In my last article I touched on what constitutes emergency plumbing.

In this article, I would like to approach emergency plumbing from a different angle. Today I would like to discuss some of the most common plumbing emergencies, and what you can do to sort . . . → Read More:]]> In my last article I touched on what constitutes emergency plumbing.

In this article, I would like to approach emergency plumbing from a different angle. Today I would like to discuss some of the most common plumbing emergencies, and what you can do to sort of stem the flow (so to speak) until the plumber can get there.

Sewer main backup

This is by far the most common plumbing emergency the average homeowner experiences. It usually starts with a toilet that just doesn’t seem to want to flush correctly, followed by a sort of burbling, and finally the toilet overflowing onto the bathroom floor. The biggest problem with a mainline backup is that it can often be mistaken for a regular toilet blockage. The symptoms look almost identical at first, especially to the untrained eye. The easiest way to tell if it is your Main line that is backed up, is that often a tub or shower will also refuse to drain.

Often, when a sewer main is backed up, not using any water in the house for a while will allow the line of partially drain. Sometimes the line will drain down far enough where it appears as though everything is working correctly again. Usually a few flushes of the toilet will demonstrate otherwise. Keep in mind that any water that goes down a drain in your home will backup into the lowest fixture in your house. That means that if you have a toilet downstairs and your sewer line is backed up, flushing the upstairs toilet may very well flood your downstairs restroom. The best thing that you can do here is to stop using all water and call a plumber immediately.

Water pipe burst

Gate Valve

Having a water line burst inside, or even outside, of your home can be one of the scariest plumbing emergencies that a homeowner can experience. Water supply piping is all over your house, is pressurized, and is mostly hidden from view. Unlike a sewer main backup that starts draining slower and slower before it finally backs up completely, a water pipe bursting often gives no warning whatsoever. One day everything is peaches and cream and the next day you’ve got a flood on your hands.

When faced with this particular type of plumbing emergency, you need to immediately focus on the one thing: shutting off the water. There are usually a number of ways to get this accomplished. If you have a Main shutoff valve at the front of your house, this will be the easiest way to shut your water off. If you have an older gate valve, it will have a circular handle on it. You want to turn this handle clockwise to turn the water off. Remember the old adage, “righty tighty – lefty loosy”. If you have the newer style ball valve, the handle will look like a lever. Turn the lever one quarter turn, which will shut off your water.

Ball Valve

The second option would be to turn the water off at the meter. The water meter is where the local utility company goes to read how much water you’ve used every month. Often times turning off the water at the meter can be extremely difficult without the proper tools. For this reason, if you do not have a shutoff valve at the front of your house, I recommend that you go to your local hardware store and buy a meter key. It is always better to spend a few dollars on a tool you may never use, than not have the key when you need it and suffer thousands of dollars of water damage.

Two things that you should make sure you do any time you turn the water off your home:

1. Turn off the gas to your water heater
2. Open up all the hose faucets outside of your home

Turning off the gas to your water heater, either with the gas caulk or setting the control unit to pilot, will keep the water heater from firing on a partially empty tank. Opening up all the hose bibs outside of the home will allow residual water from inside of the water pipes to drain outside instead of inside.

Gas leak

As far as emergency plumbing situations go, having a gas leak inside of your home is by far the most dangerous. Not only is natural gas very combustible, so that little more than a tiny spark can create a huge explosion, but breathing the gas can kill you. Natural gas itself is odorless. Odorant is added to make it smell like rotten eggs so that we’ll know when we have a gas leak.

Most homeowners, when they smelled gas, have a natural tendency to want to call their utility provider (here in California, it’s Pacific Gas & Electric Co.). Believe it or not, that’s not usually the best idea. Most utility companies will not fix a gas leak if it is in your piping. Usually, they will just let you know if you have a leak, and sometimes the general location aware that leak might be. Then they will shut down your gas, and will often insert a device so that it may not be turned back on. The reason this is not always the best option, is because most plumbers need to be able to turn on the gas to find out where the leak is coming from.

