan connector at the back of the system, leaving this problem is definitely not an option. If you have seen that your toilet needs attention, call us today.

Faulty Pipes and Leak Repair

Did you know that Copper Pipes were first used in the Egyptian palaces dating back to 2500 B.C? Although copper is one of the most reliable materials to use for pipes, these will obviously corrode somewhat over time and leaks will occur. Luckily we are here to help and offer a 60 minute or less response time in the Bristol, Gloucestershire area for those problems that cannot wait. If you have a potential water leak, we will find it, and fix it for you in no time.

Here are some really handy facts and tips to see if you can identify where in your home the water leak is coming from:

Tips For Water Leaks

If you suspect that your toilet has a valve leak, a simple but effective trick is to put a few drops of food colouring into the toilet tank and leave it for about 10 minutes. If you notice a colour change in the toilet’s bowl, you have found the culprit. Please flash the water out after this time, as you may discolour your toilet tank and bowl.

Look at your water bill each month. If you have noticed a dramatic increase in what you owe, you have more than likely got a leak, unless you have installed a new appliance which uses a great deal of water such as a reverse osmosis water filter.

Check for leaks with all of your appliances that use water

Check out the back of your washing machine, dishwasher and around your boiler or hot water cylinder to see if you can spot any signs of where your leak is coming from.

If this doesn’t come up with anything, the next place to look at is under your kitchen sink, bath, shower and toilet.

no joy yet?

If you have a gravity fed water system, you might want to go and have a look up around your loft area to the water tank and to check the water supply pipes and connections such as the service valves and around the water tank itself to see if there are any leaks or if it’s overflowing. Be careful though, as you need to be aware of the floor joists and how the flooring is laid out as you don’t want to fall through the ceiling.  So, take a torch with you, or turn on all of the lights!

Spotted the leak? Call us and one of our experienced engineers will come and fix it for you.

Still no joy?

Call us right now to investigate! We will find the leak for you and repair the broken pipe or connection and make sure that your property is safe from any further leaks in the area.

Stopcock

One of the most common problems we come across when visiting customers’ houses is when homeowners have never had to shut off their water supply before, and when there is an emergency to shut it off due to a leak in the home, the stopcock itself has seized up due to no use. A good tip to do on a once yearly basis is to locate the stopcock (which is usually under the kitchen sink) and to shut it off and on a few times. This keeps the stopcock’s valve head gear joint (the part that shuts off the water) in sound working order, and reduces any risk of this seizing up. If you have found that the stopcock has already seized up, call a qualified and competent plumber to come and replace this for you before the worst happens! You won’t regret getting this done and it will save you a load of hassle and potential costs in the future. Do not try this yourself as you will probably not be happy with the outcome, as it can lead to a leak, which can be very difficult to stop unless you know what you’re doing.

Leaking Water Facts

A leaky faucet that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water per year. That’s the equivalent of water needed to take more than 180 showers. Ouch!
A bath leaking 10 drips a minute wastes more than 500 gallons of water per year.
A leaking toilet will waste about 344,470 litres in 30 days. That’s a lot of water to waste, especially  when there is such a quick and easy fix!

Top Plumbing Reminder for Home Owners

A good thing to always remember is that you or the homeowner are responsible for the water main supply beyond the boundary of your property. If you have water leak past the outside water stop valve or meter, this is your responsibility.

Blockages

One of the most annoying things to experience at home is a blocked shower, toilet or sink. The problem can be caused by many things from food waste down the drain up, hair and other items being drained away (almost) and those wet wipes! A good bit of advice is never to flush these down the loo, even if the packet says ‘flushable.’ If you’re having difficulties with your drains in Bristol and you’ve tried a plunger but can’t fix the problem, call us today so we can investigate and get the water flowing for you.

24 Hour Plumbing Service

We offer a genuine 24-hour plumbing service for residents in Bristol, Somerset. If you have a boiler that requires attention or a simple faucet repair, we’re on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We pride ourselves in our 60 minute response time as we have mobile engineers stationed all over Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire, from Nailsea to Frome & Cheltenham!

