In parts one and two of this multi-part blog series, we’ve gone over some of the red flags that might signal a burst water pipe in your home. These events are often significant plumbing issues or even plumbing emergencies when they cause major flooding and water damage risks, and being able to spot the early signs that this has taken place might save you a lot of time and money.
At Action Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric, we’re happy to offer a wide variety of 24-hour emergency plumbing services, including for a burst pipe you’ve discovered plus a variety of other potential issues. While our first sections went over how to spot a burst pipe, our upcoming ones will look at what you should do if you’ve confirmed the presence of a burst pipe within your plumbing system.
Turn off Main Water Valve
The first and most important step, which you can perform even before calling our team for assistance if you know how, is to turn off your home’s main water valve. This will stop the flow of water through the burst pipe, limiting the extent of water damage and remediation needs.
Performing this task as quickly as possible is vital when you find a burst pipe. Main water valves are usually located in the basement or under the kitchen sink – it pays to know where your valve is ahead of time in case any issue like this does take place, as this will allow you to shut it off much faster.
Call our Team
Once you’ve turned off the main water valve, or if you need assistance with locating it or turning it off, call our plumbers for 24-hour emergency plumbing assistance in any case where the burst pipe is causing a significant leak. Not only will we assist you with the main water valve if needed, we’ll also provide expertise and direction on several other potential areas while you wait for our plumbers to arrive, some of which we’ll go over in our subsequent sections.
Drain Pipes
Once the main water valve has been shut off, our plumbers may walk you through the pipe-draining process to remove any leftover water. This is usually very simple, involving nothing more than just flushing each toilet in the home and running the cold-water side of every faucet until it runs dry. If further steps are needed here, our plumbers will walk you through them.
Other Turnoff Areas
There are also a couple other important turnoff areas to be aware of if you have a plumbing pipe burst:
- Hot water heater: Once the system is shut down, our plumbers will show you how to bleed the hot water from all faucets in the home plus shut down the hot water heater.
- Electricity: If there’s any pooling water risk at all, shut off your fuse box quickly to avoid electricity risks.
For more on how to respond if you’ve identified a plumbing pipe burst in your home, or to learn about any of our plumbing repair, furnace replacement or other services, speak to the staff at Action Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric today.