Is it a plumbing emergency, or can it wait until morning?
It’s an emergency if water is coming out and you can’t stop it, sewage is backing up into the house, you have no water at all, water is getting near anything electrical, or your water heater is leaking badly or spraying from its relief valve. A dripping faucet, one slow drain, a running toilet, or no hot water on a mild day can almost always wait until morning, as long as you do a couple of things tonight.
Smell gas? Get everyone out of the house first. Don’t flip light switches or use anything that could make a spark. Once you’re outside and away from the house, call your gas company or 911. That comes before calling a plumber.
What counts as a plumbing emergency?
These are worth a call tonight, whatever time it is:
- Water coming out somewhere and no nearby valve will stop it
- Sewage coming up into a tub, shower, floor drain or toilet
- No water anywhere in the house
- Water near outlets, light fixtures, appliances or the breaker panel
- A water heater that’s leaking a lot, or water or steam blowing out of the relief valve on its side or top
You can slow most of these down yourself while you wait for help.
How to hold things until help gets there
Water you can’t stop: close the main shutoff. It’s usually in the crawlspace, garage, utility room or near the water heater, and this guide walks through finding it. Then open a tub faucet to drain what’s left in the lines.
Sewage backing up: stop using water. Every drain in the house empties into the same sewer line, so a shower upstairs or a dishwasher cycle can push more up through the lowest drain. Tell everyone in the house, and keep kids and pets away from it. If your home is on septic, like plenty of homes in rural Limestone and Madison counties, a full tank can cause the same backup, and it may need pumping.
No water at all: ask a neighbor or check with your water utility first. If the whole street is out, it’s probably a main break or planned work, and that’s the utility’s job. If it’s just your house, make sure your main valve is open. In freezing weather, a frozen line is the likely cause.
Water near electrical: stay out of the water. If you can reach the breaker panel while standing somewhere dry, shut off the breakers for that area. If you can’t, leave the area and call your power company.
Water heater leaking or relief valve spraying: turn off the power at the breaker for an electric heater, or turn the gas control to off on a gas one. Then close the cold water valve on the pipe going into the top of the tank. The relief valve opens when the temperature or pressure inside the tank gets too high. That’s the valve doing its job. Stay clear, because that water can be scalding. And never cap or plug a relief valve to stop it. Ever.
What can usually wait until morning?
A dripping faucet is annoying and a waste of water, but it won’t hurt anything overnight. If the sound is keeping you up, close the two small valves under the sink.
One slow drain can wait. Use a different sink or shower tonight. Skip the chemical drain cleaner, especially if you might call a plumber tomorrow. Nobody wants to open up a trap full of it.
A running toilet can wait. Turn the valve on the wall behind it clockwise to close it. It’s low and usually on the left. Flush once to empty the tank. You can still use that toilet by opening the valve to refill it, then closing it again. We go through the usual fixes in why your toilet keeps running.
No hot water can usually wait in mild weather if everyone in the house is fine with a cold night. Check the breaker on an electric heater or the pilot light on a gas one first. This checklist covers the rest. But if you’ve got a newborn in the house, or someone who’s sick or elderly, or it’s the middle of a cold snap, call sooner. And if the water heater is also leaking, it moves up to the emergency list.
Still not sure?
Call and ask. You can call us any time for a real emergency. We’d rather you call and describe what’s going on than guess wrong and watch it get worse. Sometimes the answer is that it can wait.