Some of the problems that we can quickly address includes:

Boiler and Central Heating Repairs
Bathroom Leaks
General Plumbing
Leaking Pipe Repair
Waste Pipe Repairs

We respond to all plumbing emergencies as a priority as the longer they are left, the more damage can be done to your property.

If you are having an emergency, contact  the plumbing experts in Bristol by calling 03333 441 399 for our 24/7 service.

Bathroom Leaks

So. you’ve just come home from a day’s work or workout at the gym and your shower has a leak or blockage. Urgh! This is not nice, and can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for you. Your shower has packed up and is spouting water everywhere…what do you do? Something like this is definitely not a ‘diy’ job and we can’t recommend trying this yourself, unless you know what you’re doing! Youtube is great for fun videos, but plumbing is a skill that takes years of experience to master, and not something you can learn online in 12 minutes, as there are so many variants to consider or to be aware of, depending on your home’s system and even it’s age. Think of this scenario for a minute, you have managed to turn off the water supply to try to fix the problem without calling a Bristol Plumber, but then discover that the shower is impossible to take apart due to headwork seizing up. You then try to turn back on the water supply as you couldn’t locate the part which requires attention, and this causes a leak from your old stop cock…what do you do? Panic! Taking on these kinds of jobs yourself can be damaging to your property, and if you live in an apartment not on the ground floor, your neighbours below can soon find out all about it too! Is it worth the risk? Our Bristol based mobile plumbing engineers are ready to take your call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Showerhead Fact

A showerhead leaking at about 10 drips per minute wastes more than 500 gallons of water per year.

It is possibly likely that your leaking showerhead requires a replacement of either the entire showerhead, or replacement of the seal. Hard water can be the main culprit of causing damage to your shower head and a good suggestion for attempting to fix this is to soak the shower head in a solution of baking soda or  lemon juice or citric acid and hot or warm water for about 30 minutes, and then use a scrubbing brush to clean the showerhead. If this doesn’t solve the blockage issue, simply replace the showerhead, and if this doesn’t fix it, then you may need to call us!

Leaking Pipe Repairs

Have you noticed a dripping sound below your kitchen sink or bath? Have you seen an ever growing wet patch on your ceiling? The chances are that you have a leaking waste pipe from your bath, shower, toilet, basin or even your heating system. We understand that these things happen, but are incredibly stressful for you. The best advice that we can give you is to not try and tackle this yourselves as you’ll need to understand your homes floor joist layout, and how to take up the floorboards correctly, without damaging the floor or disturbing other pipes and even any electrical cables supplying the home, which can lead to injury or even death, should these be disturbed. Locating these leaks is what we do, and we have the tools and the ‘know-how’ as to identifying and fixing this problem for our customers in Bristol. If you have a leaking pipe, the problem will never fix itself, although you will probably be wishing this to be the case. If left unattended, the consequences will soon become unmanageable for you. If you have a reasonable home insurance policy, this should cover some, if not all of the work and the damage to the building.

Hard Water in Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire

Hard water is one of the main culprits when it comes to causing damage to a water system in your home. The United Kingdom has always had this due to the high level of calcium and magnesium compounds, causing limescale and build up within your pipes, appliances and connections to your water supply. This is not at all harmful to our health, but as previously mentioned, it can become a real problem for your water supply and its ability to function as it should. Your boiler is also at potential risk of damage from this, so you need to be aware of how to reduce hard water in your home, so it doesn’t cost too much to repair when the build up clogs up the pipes! There are several ways of dealing with this problem:

Descale your kettle (#1 tip!) …and then your shower head with lemon juice or citric acid powder. Leave these to soak in hot water for 20 minutes and then rinse out fully.

