Gas Guys is based in Spartanburg, and the emergency line is answered by a person 24 hours a day, every day of the year. That matters most at the hours when other offices have gone to voicemail: a supply line that lets go on a Saturday night, a sewer backup on a holiday, a pipe that splits in a crawlspace during the first hard freeze.
Knowing who owns what saves time in a Spartanburg emergency. Spartanburg Water handles the meter and the line in the street. The Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District handles the public sewer main.
Piedmont Natural Gas handles its gas meter and service line. Everything on the house side of those is ours to fix.
When you call, we will help you stop the damage first: where to find the shutoff, what to turn off, what to leave alone. Then we get a plumber on the road.
Who to call for what
A quick way to sort a Spartanburg emergency by owner:
- Water gushing at the meter box or in the street: Spartanburg Water
- Sewage backing up from a public manhole or main: the Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District
- Gas smell: Piedmont Natural Gas at 800-752-7504 or 911, from outside
- Water from a pipe, fitting, fixture or heater inside the house: us
- Sewage backing up inside the house from your own lateral: us
Old houses fail in their own ways
In early 1900s homes, the emergencies we hear about most often come from aging materials. Galvanized supply pipe rusts from the inside until a joint gives way. Cast iron drains crack along the bottom. Clay laterals under big street trees fill with roots until the lowest drain in the house starts backing up.
None of that is reason to panic about an old house. It is reason to know where your main shutoff is, which in most of these homes means the crawlspace near the front foundation wall or the meter box at the curb.
Hard freezes and crawlspace pipes
A crawlspace that is vented and uninsulated gets nearly as cold as the outdoors on a bitter night. Supply pipes running along an outside wall, or close to an open foundation vent, are the first to freeze. They often split while frozen and only start spraying when they thaw the next afternoon.
If a pipe bursts, shut off the main and open a faucet low in the house. Then call. Before the next cold snap, close any foundation vents that have covers and wrap exposed pipe near them.
A leaking water heater after hours
Water around the base of a tank in a closet or on a finished floor is worth a call at any hour. Close the cold-water valve on top, set a gas heater to Pilot or Off or switch off an electric heater's breaker, and lay towels toward the nearest floor drain or door.
Once the water is stopped, the heater itself can usually wait for daylight. We will confirm whether the leak is the tank or a fitting, and replace or repair it with the right permit for your address.
When it can wait for daylight
We would rather tell you a problem can wait than send someone out at 3am for a drip. If you can shut off the water to one fixture and you have another bathroom, morning is usually fine. Sewage coming up, water you cannot stop, no water at all, or any gas smell is not something to sleep on.
Shutting off the main can also buy you a night. If nothing is still leaking and the household can manage without water until morning, a daytime visit is often fine. If that leaves a family with no working toilet through a long night, call and we will come out.
In Spartanburg specifically
Spartanburg or county address
An emergency repair is still a repair. If it turns into a permitted job, such as a water heater or a sewer line replacement, the permit comes from the city inside city limits and the county outside them.
Your lateral, your call
The pipe from your house to the SSSD tap belongs to you. If a camera shows the break is in the public section, the district takes over.
Tree roots in older neighborhoods
On streets lined with old oaks and maples, roots are behind many repeat backups. A camera inspection after the emergency shows whether cleaning is enough.
Seized valves in old houses
A main shutoff that has not moved in decades may not turn when you need it. If yours is stiff, have it replaced on a calm weekday rather than discovering it during a flood.
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 Spartanburg.