Could an older cottage in Kibworth or Great Glen still have lead pipes?
It's possible. Lead was commonly used for water pipes in homes built before about 1970, and some older houses in the village cores may still have a lead supply pipe or short lengths of lead inside. A typical sign is a dull grey pipe near the stopcock that scratches easily to shiny silver.
The supply pipe between your boundary and the house is usually the owner's responsibility; the part under the street belongs to the water company. Check with your water supplier about any advice or help they currently offer on lead.
Inside the house, we can replace lead or old iron pipework with modern pipe, move a stopcock to somewhere you can actually reach, and add isolating valves so a future leak doesn't mean turning off the whole house. Plumbing work follows the Water Fittings Regulations 1999.
Will outside work on an old village house need consent?
Sometimes. Parts of Kibworth and Great Glen are conservation areas, and a number of older buildings are listed. Most small jobs need no consent, but things that change how the front of a house looks, such as an air conditioning unit on a front wall, may need checking with Harborough District Council first. Listed buildings can need consent for some inside work too.
We'll tell you when something might need checking. Either way, we keep outside fittings discreet: lights and cameras sited on side or rear walls where they work just as well, and cable runs that follow existing lines.
What do the newer estates around the villages need?
Mostly additions for the way people live now. The villages have grown, with sizeable newer estates alongside the old cores, and plenty of households here split their week between home and a commute up the A6.
Home working is the common thread: more sockets in a spare bedroom, better lighting over a desk, or a stud partition wall to turn one large room into a bedroom and a small office. Outside, it's usually an EV charger on the drive, an outdoor socket or garden lighting. We fit smart chargers that meet the 2021 smart charge point regulations.
Why does my old cottage get condensation and mould?
Usually because moisture has nowhere to go. Older cottages tend to have solid walls and small windows, and once a kitchen or bathroom has been modernised, steam from cooking and showers can sit on cold walls and ceilings. That's where black mould starts.
The fixes we handle are practical ones: an extractor fan that actually clears the room, ideally with a humidistat or overrun timer, a fan in a bathroom that never had one, and clearing gutters and downpipes that overflow down the walls, where safe ladder access allows. We don't do damp-proof courses or structural damp work. If the cause looks like rising or penetrating damp, we'll tell you so you can call the right specialist.
How does a visit work this far down the A6?
The same as anywhere else in our area. Travel is included in your fixed price; distance is one of the things that shapes it, along with the job itself. So the best value comes from putting several jobs on one request: a lead pipe replacement, a new office socket and a sticking door can share one price and, usually, one visit.
We're open 8am to 8pm every day. When something is urgent, such as a leak you can't isolate, we come out the same day when the diary allows. Bigger jobs, such as replumbing an old cottage, start with a survey visit.