Instal a water softener into your home. This is one of the best ways of addressing this problem as it softens the water upon reaching the main water supply. The initial investment in having this put in will outweigh the future costs of having any damage to your pipes and appliances. A water softener can greatly improve the efficiency of your hot-water and heating systems. This is not for a ‘potable’ water supply (drinking water), but is a great way of dealing with hard water within your hot water and heating system. For filtered drinking water see our tip below on installing a water filter for drinking water.

Consider Installing a reverse osmosis or other type of water filter such as a faucet water softener into your home for drinking water. You can have these put in anywhere and the cost is very reasonable for the end result. Your water will taste incredible! No more nasty tastes or cloudy water, and a never ending supply of pure filtered water and you’ll experience one of the best cups of tea you will ever have! These don’t require too much maintenance, and when they are installed correctly, can give you years of great service as long as you replace the filters as per the manufacturers recommendations.

When using your washing machine for laundry, a useful tip is to add in some baking soda to the load. Soda gets rid of the dissolved calcium and magnesium and aids the machine to soften both temporary and permanent hard water and will increase the longevity of your appliance. This is a nice cheap idea that will save you hassle and heartache in the long run.

Moving Or Installing New Radiators

Are you having problems with the location or size of your radiators? Are they not omitting the right amount of heat, or are simply too small, or big for your room? Need to move your radiators? We can get this completed for you in no time at all! Our experienced, competent and qualified heating engineers located all over Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire are able to move one or more radiators for you, as well as adding to your current heating set up in your home or business. We will assess the best position, and size of your new radiators and will ensure that your home will be nice and toasty, all ready for winter!

Power Flushing

There is never a better time to power flush your homes central heating system than now! Get your heating system all ready for the winter months anytime of the year with our Power Flushing Service in Bristol and Gloucestershire. Power flushing is an incredibly clever way of ensuring the longevity of your system as it removes a lot of the horrible sludge and nasty contaminants that have built up in your boiler and pipes  over the years and causes real damage to any heating system as it gets older and with more use. It is a relatively quick process that takes up to about 6 hours and we can do this for you any time of the year.  We specialise in power flushing for our customers in Bristol and believe that there is no better solution of making sure that you get the most amount of years of good service out of your boiler. Did you know that getting your system power flushed will not only distribute the heat evenly throughout your property, but can also lower your energy bills and make sure that you are getting the most reliable service from your boiler for years to come. Your radiators will come back to life. When you first use your heating after we come and complete this for you, this is when you’ll realise just how much sludge and debris your pipes had accumulated over their working existence. We always make sure that there is as little disruption of your home as possible whilst we perform this service for you, and you won’t regret getting your heating back to as good as it’s working order as possible!

Boiler and Central Heating Installations – Worcester Bosch, Vaillant & Baxi Approved Installers in Bristol, Somerset & Gloucestershire

Being an approved installer for the top boiler brands we pride ourselves on being the most reliable boiler installers in the Bristol area. If the time has come to replace your old boiler, we’re ready to get to work! However, should we be able to fix your old boiler, we won’t suggest a fully new boiler installation, as we’re competent in completing repairs of most brands of quality boilers. However, if your boiler has really ‘given up the ghost,’ we will be honest and tell you how it really is. We can supply you with a great quote and know that your new boiler will be installed by our competent and very experienced Gas Safe Registered engineers!

Annual Boiler Service

We can also ensure that your boiler is working in tip top condition with our annual boiler service. Thi si one of the best ways of making sure that there are no nasty surprises when you turn on the heating from October the 1st each year! In these checks we look at your entire system and look for any potential problems that may come in the near future.

We check

Corroded or broken pipes that are affecting your boilers performance
Check all of the controls and timers
Carbon Monoxide fumes that may be leaking into your home
Check for sludge, contaminants or any blockages within your central heating system
Check for any risk of part failures
We give free advice on any future servicing or requirements that we may see whilst performing the service.

For our detailed Gas Safety Inspections we check:

All gas appliances are checked for leaks or damage
Gas pressure is tested
Checks for carbon monoxide leaks
Flue flow and ventilation checks
General usage and gas safety checks

We understand the expense of a new boiler, so if we can fix your current boiler we will.

