Emergency
Plumbing emergencies: what to do first
The safety steps for gas, flooding, electrics and sewage, how to find and turn the main shut-off, and what a plumber does on arrival.
What to do now Hiring after hours
Written by HyrePlumber Research Desk Primary-source research and fact checking
The short answer
If this is happening now:
Gas smell: leave now. Use no switches, phones or flames inside; call 911 and the gas utility from outside.
Burst pipe: close the main water shut-off.
Water near outlets or the panel: stay out of it.
Sewage backing up: stop using all water.
In a plumbing emergency, stop the water before you call anyone. Close the valve on the fixture that is leaking, or the main shut-off where the water supply enters the house.
Turn off the water heater if the water will be off for a while. Switch off circuits only from a dry floor. Then decide whether it needs a plumber tonight or in the morning.
What do you do for each emergency?
Get everyone out. Do not use light switches, phones, doorbells, thermostats or the garage door opener inside, and do not look for the leak. From outside and well away, call 911 and your gas utility. Treat a sounding carbon monoxide alarm the same way.
Close the main shut-off, then open the lowest faucet in the house to drain the pressure out of the pipes. If the main will not close, call your water utility and ask whether it can shut the water off at the meter.
Stay out of water that reaches outlets, a ceiling light or the panel. Switch off circuits only if you can reach the panel from a dry floor. If the panel is wet, leave it alone and call the electric utility from outside.
Stop using water everywhere in the house, on every floor, including the washer and dishwasher. Keep people and pets away from it. Sewage at the lowest drain, or at several drains at once, points to the main sewer line.
Where is the main water shut-off?
It sits on the supply pipe where water enters the house. Look in this order, and follow the cold pipe back from the water heater if nothing else works.
An inside wall on the side of the house facing the street, near the floor.
On the street-side wall, where the pipe comes through the foundation.
Near that same wall, in a house built over one.
Check beside the water heater, which is fed from the same supply.
Near a front hose bib, in houses with no basement.
A ground-level box near the street, with a valve on the house side of the meter. It can need a meter key.
Which way does the valve turn?
There are two common kinds of shut-off valve, and they close in different ways.
| Valve | How to close it |
|---|---|
| Ball valve (a straight lever) | Turn the lever a quarter turn so it sits across the pipe. In line with the pipe is open; across it is closed. |
| Gate valve (a round wheel) | Turn it clockwise and keep turning. It can take many full turns before the water stops. Stop when it is firmly closed; do not force it. |
| Valve in the meter box | Needs a meter key. Ask your water utility first: the meter and the valve beside it can belong to the utility. |
An old gate valve that has not moved in years can seize, snap at the stem or start to weep when turned. Test yours on a calm day, not during a flood.
Which valve stops one fixture?
If the water is coming from one fixture, its own valve is closer than the main. If that valve will not turn or will not stop the flow, go to the main.
An oval handle on the pipe below the tank. Turn it clockwise until it stops.
Two small handles under the basin, hot and cold. Close both.
Two valves on the wall behind it. Close both.
The supply valve can be under the kitchen sink, not behind the machine.
The valve on the cold pipe going into the top of the tank.
Look for a valve on the pipe inside the wall it passes through.
What does a plumber do on arrival?
Once the water is stopped, the visit has three jobs: make it safe, find the cause, and price the repair.
Checks the water is off where it needs to be, and that nobody is working near wet electrics.
A split pipe, a failed fitting, a tank, a drain line. Leak detection covers a leak that is inside a wall or under a slab.
A cap, a clamp or an isolated fixture, so the rest of the house can have water back.
What failed, why, and what the permanent repair involves. Ask for it in writing.
Separately from tonight’s visit, so you can compare it in daylight. How plumbing is priced explains the fees.
Does it need a plumber tonight?
After-hours visits cost more. These decide whether that is worth it.
| When | Situations |
|---|---|
| Now | Water you cannot stop. Water near electrics. Sewage coming into the house. A gas smell or a carbon monoxide alarm (call 911 and the utility, not a plumber). No water at all during a freeze. |
| Today | A backup that has stopped rising but is not cleared. A leak held by a bucket. No hot water in freezing weather. A water heater leaking from the tank, once it is shut off. |
| Morning | A dripping faucet or a running toilet. One blocked toilet when another works. No hot water in mild weather. A slow drain that still drains. |
If the water is off and contained, a daytime visit buys the same repair at the ordinary rate.
Water heaters, frozen pipes and hot water
The three situations where the fix can cause a second problem.
Do this if the water will be off for a while, and always if the tank is leaking. Electric: switch off its breaker from a dry floor. Gas: set the control on the heater to OFF, as the label on the tank shows. Do not touch the gas line or the wiring.
Water or steam from the pipe on the side of a water heater is scalding. Do not cap it or stand in front of it.
The CPSC says a 6-second exposure to 140°F water can cause third-degree burns in adults. Let a leaking tank cool before anyone touches it.
Open the faucet it feeds first, then warm the pipe from the faucet end back with a hair dryer or warm towels. Never use an open flame or a torch.
A pipe that split while frozen starts leaking as soon as the ice melts.
Stop the water first. Choose a plumber second.
Nothing a plumber does tonight helps if water is still running while you search for one. Once it is stopped, you have time to ask how the visit is priced and to decide whether it can wait until morning.
What to ask before an after-hours visit
And is there a minimum number of billed hours?
For the visit, and for any repair made tonight.
And will the permanent one be priced separately?
The name of the company and the license number, to check with your state yourself.
What to do today, while nothing is wrong
Use the list above, and label it with a tag.
Close it, confirm a faucet runs dry, then open it again. A seized valve found on a calm day is ordinary work, not an emergency.
The person home when a pipe fails may not be the one who read this.
The cold-water valve on top of the tank, and its breaker or gas control.
Nothing stacked in front of the breaker panel or the gas meter.
If your shut-off needs one.
Questions
What do I do if I smell gas?
Where is my main water shut-off?
Which way do I turn the main shut-off?
Should I turn off the water heater too?
What do I do if sewage is backing up?
How do I thaw a frozen pipe safely?
Written and audited by
HyrePlumber Research Desk
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