Daytime call-out (Mon–Sat 08:00–18:00)
Fixed price
First-hour diagnosis and minor repair (e.g. valve swap, push-fit joint, toilet fill valve) — quoted before work starts.
Plumbing Services
Emergency Plumber in Corbyanswered 24/7 by a Gas Safe engineeracross Northants & Rutland
When a pipe bursts at 2am, you don't need a quote form — you need someone picking up. Our team answers personally, gives you a fixed price before lifting a tool, and stops the water loss before it costs you a ceiling.
- Phone answered 24/7
- Fixed price before work starts
- Gas Safe registered
- Workmanship guarantee
24/7
Phone always answered
Gas Safe
Registered engineers
Fixed
Price before work starts
Zero
Out-of-hours callout fee
Emergency plumbing — Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough
What counts as a plumbing emergency — and what we'll do when you call
An emergency, in our book, is anything you can't safely wait until tomorrow for: a burst supply pipe, no cold water at all, a leak coming through a ceiling, a foul drain backing up into the house, or a boiler dripping onto live electrics. If you're not sure, call. We'll tell you straight whether it's an emergency or whether it can hold until 8am — for free, on the phone.
Most local emergencies (within 15 miles of Corby) are answered the same hour. We arrive in a fully stocked van — copper, push-fit, compression fittings, isolation valves, immersion elements, ball valves, WC parts and a wet vac — so 9 jobs out of 10 are fixed in the first visit, not 'I'll need to come back tomorrow'.
You get a fixed price before any tool comes out. No hourly meter running, no surprise parts charges, no 'while I'm here' upsell. You pay what we agreed, on completion.
What happens if you wait
A 'small' leak isn't small once you've left it overnight
We've been called to homes where a pinhole leak under a bath has rotted three joists, dropped a ceiling and written off a kitchen below — five-figure damage from a leak that would have been a small fixed-price call-out caught early.
Water finds the path of least resistance, and that path is almost always the most expensive one in your house: timber, plaster, electrics, flooring. Acting in the first hour, not the first day, is the single biggest cost-saver.
- Ceiling collapse from a slow upstairs leak — major reinstatement cost
- Mains burst at the stop tap — flooding rate of 25+ litres per minute
- Frozen pipe rupturing on thaw — common in unheated lofts across Northants
- Sewage back-up into ground floor — biohazard cleanup on top of the drain job
- Live electrics meeting water — fire risk before flood risk
- DIY wrench damage to compression fittings turning a small fix into a much larger one
Our process
From first call to job done — exactly what to expect
- 01
Call us
Phone is answered personally, day or night. We diagnose by symptom, give a likely cause, and tell you how to make it safe in 60 seconds.
- 02
Make safe
We talk you through shutting off water or gas at the stop tap or meter so damage stops while we're en route.
- 03
Arrive & quote
Van arrives stocked. We isolate, inspect and give you a written fixed price before any further work.
- 04
Fix on the spot
9 in 10 emergencies fixed first visit. We test pressure, refill the system, and clean up every job.
- 05
Guarantee in writing
12-month workmanship guarantee on every emergency repair, plus parts warranty as per manufacturer.
Why customers choose Reactive
No guesswork. No upsell. Just the work, done right.
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Phone answered 24/7
Not an answering service. our team, or a Reactive engineer, picking up personally — even at 3am on a Sunday.
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Fixed price before tools come out
You agree a number first. No hourly creep, no surprises on the invoice.
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Gas Safe & insured
Full public liability cover. Gas Safe registered. Every job logged and signed off — not chancers in a Transit.
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Stocked-van first-visit fix
Fittings, valves, parts and a wet vac on board. 90% of jobs done in one visit.
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Checkatrade verified
Real customer feedback you can verify before we set foot in your home.
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No 'while-I'm-here' upsell
We fix what you called us for. We tell you what we noticed. You decide what's next.
In detail
What a real emergency plumbing job looks like, end to end
Most genuine emergencies fall into one of seven buckets: burst supply pipe, mains pressure leak at a fitting, failed isolation valve, ruptured cylinder or vent pipe, blocked WC overflowing, leaking soil stack, and overflowing storage tank in the loft. Each has a different fix and a different urgency tier.
On a burst pipe, the priority is isolation — at the stop tap, then at the closest service valve. We'll often cut out the failed section and replace with a sleeved soldered joint or a WRAS-approved push-fit, depending on access. On a soil stack leak, we work above the bend with a strap-boss or replacement section in soil-grade PVC.
For overflows from cold water storage, the cause is usually a perished ball valve diaphragm — a 20-minute fix if the valve is accessible, longer if the tank is boarded over. We always pressure-test, refill from cold and check for follow-on leaks at every joint we've disturbed before signing off.
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Burst & frozen pipes
Sleeved soldered joints or WRAS push-fit on copper, MDPE on mains. Lagging supplied free on every loft repair.
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Leaking radiator valves
TRV and lockshield repacks, full valve swaps with system top-up and inhibitor refresh.
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Failed stop taps
Internal and external stop tap replacements — including the rotten ones in under-stair cupboards.
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Toilet & cistern emergencies
Diaphragm, fill valve and flush valve swaps. Pan and cistern reseat where wax seals have failed.
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Mains & meter leaks
Anglian Water side stays with them — we deal with everything from the meter onwards.
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Hot water failures
Immersion elements, thermostats, expansion vessels — back on within the visit on most occasions.
Honest pricing
How much does an emergency plumber cost in Corby & Northants?
Emergency plumbing pricing varies by time of day, complexity and parts — but you'll always agree the number before a single tool comes out. No callout fee. No hourly meter.
Evening / weekend
Fixed price
Same scope outside working hours — burst pipe isolation, leak stop, WC overflow. Quoted before work starts.
Overnight (22:00–07:00)
Fixed price
Genuine middle-of-the-night emergencies — flooding, no water, escape of gas situations. Quoted before work starts.
What changes the price
- Time of day and day of week
- Distance from Corby (Ring 1 areas no extra travel)
- Parts required (valves, push-fit fittings, sealing rings — supplied at trade cost plus a small handling margin)
- Access — boxed-in pipework, boarded lofts, lifted floors
- Whether the system needs draining and refilling
- Multiple linked failures vs. single point repair
Free, fixed-price quote — no obligation, no callout fee.
Get my fixed priceAreas covered
Local cover across Northants & Rutland
We run emergency callouts across Corby and the wider East Midlands every week — Kettering, Wellingborough, Market Harborough, Oundle, Oakham and the surrounding villages. Same-day cover is standard inside our 15-mile core ring; further afield we'll always tell you honestly if someone closer can get to you faster.
Who'll be doing the work
The Reactive engineering team
We run every emergency call in-house. If he can't be on-site himself, one of the trusted Reactive engineers will be — never a sub-contractor you've never met. Gas Safe and OFTEC registered, with daily on-the-tools experience across Corby and the surrounding Northants villages.
- Gas Safe Registered
- OFTEC Registered Technician
- WRAS Approved
- Checkatrade Verified
- Public Liability Insured
FAQs
Questions we actually get asked
Anything not covered here? Pick up the phone — straight talk, no salesperson in the middle.
Call 07342 043953Ready when you are
Stop the leak. Stop the panic. Call now.
Our team answers personally — day, night, weekends. Fixed price before tools come out, and a 12-month guarantee on every repair.
Last updated May 2026 · Reactive Gas Heating and Plumbing Services Limited · 9 Rutherford Court, Corby NN17 4SJ · Gas Safe Registered · OFTEC Registered · Checkatrade Verified