Plumbing emergencies do not keep business hours. A washer hose lets go on a Saturday night or a crawlspace pipe splits in the first hard freeze. When water is running where it should not be, every minute adds to the damage.
Our phone is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Customers have told us, in their reviews, that we picked up at 2am on a Sunday. That is the point of an emergency line: a person who can tell you what to shut off right now, then get a plumber headed your way.
Emergencies are not only a homeowner problem, either. We take after-hours calls from businesses too: a restaurant with a backed-up floor drain, an office with a split supply line, a rental unit with no water. Residential or commercial, the first step is the same: stop the water, then fix the cause.
Call right away if
- Water is spraying or pouring from a pipe, fitting or supply line
- Sewage is coming up into a tub, shower or floor drain
- A toilet is overflowing and will not stop
- Your water heater is leaking from the tank itself, or water is pooling around it
- You have no water at all and your neighbors do
- A sewage ejector pump has stopped and its basin is close to overflowing
- You smell gas near a water heater, range or any gas appliance
Find your main water shutoff before you need it
The most useful thing to know in a plumbing emergency is how to shut off water to the whole house. In the Upstate, the main shutoff is usually in one of a few places.
Find yours this week and turn it once. A valve untouched for twenty years can be seized, and midnight with water on the floor is the worst time to find out.
- Crawlspace homes: on the main line just inside the foundation wall, usually on the side of the house facing the street.
- Slab homes: often in the garage, near the water heater, in a utility closet or under a hall bath sink where the line comes up through the floor.
- Basement homes: on the line where it comes through the basement wall, close to the front of the house.
- At the curb: the meter box near the street has the utility's valve on the street side of the meter. Many have a customer valve on the house side, too. A meter key helps. Lift the lid with care, since wasps and snakes like it in there.
What to do before the plumber arrives
A few minutes of the right action limits the damage. Once you have called us, work through this list.
- Burst or leaking pipe: shut off the main. Then open a faucet on the lowest floor to drain pressure out of the lines.
- Overflowing toilet: lift the tank lid and push the flapper down to stop the water. Then turn the oval shutoff valve on the wall behind the toilet clockwise.
- Leaking water heater: turn the cold-water valve on top of the heater clockwise to stop the supply. For a gas heater, turn the gas control to Off or Pilot. For an electric heater, switch off its breaker.
- Sewer backup: stop running water anywhere in the house, including the dishwasher and washing machine. Every gallon you send down comes back up at the lowest drain.
- Water near electrical: stay out of it and shut off power to that area if you can reach the panel from a dry spot.
- Then move rugs, boxes and furniture out of the wet area and take photos for your insurance company.
Emergency now, or a call in the morning
Not every plumbing problem needs a plumber at 3am, and we will tell you so when you call. If you can stop the water and live without one fixture for the night, morning is often the sensible choice.
It is an emergency if water is running and you cannot stop it, if sewage is backing up into the house, if you have no water at all, or if there is any smell of gas. It is also urgent if a leak is near electrical, or if it is freezing and a pipe has already split.
It can usually wait until morning if one toilet is clogged and you have another, a faucet drips, a single drain is slow, or a leak has stopped once you closed the fixture's own shutoff valve. A water heater that has gone cold but is not leaking can usually wait as well.
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.
Not sure this is the problem? Describe what is happening and we will tell you.
(864) 415-7482What affects the cost of an emergency call
Every job is priced before work starts. These are the things that move the number.
- Time of the call
- Nights, weekends and holidays can cost more than a weekday visit. We tell you before anyone heads out.
- What failed
- A burst supply line is a quick swap. A split pipe inside a finished wall or a failed water heater is a bigger job.
- Access
- An open crawlspace is fast. Leaks inside finished walls, ceilings or slabs take longer to reach and repair.
Why people call Gas Guys in an emergency
A person answers, 24/7
Not a voicemail box or a callback form. Reviews mention a call answered at 2am on a Sunday.
Honest about what can wait
If it can safely wait until morning, we will say so.
Gas is our specialty
A leaking gas water heater needs someone who works on gas every day.
We explain the work
Customers say our techs explain what failed and why. You see what we see before you approve the repair.