Emergency Plumbing Guides
In almost every plumbing emergency the damage is determined before a professional arrives. Shut off the main water valve first, cut power if water is reaching electrical, and photograph everything before cleanup. The guides below cover each failure in the order the steps actually matter.
These are written for the moment something has already gone wrong, so each one leads with the action rather than the background. If you are dealing with an active emergency right now, the two most useful pages are how to shut off your water and what to do when a pipe bursts.
One exception worth reading before you need it: if you smell gas, do not investigate. Leave the building and call the gas utility from outside.
What to do right now
- How to Shut Off Your Water in an EmergencyFind and operate your main water shutoff before you need it. The single most valuable thing a homeowner can know during a plumbing emergency.
- What to Do When a Pipe BurstsThe first ten minutes after a pipe bursts determine most of the damage. Here is the order of operations that limits it.
- Frozen Pipes: What to Do Before They BurstA frozen pipe has not necessarily failed yet. Thawing it correctly, and being ready at the shutoff, is what keeps it from becoming a burst pipe.
- Sewer Backup: What to Do Right NowRaw sewage indoors is a health hazard as well as a plumbing failure. What to do, what not to touch, and how to keep it from recurring.
- Water Heater Emergencies: Leaks, No Hot Water, and SafetyWhich water heater problems need an immediate call, which can wait, and the safety issues that are genuinely dangerous.
- Overflowing Toilet: Stop It in Under a MinuteHow to stop an overflowing toilet immediately, and how to tell whether the problem is the toilet or the main sewer line.
- Basement Flooding: Immediate StepsWhat to do when a basement floods, how to work out where the water came from, and how to keep it from happening again.
Deciding what to do
- Clogged Drains: When It's an Emergency and When It Isn'tHow to tell a routine blockage from a main line failure, what to try yourself, and why chemical drain cleaner is a bad idea.
- When to Call an Emergency Plumber (and When to Wait)After-hours plumbing costs 1.5 to 2 times standard rates. Here is which problems justify it and which are cheaper to schedule.
- How to Hire an Emergency Plumber Without Getting TakenEmergencies are where people make bad hiring decisions. The questions to ask, the things to verify, and the pressure tactics to refuse.
Seasonal preparation
Prevention and early warning
- Slab Leak Warning SignsHow to recognize a leak under your foundation before it undermines the slab, and what to do once you suspect one.
- Why Your Water Bill Suddenly Went UpA jump in water usage with no change in habits almost always means a leak. How to find it yourself, in order of likelihood.
- What Not to Flush or Pour Down the DrainThe specific items responsible for most avoidable drain and sewer emergencies, including the ones labelled flushable.