Plumbing Emergency? The First 5 Steps

The five steps, in order

• 1. Stop the water. Fixture shutoff first (under the sink, behind the toilet); if that fails or it’s a pipe, shut the main — at the meter box or where the line enters the house.
• 2. Kill power to affected areas at the breaker if water is anywhere near outlets or appliances.
• 3. For a water heater: close its cold-inlet valve and turn off its power or gas.
• 4. Open a low faucet to drain pressure from the lines, and move what you can out of the water.
• 5. Call a plumber while it’s contained — describe what you see and what you shut off.

Find your main shutoff TODAY

The single best emergency preparation is knowing where your main shutoff is before you need it — at the street-side meter box, or where the supply enters the house. Test that it actually turns. Sixty seconds now saves a soaked ceiling later.

What counts as “call now” vs. “call in the morning”

• Call now: water you can’t stop, sewage backing up, no water to the house, a gas smell near the water heater (leave and call the gas utility first).
• Can wait for daylight: a drip contained in a bucket, one slow drain, a running toilet with its shutoff closed.

We answer

JB Plumbing is open 24 hours with emergency service available — call (512) 663-3049 day or night, and most calls are returned within the hour.