3 Steps To Resolve A Plumbing Emergency

A home is incomplete without a plumbing system. Although working behind the scenes, your plumbing system ensures that you and your family have access to clean water. Unfortunately, most homeowners don’t think much about their plumbing system—that is, until something goes wrong.  What’s more, plumbing emergencies tend to occur at the most inconvenient times—on special holidays or even at midnight on regular days. And if you don’t know what to do, a plumbing emergency can become quite frustrating and damaging to your home. 

3 Steps To Resolve A Plumbing Emergency

What Is A Plumbing Emergency

A plumbing issue is considered an emergency if it causes more damage than normal. It often involves severe damage to your property and can compromise the safety of the occupants. While it takes several forms, some of the common situations considered a plumbing emergency are:

  • Sewage backup and leaks
  • Burst pipes
  • Water heater leaks or failure
  • Extensive water leaks
  • Gas leaks

This article shares the necessary steps you need to take to handle and resolve plumbing emergencies. 

Call A Trusted Plumbing Service

Preferably, you should have a trusted plumbing service like Dans Plumbing on speed dial. This way, when you experience a plumbing emergency, you don’t have to scramble through the internet to find the best plumber in your area while water takes over and damages your home. You can simply call them to your home and resolve the issue right away. 

While it’s tempting to do a DIY repair job on your plumbing, you may actually end up damaging the system further, which can pose more danger to your home and family. Given the complex nature of a plumbing system, hiring a qualified emergency plumber can help you navigate and fix the issue in no time. 

Take note, however, that an emergency plumber will often do temporary fixes for certain plumbing issues and return the next day or in a few hours to provide more permanent fixes. This is particularly true if you call during the night or on a holiday so as to avoid disrupting your activities at the moment. Of course, if there’s extensive damage, a plumbing expert can help in dealing with the problem right away. 

Turn Off Your Main Water Line And Power

Even if you don’t think about your plumbing most of the time, it’s essential at least to know the location of your main water line valve. Knowing where and how to shut off your main water line can help temporarily stop any leaks and minimize water damage to your home. Before calling your emergency plumber, find your main water valve and turn it off. 

In general, this valve is located near the street, especially if you’re getting your water supply from the local municipality. In some homes, the main water valve is located in the basement. If your water supply comes from a private well, you probably have a large water tank installed outside your home, which comes with the main water valve. 

Depending on how extensive the leak is, you should also turn off your main power until the plumber arrives. Since water and electricity are never a good match, turning off the power in your home can help prevent electrocution accidents

plumbing emergency

Drain the Remaining Water

Once you’ve turned off your water line, the next step is to drain the remaining water from your pipes. You simply need to turn on all faucets in your home. This helps empty your plumbing pipes to stop the leak faster or divert the water away from the location of the plumbing leak. 

When your pipes are finally empty, you can focus on cleaning up and removing as much water from the affected areas as possible. You need to act quickly to avoid further damage to your furniture and other personal belongings. 

Use a mop or old towels to remove water around the area. If you have a dry and wet vacuum, this can make things so much easier. Make sure to move your furniture or cover them with plastic if you can’t carry them outside. Meanwhile, appliances and electronics should be unplugged and moved to a dry area. 

Do as much as you can to dry out the water and protect your belongings while you wait for the plumber to arrive. Once they do, you can leave the rest to them. 

Takeaway

Plumbing emergencies can be prevented but are not absolutely unavoidable. Every homeowner will face a plumbing emergency or two in their lifetime—regardless of whether you take good care of your plumbing system or forget about it altogether.

A plumbing emergency may catch you off guard, so knowing what to do can help minimize the damage and resolve the issue much more quickly.


Yvan Lebrun
Yvan Lebrun

Yvan Lebrun is a trusted expert in the field of product & service reviews. With over a decade of experience analyzing and comparing services online, he shares his valuable experience with readers at GoodSitesLike so consumers can make educated decisions before making a purchase.

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