Questions on SOS Property Services Sligo

Arek Olczak answers the phone himself on 085 708 8979, talks the job through with you, gives you the price before work starts, and carries out the plumbing work himself.

Based in Sligo town, Arek covers Sligo town, Strandhill, Ballysadare, Collooney, Rosses Point, Grange, Enniscrone, Tubbercurry, Ballymote and Coolaney.

Inside the house, the brass mains stopcock is usually under the kitchen sink where the rising main enters; there is also an external shut-off valve inside the boundary meter box at the footpath.

Turn off the electric immersion switch on the wall, then turn the red wheel-head gate valve on the cold feed pipe coming down from the attic tank into the bottom of the cylinder clockwise until it stops.

Trapped air rises to the top of the radiator panel and stops hot water circulating; bleeding the air out with a radiator key at the top corner pin valve lets the radiator fill with hot water again.

Dark magnetite sludge settles in the bottom waterways of older radiators and slows circulation; flushing the radiator, balancing the lockshield valves or cleaning the magnetic system filter restores heat.

A dual immersion has two elements (Sink for the top third and Bath for the full tank) controlled by a thermostat rod inside the head; often only the clip-in thermostat rod needs replacing rather than the whole copper element.

Most Sligo houses feed upstairs hot and cold taps by gravity from the cold water storage tank in the attic; a partially closed gate valve, an airlock in the hot pipe or a tired shower booster pump will drop the flow.

Either the rubber diaphragm washer inside the inlet fill valve is worn so the water rises past the overflow line, or the flush valve seal at the bottom of the cistern is letting water trickle past.

Yes. SOS Property Services Sligo handles the complete bathroom renovation from strip-out and first-fix pipework to fitting the bath or walk-in shower tray, tiling, sanitaryware and sealing.

Lag all exposed pipes and the cold tank in the attic, keep the attic hatch insulated directly underneath the tank so rising room warmth stops the tank freezing, or shut off the mains stopcock and drain the system down when the house is empty.

That warning pipe connects to either the toilet cistern or the cold water storage tank in the attic, meaning the float ball-valve inside is not shutting off properly and needs adjusting or replacing.

Yes. Arek traces pipe leaks behind bath panels, shower trays, ceilings and timber floors, isolates the line, repairs the leaking joint or section and makes good.

Ring Arek straight away on 085 708 8979 (answered day and night, every day) or visit his dedicated emergency site at emergencyplumbingsligo.com.