Your house could get badly flooded if pipes become cracked or broken. Any pipes damaged significantly should be fixed as soon as possible. Professional service in this eventuality is always at hand in the form of plumbers Brighton.
Condensation is often a common problem, especially if pipes are not properly insulated and can appear to be dripping from a leak. You therefore need to check out whether any apparent leaks really are leaks or just caused by condensation. If condensation is the problem, it probably pays to solve this by installing better insulation.
Assuming you are convinced you have a leak, you will have to do some serious detective work to find out the exact location. How long this takes depends on whether the leak is taking place in some hidden spot beneath the floor boards or above the ceiling. When the leak is finally located, mark it carefully, and then turn off the water supply.
The next step is to work out if the leak is coming from a joint or a crack or break in the pipe work. Try tightening the joint with a plumber’s wrench or disassembling the joint, then re sealing it with some Teflon tape wrapped around the thread. If it is a pipe that has a crack or break in it, then it will have to be removed and replaced with a new segment.
If a new length of copper pipe has to be replaced, then the new pipe will have to be soldered into place. This is impossible unless you have a decent soldering tool and solder. You might be able to rent these items from a rental agency as it is unlikely you are going to have these items just lying around the house, otherwise call in a plumber to do the job.
You can carry out temporary repairs if you have some rubber patches or old car or motor bike inner tube handy. The patches are cut out and clamped in place over the crack or break with some type of clamp or hose clip. It is best to turn off the mains water supply before you try this. Obviously if your leak is significant you will already have done this anyway!
Some hardware shops sell ready made repair material that basically does what has been described. These repair kits have rubber patches, a bit like bandages, and special metal plates that are screwed up around the patches to stop the water leak. Depending on the severity of the leak, these will certainly get you by until a proper repair can be carried out.
Another way of making a temporary repair is to use tape. The tape has to be the waterproof type and strong enough to resist the water pressure inside the pipe, but can normally be bought from a hardware shop and is generally inexpensive. It pays to have a roll or two in the house in case of emergencies. To use the tape, turn off the main water supply and make the damaged area as dry and warm as possible. Then wrap the tape around the crack several times. With larger cracks or breaks, this trick is less likely to work as the water pressure is too great for the tape and it will fail quite quickly.
The last items that can be used in the case of an emergency are self tapping stoppers that are used to cover a crack or hole in a pipe. You fix them in place over the crack and are stronger than just using tape. Again, you should be able to buy these in most hardware or diy shops.