Gaffney sits up I-85 from our base in Spartanburg, and our emergency line is answered by a person around the clock. If water is coming through a ceiling, sewage is rising in a tub, or a pipe has split in the crawlspace, you will talk to someone who can tell you what to shut off while a plumber gets on the road.
Gaffney runs most of its own utilities, and that helps sort out an emergency. The Board of Public Works handles the water meter, the mains and the public sewer. Piedmont Natural Gas handles gas. Anything on the house side of the meter, or in your sewer line before it reaches the BPW tap, is private plumbing.
The housing ranges from large homes in the historic district, built around 1890 to 1930, to textile-era houses and newer subdivisions. Older homes bring galvanized supply lines, cast iron drains and clay sewer laterals. Newer ones bring PEX, plastic drains and attic water heaters.
If a problem can safely wait until morning, we will tell you. Not every drip is worth a night call, and an honest answer on the phone is part of the service.
Sorting a Gaffney emergency by owner
Making the right first call saves time, especially at night.
- Water leaking at the meter or in the street: Gaffney Board of Public Works
- Sewage overflowing from a public manhole: Gaffney Board of Public Works
- Gas smell: leave the house, then call Piedmont at 800-752-7504 or 911
- Burst pipe, leaking heater or overflowing fixture inside: Gas Guys
- Sewage backing up inside from your own lateral: Gas Guys
Cast iron, clay and old laterals
Older parts of Gaffney often have cast iron drain stacks inside the house and clay or cast iron sewer laterals outside. Cast iron cracks along the bottom as it ages, and roots work into clay joints. The emergency version is a backup at the lowest drain, usually a basement floor drain, a first-floor tub or a shower.
Stop using water in the house the moment you see it. Every flush or load of laundry ends up in the same low drain. Once we clear the line, a camera inspection shows whether the cause is a one-time clog, roots that will return, or a broken section that needs repair.
Galvanized pipe that finally lets go
Galvanized steel supply pipe rusts from the inside out. The early signs are low pressure and brown water after the lines sit. The emergency sign is a threaded joint that rusts through and starts spraying, often in a crawlspace or inside a wall.
Shut off the main, which in older homes is often just inside the foundation wall near the front, or at the meter box. We cut out the failed section and connect new pipe with the right transition fittings, then talk with you about whether more of the galvanized should come out.
When the whole house has no water
If every tap is dry, check with a neighbor or look for BPW outage notices first. If the street has water and you do not, the problem is on your side: a closed valve, a frozen line, or a break in the service pipe between the meter and the house.
A broken service line often shows up as a soggy strip of yard or water bubbling up between the meter box and the foundation. Shut the customer valve at the meter if you can reach it, and call. We locate the break, dig to it and repair or replace the line.
Freezes in older crawlspaces
Open foundation vents and pier foundations let cold air sweep under older houses, and supply lines near the vents freeze first. Pipes often split while frozen and only start leaking when they thaw. Close any vent covers before a hard freeze, wrap exposed pipe near openings, and let faucets on outside walls drip on the coldest nights.
In Gaffney specifically
BPW for the public side
The Board of Public Works maintains the public water and sewer. The service line and sewer lateral on your property are yours.
City or county permits
If an emergency turns into a permitted repair, such as a new water heater or sewer line, the permit comes from the City of Gaffney or Cherokee County Building Safety.
Basements and floor drains
Some older homes have a basement floor drain as the lowest opening on the system. That is where a main line backup shows up first.
Rural Cherokee County
Homes outside the BPW system may be on wells and septic. A septic backup across the whole house is usually a job for a septic contractor first.
How an emergency call works
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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 Gaffney.