Burst pipe. Water off first. Then read this.

Burst pipe. Now what?

Not the towels. The stopcock. Everything gets easier once the pipe has no pressure behind it.

1. Stopcock off. Clockwise until it stops. Stiff? Steady pressure with a cloth for grip — don't wrench it until the spindle snaps.
2. Cold taps open. All of them. The pipes drain, the spray dies.
3. Power safe. Water near sockets or lights means consumer unit off — but only if you're not standing in water to do it.
4. Boiler off if the heating or hot water side is involved, or you've drained the system.
5. Now call. Say where the water came from, how fast, and what you've done. Thirty seconds of facts beats five minutes of panic.

Did it freeze and split?

Common story: tap slows to a dribble during a frost, then a leak appears as things thaw. That's a freeze-split. Loft pipes, garage runs and anything on an external wall go first — and a raw seafront winter wind finds under-insulated pipework quickly, even when the actual frost doesn't last long.

Frozen but not leaking yet? Stopcock off as a precaution, then thaw gently — hairdryer on low, warm towels, start at the tap end. No flames near a pipe, ever. Already split? Leave the water off. Thawing a split pipe with the supply on just books your flood in for the afternoon.

Can I tape it up myself?

As a stopgap on a drained pipe — fine. Repair tape or a slip-on clamp can hold a small split until help arrives. As a fix — no. Putting mains pressure back onto a taped joint is a bet, and the stake is your ceiling.

Be doubly careful in older properties. Ayr's sandstone villas and terraces have often collected pipework from four or five different eras, and disturbing one tired joint can open a second leak two feet away. Water stays off until someone who does this daily says otherwise.

My pipe, or Scottish Water's?

One test. Shut your stopcock. Leak stops? It's inside your system — your side. Leak carries on, or water is bubbling up outside near the boundary? That points at the supply pipe or the mains.

The usual UK split: the supply pipe from the boundary into your home is the owner's responsibility; the public side belongs to the water company — in Scotland, Scottish Water. Not sure which side you're on? Describe it on the call. A plumber can usually place the problem within a couple of questions, and will tell you straight if it's not a job you should be paying for.