Burst pipe? What to do in the first 15 minutes

Shut off the main water valve before you do anything else. Then cut power to any area where water is near outlets, fixtures or the electrical panel, but only if you can reach the breaker without standing in water. After that, open a low faucet to drain the lines, find the break, take photos for your insurance company, and start getting water out. Call a plumber once the water’s off and everyone’s safe.

Water and electricity. If water is pooling near outlets, cords, a ceiling light or the breaker panel, stay out of it. Don’t wade across a wet floor to reach the panel. If you can’t get to the breakers from somewhere dry, get out of that area and call your power company.

The first 15 minutes, in order

1. Shut off the main water. It’s usually where the line enters the house: in the crawlspace, the garage, the utility room or near the water heater. If you don’t know where yours is, here’s how to find it and close it. If you can’t find it or it won’t turn, call your water utility and ask them to shut it off at the meter.
2. Cut power to the wet areas. Flip the breakers for any room where water is getting near outlets, lights or appliances. Again, only from a dry spot.
3. Drain the lines. Open a cold faucet at the lowest point in the house, like a tub or an outside spigot, and flush the toilets. That sends the water still sitting in the pipes down the drain instead of out through the break. If the break is on a hot water line, turn the water heater off too. That’s the breaker for an electric one, or the gas control set to pilot or off.
4. Find the break. Follow the water. Look for spreading ceiling stains, bulging drywall, water coming from under cabinets, or a wet spot in the crawlspace. If a ceiling is sagging with water, keep everyone out from under it and leave the lights in that room off.
5. Take photos and video before you move anything. Get the break if you can see it, the water on the floor, and whatever got soaked. Then call your insurance company and ask what they need from you.
6. Start moving water out. Towels, mops and a wet/dry vac all help. Pull rugs, furniture and boxes off wet floors. Once the power situation is safe, run fans and a dehumidifier. Wet drywall and carpet pad can start growing mold within a day or two.
7. Call a plumber. With the water off, you’ve bought yourself some breathing room. The broken section has to be cut out and replaced, and it’s smart to have them check the pipe on either side while they’re there.

What not to do

• Don’t use a torch, lighter or any open flame on a frozen pipe. House fires start this way, especially in crawlspaces. A hair dryer and some patience is the safe way, and we cover that in how to keep your pipes from freezing.
• Don’t use a regular household vacuum on water. Wet/dry vac only.
• Don’t turn the main back on to see if the leak stopped. If the break is still open, it didn’t.
• Don’t trust tape for long. A repair clamp or pipe repair tape can hold a small split for a little while, but it’s a patch. Keep the main off overnight and whenever nobody’s home until the real repair is done.
• Don’t throw out soaked stuff before you’ve photographed it. Check with your insurer before hauling off anything big.

Can you still use any water while you wait?

Sometimes. If the break is on a line that has its own shutoff, like a toilet supply or the pipe under a sink, close that small valve and you can turn the main back on for the rest of the house. The same goes for a washing machine hose that split. Close the two valves behind the washer.

If the break is on a main line in a wall, ceiling or crawlspace, leave the main off. Fill a few buckets and pitchers before you shut it, if you get the chance. A bucket of water poured fast into the bowl will flush a toilet.

Why did it burst?

Around here, the usual cause in winter is freezing. Water expands as it turns to ice, and pipes in crawlspaces, outside walls and garages take the hit. A frozen pipe often doesn’t leak until it thaws, so a lot of these show up the morning after a hard freeze, once the sun comes out.

The rest of the year it’s usually age or pressure. Homes built in the 1950s and early 60s often still have galvanized steel pipe that rusts from the inside out. Houses from roughly the late 70s to the mid 90s may have polybutylene, the gray plastic pipe known for failing at the fittings. Water pressure that runs too high wears on everything, and old rubber washing machine hoses give out without much warning.

If one section of old pipe let go, the pipe right next to it is the same age. Ask your plumber what they saw when they cut it out.