If you smell a gas leak in your home, or around your home, there is one thing that needs to be done immediately: shut off the gas! High on the list of objects in your home that you need to know how to locate and operate is the gas meter. Each gas meter will have a shutoff valve that usually shuts the gas off with a quarter turn. Most home improvement stores carry emergency gas shutoff tools. Personally, I have always used a large crescent wrench.

I know this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface when it comes to all the possible combinations of plumbing emergencies. In this article, I basically wanted to cover the top three. As always, the comments area is open, as well as a form. I welcome your questions and suggestions on other topics that you’d like for me to cover. Until then, I hope that this article has allowed you to at least be prepared for these three emergency plumbing scenarios.

Here in California we have a law that states that any time someone comes to your home to sell you . . . → Read More:]]> The question of what constitutes emergency plumbing is an interesting one.  It is also important for a number of reasons.  Let’s start with the most broad definition, and its application.

Here in California we have a law that states that any time someone comes to your home to sell you a good or service that is valued at over $300, you have the right to cancel that transaction within 3 working days after signing the contract.  That means that if someone comes to your home and you buy a vacuum cleaner from them (for more than $300), you can notify the seller in writing that you wish to cancel the sale up to 3 full working days after you bought it.  The seller, by law, must accept the vacuum back and issue a full refund of the purchase price (without penalty).  The same is true for a plumber that performs more than $300 in service.

Unfortunately for the plumber, if you should cancel that transaction, you cannot “return” the service.  In this case the company must still provide you with a full refund.  In some cases, such as water heater replacements, the company can opt to uninstall the new unit, but only if they reinstall your old unit.  Most companies will not do that, so you will usually wind up with a free service, and the company eats the costs.

Since most plumbing companies do not survive by doing free work, they will ask you to sign a “Waiver of Right to Cancel”.  Here is the catch: you can only waive your right to cancel the transaction if the repair is needed to remedy an emergency situation.  On the cancellation waiver will be verbiage that states that you have an emergency situation that requires immediate attention.  In this case, the term “emergency plumbing” takes on a very loose definition.  For the sake of signing the waiver, something as simple as “need to use toilet” will suffice.

Now, some people will become wary when presented by this waiver, as they may fear that it leaves them with no recourse should they be dissatisfied with the work.  Be assured that this is not the case.  They are still bound by their licensing authority to provide the service that they are contracted to provide in a workmanlike and professional manor.  Others may be concerned that by stating their need as an emergency, they are bound to continue to consider the problem as an emergency.

The fact is that in the case of declaring a plumbing problem an emergency for the sake of the cancellation waiver, “emergency” only means that you do not want to wait 4 days to have the problem addressed.  That is all.  Once that is decided, we look at the more commonly accepted definition of emergency plumbing repairs.

The reason that I want you to change gears here is because there are plumbers out there that will misuse “emergency”.  Just because a company may authorize a 10% discount to get started today, does not mean that your plumbing job that is not really an emergency suddenly becomes one!  When deciding whether or not a job should be considered an emergency plumbing repair, there are a few questions that need to be asked.  Ask yourself these questions, and if you do not know the answer, ask the plumber:

1. Is the __________ completely unusable until the repair is made?
2. Can I live with the __________ in its current state until I have had time to think/save/compare/etc.?
3. Does the _______ in its current state risk the health of myself or others?
4. Does the current state of _________ risk damage to things that are of worth to me?
5. If not addressed immediately, are the answers to #3 or #4 likely to become “yes”, and if so, how soon?
6. Do the benefits of getting the work done right away, far outweigh the benefits of comparing estimates, getting a second opinion, further researching, etc.?

The answers to those questions will let you know very quickly whether or not you have a true emergency plumbing situation.  The good news is that if you have followed the advice in my other articles, you will already have a plumber that you trust that will help you decide whether or not the problem you are facing is an immediate need, or something that can hold off for a bit.  One thing that my customers grew accustom to hearing was, “this is not an emergency or anything, so it doesn’t need to be done today, but the next time you call me out, it will likely be to fix this.  If you have the time and the budget to have me take care of it today, it will save you the service call fee for having to call me back out later to fix it.”  A true professional will always be honest with you and create a win/win for both of you for every situation.  That, in and of itself, will help to eliminate future plumbing emergencies.