Spring (March–May)
Spring is a good time to check for winter damage. Walk round the house and look at gutters, downpipes and gullies. Clear any leaves and silt that built up.
Look for damp patches too, since a frozen pipe may have cracked. Check under sinks for drips. Check outside taps as well, because they can crack in frost.
Spring is also a good time to run every tap and flush every toilet. Listen for noisy pipes and look for slow drains. Fix small faults now, since they are cheaper to deal with before summer.
Summer (June–August)
Warm weather can make drains smell, because waste dries and bacteria grow. Run water in rarely used sinks and showers to keep the traps full. Dry traps let sewer smells enter the room.
Garden work can disturb drains as well, because soil and mulch wash into gullies. Keep them clear of the grates. Meanwhile, check outside taps and hoses for leaks.
Summer storms can bring sudden heavy rain. Check that gutters and downpipes carry water away from the house. Clear any blockage quickly, because overflowing water can soak walls.
Autumn (September–November)
Leaves fall fast in autumn and block gutters and gullies. Clear them every few weeks. A blocked gutter overflows onto walls and can cause damp.
Get your boiler serviced before winter, because breakdowns often happen when heating returns. Insulate exposed pipes and know where your stopcock is. Our annual plumbing maintenance checklist can help.
Bleed your radiators once the heating is back on and check the boiler pressure. Cold spots at the top of a radiator mean trapped air. Clearing it helps the heating work well.
Winter (December–February)
Cold weather can freeze pipes, so keep your home above freezing. If you leave home, keep the heating on a low setting. Lag pipes in lofts, garages and outbuildings.
Watch the boiler condensate pipe in a hard frost, since it can freeze and stop the boiler. If a pipe bursts, turn off the water at the stopcock. Then call a plumber, because water damage spreads fast.
In heavy snow or ice, clear gullies and drain covers so meltwater can escape. Take care on slippery ground. A blocked gully can send water towards the house, since it has nowhere else to go.
Related guides and local help
If you want to know more, read Flood Risk and Drainage: What Property Owners Should Know. You can also read Drain Maintenance Contracts: What They Cover, Who Needs One and Garden Drainage Solutions: How to Fix a Waterlogged Garden, because they cover closely related problems.
These guides help too: Building Regulations for Drainage: What You Need to Know, Gutters and Downpipes: A Simple Care Guide for UK Homes, DIY Drain Maintenance: What to Do and What to Leave to Pros, 10 Drainage and Plumbing Checks Before an HMO Inspection and Commercial Drain Maintenance: A Practical Guide for Owners. Each one explains a related topic in plain English.
Need help near you? Read our drain jetting page first, or see Drain Jetting in Battle and Drain Jetting in Bebington. You can also see Blocked Drains in Cleckheaton, since every service page has a free quote form. We pass each request to a local drainage engineer.
