Plumbing repairs and installations in Ware

What homes will plumbers find in Ware?

Ware sits beside the Lea and the old navigation, and the town's former malting buildings and riverside warehouses are now often homes. Away from the water run long rows of nineteenth and early twentieth century terraces, many with a rear kitchen added later, and postwar and modern estates on the outskirts.

What do riverside conversions mean for plumbing?

Converted industrial buildings usually have pipes that were laid in later, often along walls and above ceilings, and they can be difficult to trace. Apartments in them may share risers and a single water supply, so a fault in one flat may be dealt with by the managing agent.

A property near the water can also be damper than most, and a leak may be harder to tell apart from ordinary damp. A plumber can check the pipework, but an ongoing damp problem may need other trades.

What goes wrong in the long terraces?

Many terraced houses in Ware have a bathroom and kitchen in a back extension, added long after the house was built. The pipes to those rooms may run a long way from the stopcock, through voids, and can be old or poorly supported. Pipes under the kitchen floor can be difficult to reach.

• slow drains and weak taps at the back of the house
• outside taps that have frozen and split in winter
• washing machine and dishwasher connections that have loosened
• cisterns in upstairs bathrooms that fill noisily or overflow

Is it worth knowing where my stopcock is?

Definitely. In an older terrace it may be under the stairs, beneath the kitchen sink or in a cellar, and it can be stiff after years of not being used. Turn it off and on now, while there is no emergency. If it will not move, mention it in your enquiry so a plumber can bring a new one if needed.

What about the newer parts of Ware?

Estates on the edge of the town were built mostly in the later twentieth century. Many have combination boilers, so there is no cylinder, and plumbing requests lean towards taps, toilets and shower enclosures rather than hot water storage. Bathrooms there are often compact, so measurements matter before a new suite is bought.

What happens when I send my enquiry?

You give us your postcode and tell us what is wrong. With your consent, we pass the enquiry to one local plumber who covers SG12. If nobody covers it, we tell you and your details are not shared.