We don’t just do boilers!

Helping Bristol keep gas appliances safe

We can also check all other gas appliances within your home and some useful information to know about is to check that all of your gas appliances are in good working order.

Your gas appliance isn’t working properly if:

It produces a floppy yellow flame rather than a blue flame
You notice some black or brown marks on or around the appliance
Your boilers pilot light keeps going out for no reason
You have noticed an increase in condensation inside the windows

(source: Gas Safe Register)

This list is for gas appliances that are faulty and about to break down, so never wait for these things to happen before you call us! Schedule your yearly service plan with us to increase the lifespan of your boier and to ensure it’s working as safe as possible for you and your family.

If you notice any of these things listed above, call us immediately at 03333 441 399. We strive to be with you within 60 minutes, and are available 365 days a year for all of our customers in Bristol, Gloucestershire and Somerset.

Suspect You Might Have A Gas Leak?

Do you ever notice that unnerving smell of gas in your home? This is potentially an emergency which requires immediate attention. Not only by leaving this can lead to a catastrophic incident, it can also lead to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning over a very short space of time. The damage caused by this is irreversible. A good tip is to have carbon monoxide detectors installed into your home as a matter of caution. This is a cheap solution, and one of the safest ways of ensuring early detection of a gas leak within your home.  If left, the risk of causing a fire is also inevitable, as any spark or ignition can set off a chain reaction with unbelievable consequences to your home and any neighbours.

Some of the indicators that you have a gas leak within your home are:

A sudden smell gas or rotten eggs as soon as you enter your home
Your gas bill will increase for no reason
Your house plants begin to wilt at the same time (even though you’ve watered them regularly)

If you do suspect a gas leak in your home or business premises, immediately open your windows, turn your gas off at the meter and DO NOT USE any electrical devices, and get in touch with our emergency plumbers on 03333 441 399 right now. Remember, we have mobile engineers stationed all over Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire from Nailsea to Frome & Cheltenham, who can be with you within 60 minutes – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Gas Safety Certificates and Testing

If you’re a landlord you will be well aware that you are required to have your gas supply checks certified by a registered Gas safe Engineer. Our experienced Gas Safe Registered engineers are on hand to complete Gas Safety Certificates and Testing for landlords and homeowners in  Bristol and Gloucestershire. Our services includes:

All gas appliances are checked for leaks or damage
Gas pressure is tested
Checks for carbon monoxide leaks
Flue flow and ventilation checks
General usage and gas safety checks

If you have discovered that you have a faulty boiler which requires an immediate replacement, so that you can continue renting your property, we are here to help. If we discover that there is no hope of repairing your current boiler, or if it could be a health risk to you or your tenants, we’ll let you know immediately, and suggest an affordable and reliable alternative for you, and carry out the new boiler installation as quickly as possible. We will never suggest doing something that is not in your best interests, or health and wellbeing. You will be pleased to hear that we use the reliable and energy efficient Vaillant and Worcester-Bosch range of boilers. These boilers are not only safer and more reliable but can also dramatically decrease yours or your tenants energy bill over a year by 30%! Plus knowing that you have a brand new biler, which is as safe as houses, is a big relief for any homeowner or landlord.

Quote for a new boiler

We offer a free estimate and assessment service for our customers. If you’re looking for a reliable, experienced and fully qualified and registered plumbing and heating company in Bristol, Somerset & Gloucestershire, call us right now. Remember, we also offer extended warranties on all the boilers we fit, and go the extra mile by contacting the Local Authority Building Control and letting them know of any new installations we’ve carried out!

To book your free estimate or you have an gas or water leak emergency, call the plumbing and heating experts in Bristol and Gloucestershire by calling us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 03333 441 399.

“I was looking for a low cost boiler installation for a rental property we own. They arranged to visit our tenant on Saturday and were able to carry out the whole job on the following Monday. Very happy with the work, the company and the price. Will definitely use again when the need arises. Thanks.”

– David Bennet.