Plumbing repairs and installations in Barnet

Why does Barnet have Hertfordshire postcodes?

Because it was in Hertfordshire. Barnet and East Barnet were urban districts of that county until 1965, when they were brought into the new London Borough of Barnet, and their EN postcodes belong to the Enfield postcode area rather than a London one, with Barnet as the post town. For plumbing, the practical point is that your water company and sewerage company may be different from those a few streets away in Finchley, so check your bill before reporting a fault on the public side.

EN4 also runs across the borough boundary into Enfield at Cockfosters and Hadley Wood, so your council is not always Barnet either. Your council tax bill settles it.

What is the housing like?

High Barnet sits on one of the highest hills in London, and the old town along Wood Street and the High Street keeps Georgian and earlier houses, many of them listed and inside the Wood Street and Monken Hadley conservation areas. New Barnet grew up around the Great Northern Railway station in the 1850s, with Victorian terraces and villas. East Barnet and the roads out towards Cockfosters are mostly 1930s semis, and the Dollis Valley estate, built in the 1960s and 1970s, is being rebuilt in phases.

Does the hill affect the water?

It can. Mains pressure depends partly on how high your taps are above the local main, so homes on the ridge at High Barnet and Arkley may have less to spare than those down in the valley at New Barnet, and a shower on the top floor feels it first. A sudden change is a different matter and usually means a leak or work on the network, which is a question for your water company.

Exposed high ground is also colder in a frost. Pipes in lofts, garages and outbuildings on the hill are the first to freeze, so lag them and know where the stopcock is.

What comes up in the old town?

Listed buildings on Wood Street and around Monken Hadley have been re-plumbed piecemeal over two centuries. Pipes may run inside thick walls, under stone floors or behind panelling, and a damp patch can be a long way from its source. Cutting new routes through historic fabric can need listed building consent from Barnet Council, so ask before planning anything beyond a straightforward repair. Leaks and the damage they cause in buildings like these are best traced early.

And in the Victorian terraces by the station?

Terraces around New Barnet and Lyonsdown often share a supply pipe between two or more houses, so a drop in pressure or a leak under the front path can involve next door. Older terraces may also keep a length of lead where the water comes in. Kitchens in back additions mean washing machine and dishwasher connections a long way from the stopcock, and bathrooms squeezed in later often have overflows discharging onto a neighbour's path.

What about the 1930s houses and the newer estates?

The semis across East Barnet are usually straightforward, with the bathroom above the kitchen and a loft tank that has often been removed during a loft conversion. Cisterns and overflows are common requests, because hard water scales the valves. On the Dollis Valley estate and in the newer blocks, flats share stacks and risers, and the lease or the tenancy says who repairs what, so tell the plumber what kind of home it is.

What happens to an enquiry from EN5 or EN4?

It goes to one local plumber whose patch includes your postcode, with your consent, and to nobody else. If none covers it, we let you know and nothing is passed on.