8 Vital Emergency Plumbing Tips
An emergency plumbing situation is an inevitable experience most people will endure at some point in their lives. Whether it’s a burst pipe, a blocked drain or a leaking toilet, it’s important you know what to do to mitigate damage to your home and family. Metropolitan Plumbing has 8 tips to help you get through almost any emergency plumbing situations.
1. Shut Off Your Water
For almost any plumbing emergency, it’s important to turn off the water to the problem fixture or pipe ASAP. If the problem is just for one fixture, such as your toilet or a tap, you can turn off that fixture’s valve. You’ll usually find it either behind or at the base of the fixture. The valve will shut off the water supply just to that fixture rather than your entire home.
If you can’t find this valve or you’re dealing with a more severe problem like burst pipes, you’ll need to shut off the main water valve to your home. This will cut off the water supply to your home entirely, preventing it from becoming flooded.
You’ll need to locate your main water shut-off valve, which is usually near your water meter. The last thing you need in a plumbing emergency is to be wasting time looking for it.
2. Turn Off Your Hot Water System
After you’ve shut off the water to your home, it’s worth shutting off your hot water system as well. In an already serious plumbing emergency, this will prevent your water heater from overheating or bursting and causing further damage.
If you have a gas hot water system, you must shut off the gas first, then turn the water heater off. This could save you from needing an emergency hot water repair on top of your existing plumbing problem!
3. Manage Small Leaks
Contain any leaks you find as best as you can by using buckets to catch the drips. If you’re up to the job, you can temporarily stop a small leak until a plumber arrives for emergency repairs.
You can wrap plumber’s tape, or even duct tape, around pinhole leaks to put just enough pressure on the pipe to stop the leak. If this isn’t enough, you might need more heavy-duty equipment like a C-clamp or a sleeve clamp. Not many homes carry these, so you might just need to collect these leaks and wait for a licensed, local plumber who can handle emergency plumbing situations of any kind.
4. Open Drains and Taps Outside
If you’ve had to turn off the main water valve, you’ll still have water in your plumbing system that you’ll want to direct away from your home. You can do this by turning on taps and opening drains outside your home.
If the process reveals that you have a blocked drain, you can try your hand at using a plunger to dislodge the blockage. If that doesn’t work, it’s best to leave this until you can have a licensed plumber assess the emergency.
5. Avoid Using Chemicals
While you might be tempted to fix blocked drains with a store-bought drain cleaner, we recommend you avoid chemical drain cleaners where possible. Though they might get you out of some plumbing emergencies for now, they won’t solve the problem. If used incorrectly, they could even damage your pipes!
A blocked drain plumber will not only repair your blocked drain but will also identify its cause. Knowing the cause can help to prevent the problem from reoccurring.
6. Call an Emergency Plumber
Now that you’ve prevented flooding and damage to your home, it’s time to call in for professional help. Plumbing emergencies don’t wait for business hours to occur, they can strike any time or day. That’s why you’ll want 24 hour emergency plumbers you can trust.
Metropolitan Plumbing can have an emergency after hours plumber at your door as soon as possible, usually within an hour* of your call. Whether your plumbing problems involve a broken sewer line or an overflowing toilet, we have a 24 hour plumber who can help.
7. Clean Up and Protect Your Belongings
By now, you’ve contained the leaks, prevented serious damage from flooding and contacted a professional plumber. Now it’s time to clean up and protect your personal belongings and property.
You’ll want to reduce or prevent water damage to your home by mopping up any excess water. Using a mop, old towels or whatever you have at hand you should try to absorb water around your home.
If safe to do so, it is best to move your personal belongings away from any water. Furniture and special items you’re afraid of being damaged should be moved to a dry area in the room, or removed from the affected room entirely. Electronics that have yet to come into contact with water should be unplugged and placed somewhere they will stay dry.
8. Wait for Your Emergency Plumber
You’ve done everything you can, now all you can do is stay calm and wait for an emergency plumber to come to your property. If you try to do much more, you could worsen the problem or even put your home and family more at risk. These emergency plumbing tips should help you handle the situation until help arrives.
For emergency plumbing services within the hour* and with no extra cost for after hours plumbing issues, call us today!
Published: 2020-06-24