Plumbing emergency? Shut off the main, then call.

Shut off the main water valve first. Almost every plumbing emergency gets smaller the moment the water stops, and it’s the one thing you can do before anybody shows up. Then call us.

Before we get there

1. Close the main shutoff. It’s usually where the water line comes into the house, often in the crawlspace near the front wall, on a garage wall, or next to the water heater. A round handle turns clockwise until it stops. A lever turns a quarter turn so it sits crosswise to the pipe. If it won’t budge, don’t force it with a pipe wrench. Tell us when you call.
2. Turn off the power to anything that’s wet. That can mean the water heater’s breaker or the outlets in a flooded room. If you’d have to stand in water to reach the panel, don’t. Stay out of that room.
3. Open a faucet on the lowest floor. With the main closed, that drains what’s left in the pipes and takes the pressure off the break.
4. If the water heater is the problem, switch off its breaker or set the gas control to off or pilot, then close the cold water valve on top of the tank.
5. Get rugs, boxes, and anything electric up off the floor.

Smell gas? Leave the house and don’t flip any switches on the way out. Once you’re outside, call the gas company or 911. Plumbing can wait until they’ve made it safe.

What we handle as an emergency

Burst pipes top the list. After a hard freeze it’s usually a line in the crawlspace or along an outside wall. The rest of the year it’s more likely a braided supply hose to a toilet, a sink, or the washing machine that finally let go.

Then there’s water you can’t stop. Sometimes the main valve is stuck open, and sometimes the valve itself is what’s leaking. Old gate valves with round handles are famous for both.

If the tub gurgles or backs up when someone flushes, the main sewer line is blocked. Stop running water everywhere in the house, including the washer and the dishwasher. Every gallon you send down has to go somewhere, and it comes up at the lowest drain.

No water at all is worth a quick check before you call anyone. See if the neighbors have water and whether your utility has posted an outage. If it’s only your house, look for a frozen line, a valve somebody closed, or a break in the line out in the yard.

A water heater leaking from the tank slows down once it’s shut off and the cold valve is closed, since all that’s left is what’s inside. If the heater’s in a garage and the water has somewhere to go, the replacement can often wait for daylight. In an attic or an upstairs closet, it can’t.

A faucet that only trickles on a cold morning means a pipe froze somewhere, and it may split as it thaws. Open that faucet and warm the area with a hair dryer. Never use a torch or any open flame on a pipe. If you can’t find the frozen spot, or it’s already cracked, call.

Can it wait until morning?

If the water’s off and nothing is getting wetter, a lot of problems can wait for regular hours, Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. A running toilet, a dripping faucet, or a slow kitchen drain can all wait, and so can one clogged toilet if the house has a second one.

What shouldn’t wait is water you can’t shut off, sewage in the house, no water at all, or a leak somewhere it can bring down a ceiling. Our guide to whether it’s a plumbing emergency goes through the gray areas.

Calling after hours

Tell us what’s happening and whether you’ve got the water off yet. We’ll give you an honest idea of how soon someone can get there, and that depends on the night. After a hard freeze, a lot of houses split pipes on the same morning, and we’d rather tell you the truth than a hopeful guess.

We take emergency calls all over Huntsville and out to Madison, Decatur, and Athens.