Emergency plumbing
If water is coming in, call first and read this after.
The line is answered 24 hours a day by somebody who can tell you what to shut off. That conversation is usually worth more than how fast anyone drives.
Do these three things while the phone rings
In this order. Most of the damage happens in the minutes before anyone arrives.
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Shut off the water
Main valve is usually in the basement near the front wall, or by the water meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops.
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Kill power to the area
If water is anywhere near outlets, a panel or the furnace, switch that circuit off. Do not walk into standing water to reach it.
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Open the lowest faucet
It drains the pipes downward and takes the pressure off the break, which slows what is still coming out.
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Then move what matters
Boxes off the floor, rugs up. Photograph everything before you clean it, because your insurer will ask.
What counts, and what can wait
We would rather tell you it can wait until Tuesday than charge you a night rate for something that could.
Call us now
- A pipe has burst or is spraying
- Water is coming through a ceiling
- Sewage is backing up into the house
- No water at all, anywhere
- A water heater is leaking from the tank
- You can smell gas near the heater
- Every drain in the house is backing up at once
- The shut off valve itself has failed
This can wait for a weekday
- One slow drain, everything else fine
- A dripping faucet
- A running toilet
- Water pressure that is low but steady
- A water heater that is working but noisy
- A small drip you can catch in a bucket
- Anything you have lived with for a month
What a night call costs
Said plainly, because nobody wants to negotiate at 3 am.
- Weekdays, 7 am to 5 pm Standard call out charge, quoted on the phone before we set off.
- Evenings, weekends, holidays A higher after hours call out. You are told the figure on the phone, every time, before you agree to anything.
- The repair itself Quoted separately once we have looked at it. You approve it before any work starts.
- If we cannot fix it that night We make it safe, stop the water, and you pay the call out only. No charge for a return trip on our own schedule.
Questions people ask at midnight
Are you actually awake, or is this an answering service?
Awake. The night phone goes to whoever is on call that week, and it is one of the four of us. You will not leave a message and wait for a dispatcher to call back.
I cannot find the shut off valve.
Call and stay on the line. We will walk you through where to look in a house of your age, and if there genuinely is not one reachable, we will tell you what to do instead until we get there.
How long until somebody arrives?
You get a real arrival window on the phone, not a promise nobody can keep. Inside Cedar Rapids and Marion it is usually under an hour at night. If we are already on a call and it is going to be longer, we say so, so you can ring somebody else.
Will my insurance cover this?
Often, for the water damage rather than the plumbing repair itself, though it depends entirely on your policy. Photograph everything before you clean up, keep the invoice, and we will write up what failed and why if your adjuster wants it.
The water is off and it has stopped. Should I still call tonight?
If the water is off and nothing is running, you are usually safe to wait until morning, and it will cost you less. Call anyway and talk it through. We will tell you honestly which it is.
The number is the same at every hour.
One line, day and night. If it is not an emergency you can also send a message and we will get back to you on a weekday morning.