Boiling Springs sits just north of Spartanburg along Highway 9, a short drive from where we are based. The phone is answered by a person at every hour, so a flooded laundry room on a Sunday night or a backup on a holiday morning gets real help, not a recording.
Emergencies in newer homes have their own pattern. Burst galvanized pipe is rare here. What floods houses in this area are failed supply lines, washing machine hoses on a second-floor laundry, attic water heaters that finally rust through, and PEX fittings that let go.
One question matters more here than in town: is your house on sewer or septic? Many Boiling Springs neighborhoods are on septic, and the answer changes who you call when drains back up.
Once you call, we walk you through stopping the damage while a plumber heads your way, and we tell you honestly if the problem can safely wait until morning.
Sewer or septic: who to call
If you are on public sewer, the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District maintains the main and you own the line from the house to the tap. A backup inside the house is almost always in your line, and we clear it.
If you are on septic, a backup that hits every drain at once, especially with a soggy patch over the drain field, usually means the tank or field needs attention. That is a septic contractor's job. If only one fixture or one bathroom is affected, the clog is more likely in a drain we can clear.
Upstairs laundry and attic heaters
Many homes built since the 1990s put the washer upstairs and the water heater in the attic. Both are convenient until they leak, when the water comes through a ceiling instead of across a garage floor.
- Washer: turn off both valves in the laundry box behind the machine
- Attic heater: close the cold valve on top and shut off its gas or breaker
- Ceiling bulging with water: keep everyone out from under it and switch off power to that area at the panel
- Whole-house: close the main shutoff, often in the garage or near the water heater in slab homes
PEX fittings and manifolds
If your home has a PEX manifold, usually a panel of small valves in a garage, closet or utility room, each valve feeds one fixture. Closing the right one can stop a leak without shutting off the whole house.
A lot of plumbing here is PEX run from a manifold with crimp or expansion fittings. The pipe is tough and freeze-tolerant compared with copper, but a fitting that was not crimped properly can let go years later, usually under a sink or at the water heater.
On an emergency call we stop the water, cut out the failed fitting and make the repair with the same PEX system the house was built with, so it matches the rest of the plumbing.
Cold snaps in newer houses
Newer homes are better insulated, but they still freeze in the usual places: outdoor hose bibs left with a hose attached, supply lines in an exterior wall behind a kitchen sink, and pipes in a garage or a vented crawlspace. Frost-free hose bibs only work if the hose is disconnected.
Before a hard freeze, disconnect hoses, open sink cabinets on outside walls, and let a faucet drip on the coldest nights. If a pipe splits anyway, close the main and call.
Whether to call tonight
Water you cannot stop, sewage coming up inside, no water at all, or a gas smell all justify a call at any hour. A dripping faucet, a running toilet, or a clogged toilet when there is another one in the house can wait for morning, and we will tell you so.
In Boiling Springs specifically
Water service
Spartanburg Water serves Boiling Springs. Water spraying at the meter or in the street is theirs; anything on the house side of the meter is private.
Gas emergencies
For a gas smell, get outside and call Piedmont Natural Gas at 800-752-7504 or 911, or your propane supplier if you are on a tank.
Know your system
Find your septic tank lid or your sewer cleanout before you need it. In an emergency, knowing which you have lets us skip a step and get to the right fix sooner.
County permits for bigger repairs
If an emergency turns into a replacement, such as a water heater or a sewer line, the permit comes from Spartanburg County Building Codes.
How an emergency call works
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You call, a person answers
Day or night, someone walks you through shutting off the water, gas or power while a plumber gets on the way.
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Stop the damage
The first job on site is to stop the water and make the house safe. A full repair sometimes waits for parts or daylight.
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Find the cause
A split pipe, a failed supply line, a blocked main or a rusted-out tank. Knowing why keeps it from happening again.
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Explain, then repair
We tell you what we found and the options before any repair beyond the emergency fix. Then we repair, restore the water and check for leaks.
The full guide to emergency plumbing, and everything else about plumbing and gas in Boiling Springs.