Surviving a plumbing crisis can seem daunting, which is why our team of plumbing experts has put together this survival guide to emergency plumbing for Berkeley residents like you. We hope this survival guide to emergency plumbing for Berkeley residents will help educate and prepare our Berkeley neighbors to stay calm and get through their next plumbing emergency as smoothly as possible.
Don’t forget – if you in the middle of a plumbing emergency right now, don’t wait another minute, call us now at (650) 583-3311 and we’ll send one of our experienced plumbers over immediately to get things fixed as soon as possible. We make our emergency plumbing services available to you 24 hours a day, so don’t even worry about what time of day it is – simply give us a call and we’ll be there for you.
Activate the Main Shutoff Valve
The first step in any plumbing emergency is usually finding and turning off the main shutoff valve to stop water flow throughout the property. In a plumbing emergency, water may be leaking or flooding uncontrollably, and every minute counts. Fumbling around trying to plug the leak or find a specific valve for the specific location can cost valuable time – time that water continues to keep flowing unmitigated. Going straight for the main shutoff valve means you can pretty much guarantee you’ll shut off the water to the problem area on the first attempt.
Normally, you’ll want to know where this important valve is located before the emergency occurs, but if you don’t know yet, try looking in the basement of your home or in utility areas like walls outside of the home. Simply turn the valve clockwise to shut off the water – you can always re-enable the water by turning it counter-clockwise later when the emergency is fully addressed.
Get an Expert En Route as Soon as Possible
Once the water flow to the entire property has been shut off, you’ll probably want to call in a plumbing expert to get the problems fixed before reactivating the water. The sooner you get the expert there, the better – it also means the sooner you’ll be able to use your water and plumbing again. If you’re looking for expert help, be sure to give us a call, as our 24 hour emergency plumbing service is always standing by and ready to help you.
Deactivate the Hot Water Heater
Also after you’ve turned off the main shutoff valve, it’s extremely important that you deactivate your hot water heater. For gas hot water heaters, either switch the pilot light to “pilot” or switch off the thermostat on the unit. IF you have an electric hot water heater, you’ll need to find the circuit breaker that feeds electricity to the unit and disable that circuit. Again, it’s very important to disable the hot water heater, because once the main water is shut off to the unit, it may become too full with steam which can cause it to rupture, which would make your plumbing emergency and even bigger quandary.
Find Tools and Supplies that May Help
Once you’ve shut off the main water and the water heater, and called for professional plumbing help, you don’t need to simply sit around waiting for help to arrive. Look around for buckets and rags which can help you collect and soak water, and transport it away from the problem area.
If you haven’t called us yet, please do so now – we’ll send someone over immediately to get you through your plumbing emergency, no matter the time of day.