What the customer rang about, what our engineer found under the basin, and how it was put right, with the photos taken on the job.
A braided flexi hose under the basin in a third-floor Walsall flat had split, and mains-pressure water had run down through the two flats below. We were on site within 45 minutes of the call, isolated the supply, fitted a new mixer tap and new hoses, tested everything under pressure and left the customer sorted 1 hour 45 minutes after they first rang.
Turn the stopcock off, then ring 07413 385767. If it can wait, leave a number and we will call you back — usually within the hour during office hours.
The call came from a third-floor flat in Walsall. Water was getting into the two flats below and had already done a lot of damage, and nobody could see where it was coming from. Water heading through two ceilings is about as urgent as a plumbing call gets, so it went straight to the front of the diary. We were on site 45 minutes after the phone rang.
The advice we give on every call like this is the same: find the stopcock and turn it off before we arrive. Every minute the supply stays on is more water in the flats below.
Under the basin, one of the braided flexible tap connectors had split. You can see it in the photos above: the stainless-steel braid had frayed open and the rubber liner inside had given way. On a mains-fed cold supply a hose in that state does not drip, it sprays, and because it sits out of sight beneath the basin the first anyone knows about it is a wet ceiling in the flat below. From the third floor, that meant two ceilings.
The split hose was one of the tap's own flexible tails rather than a separate connector, so the sensible repair was a new mixer tap with fresh tails, not an attempt to marry a new hose to an old tap.
With the supply isolated we took out the old tap and both hoses, fitted a new mixer tap, made the new tap connectors up to the isolation valves under the basin, and brought the water back on. Then the part that matters: every joint checked dry under full pressure before we packed up. We replace both hoses on a job like this even when only one has failed, because the other is the same age and has lived in the same cupboard.
The customer was sorted 1 hour 45 minutes after their first call: leak stopped, basin back in use, and the flats below no longer taking on water.
Braided flexible connectors are on almost every basin, sink and toilet fitted in the last twenty years, and they are one of the most common causes of water damage in flats. They have a rubber liner inside a woven stainless braid, and the braid is what holds the pressure. A few things shorten their life:
The fix is cheap and quick: look under your basins and sinks once a year, and replace any hose that shows rust, bulging or loose strands, or whose age nobody knows. Make sure there is an isolation valve on each feed so the supply can be shut off at the basin rather than the whole flat. And know where your stopcock is before you need it.
Within office hours, Monday to Friday 8am to 5.30pm, an emergency callout is £99 including diagnosis and the first hour. Parts are quoted before we fit them. Outside those hours, ring and we will give you a clear price before we come out. Full details are on our 24/7 emergency callout page, and the rest of our fixed prices are on the price list.
Leaks that are coming through a ceiling go to the front of the diary. On this job we were on site 45 minutes after the call and finished an hour later. We cannot promise 45 minutes every time, because it depends on where our engineers are when you ring, but we hold same-day slots for exactly this kind of call and the emergency line is answered 24 hours a day.
Look under the basin or sink. Rust-coloured spots on the braid, a bulge, kinks, or loose wires standing out from the weave all mean the hose is on its way out. Hoses of unknown age, or older than about ten years, are worth replacing before they choose their own moment, which is usually while you are out.
It depends on the tap. Many mixer taps come with their own flexible tails built in, and when one of those splits the sensible repair is a new tap with fresh tails. Where the hoses are separate connectors between the tap and the isolation valve, we can swap the hoses on their own. We always replace both, because the second one is the same age as the one that has just failed.
That is between the leaseholders, the freeholder and their insurers, and it varies with the lease. What helps everyone is a clear record of what caused the leak and what was replaced. Our job sheet records exactly that, so ask us for it when you call your insurer or the building manager.
Job attended and photographed by our engineers in Walsall, September 2026. Written up by Saeed Iqbal, the engineer who leads Synergy Gas & Plumbing (Gas Safe registered 594385). More recent jobs in the area are on our Walsall page, and every job we write up is on the case studies index.
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Read the case studyLeaks through a ceiling go to the front of the diary. Call and speak to someone who does the work.
