Have your boiler serviced yearly and if you have a F&E tank in the loft have that checked at the same time, don't forget to ask to see their Gas Safe card and that it is valid, It will have their Photo and Gas Safe number, on the back of the card will be the work they have the relevant qualifications for. THIS JUST COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE

Make sure you know the location of the stop valve on the incoming water supply main. Also the location of your boundary stop valve, and check that it is clear of soil and is in working order (Not all plumbers carry the tool to dig them out) it can take a long time 2 to 8 hours in good weather conditions for your local Water Board Inspector to turn out. Then there's the £80 charge from your local water company.

Locate, identify and label all stop valves, periodically checking that they are working correctly. And if you are getting a new kitchen fitted ask your plumber / fitter to replace the stop valve, or call your local Registered Plumber to replace the valve. It will be cheaper in the long run.

Make sure the lagging is not present under your F&E tanks in the loft area, allowing some heat into the loft and help prevent your feed and expansion tanks (F&E) from freezing. It is good practice to fit the cold tank  (F&E) above the airing cupboard

Check the condition of flexible hose pipes to plumbed-in domestic appliances at regular intervals. They are quite cheap against one of the hoses bursting, This usually in my experience happens at night when the water pressure increases and you are tucked up in bed, and you come down to a strange noise and wet feet.

Dripping taps and ball valves are a good sign that your plumbing system requires maintenance. To avoid them becoming major problems call in your local registered plumber without delay. The longer that you leave a tap dripping, the more damage will be done to the seating of the tap, and once you have a deep groove its new taps and a fitting charge.

Those floorboards that have been creaking for some years DO NOT NAIL OR SCREW unless you have checked below the floorboards, it may take longer but it will be much cheaper.

Last but the most important Hide all drills, hammers, nails, screws, on Public Holidays from the handy person in your house as that's when its quite expensive to call a plumber. I have heard of customers being charged £300.00 to drain down, lift the boards, repair the damaged pipe, re-fill and check, and that's if all goes well on refilling the system. Please note that if any plumber drains your central heating system and on re-filling, no air is heard when bleeding the index radiator, your system was probably partly blocked due to lack of maintenance. So saying it was working before you touched it, is a good way to wind up your plumber.

I hope this information has been of some help, and may prevent some of the problems that quite a few home owners find them self on public holidays and weekends. Well that's the only time you have to do those odd jobs around the house. For all those wife's, husbands, partners, who buy a battery powered drill that allows you to put screws into wood and copper tube with great ease. Put yourself in your partners position, they have a new toy and they are going to fix those loose floorboards that those rotten builders didn't bother to finish the job, well that rotten builder, carpenter was aware of all those copper pipes under the flooring. You have been warned. And the last bit of advice if you are going away for longer than two weeks turn off your water and check that its off, as most insurance companies will not pay out. Check your policy, a burst pipe in your loft can cause a lot of damage in two weeks and one day.