What to do in a plumbing emergency?

In a plumbing emergency, having the right information can mean the difference between getting your water back on quickly or waiting several days for some companies to help. Knowing how to shut off your home’s main water valve could save you the cost of hiring a plumber.

Here are some important things to know about some common household emergencies:

· When water is flooding your house despite your best efforts with towels and buckets, it’s time to turn off the main water supply. This may require turning off individual valves connected to each water source in your house — your hot-water heater, washer, dishwasher, and so on. Turn all faucets on full blast so that no more water is entering the system. Then close up all outside hoses and, if you have a sump pump, disconnect it from the power source.

In most homes, the water shut-off valve is beneath a copper cap with a handle on top — this may be painted red, and it’s usually located in your basement or crawlspace near where the water meter is housed. If you’ve never seen one before, try calling your local public works department for help locating it.

· A leaking faucet can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water per year. The first step is to tighten the screw that holds together parts inside your tap called “packing” or “packing nut.” Turn off the faucet then retighten by hand to stop the drip. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to replace the old packing with a new one.

· Do not attempt to fix things under your sink yourself — it may be illegal in some areas and could void the warranty on any fixtures or faucets. Just call an emergency plumber in your area.

· Loosen hard water buildup around your hot-water heater by pouring white vinegar into an empty metal toilet tank (holding about five gallons), then flushing for a few minutes until the vinegar runs out the other end and down the drain. The process clears mineral deposits between flushes; repeat every six months or so if needed. If there’s buildup inside, use an abrasive pad wrapped around a toilet brush to get rid of it, but make sure you only do this when the unit is cool and turned off.

· If you’re getting a lot of ice buildup on your freezer coils, turn up the temperature dial to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours; that should melt enough ice to prevent further frosting. Then call a service person to clean the coils properly with a special brush — if they’re really dirty, you may need to replace them.

· To unclog your garbage disposal, run it while pouring warm water mixed with half a cup of table salt down the drain. If this doesn’t clear up the problem, try using an enzyme-based cleaner or simply cut an orange, lemon, or grapefruit in half and dump it into the disposal with lots of cold running water. Switch on and let the disposal run for a minute or so, and throw the citrus fruit away. Remember you can always count on us. We have a lot of experience dealing with these kinds of emergencies, for this reason, some of our customers call us the best local emergency plumbers in Anderson Mill.

· If you suspect your home’s septic tank is backed up — sewage has spilled onto your property or floor drains are backing up even when they aren’t overloaded — call your local health department immediately. You may also have to call an emergency cleaning service to clean things up if the soil around the area is contaminated with sewage.

· If you have a gas emergency in the house, open all windows no matter how cold it is outside then leave immediately and contact your utility company from somewhere else. The utility provider will then give you instructions on how to shut off the flow of gas safely if this hasn’t already been done automatically by the fire department.

Emergency Plumbing Problems are stressful

Plumbing emergencies crop up out of nowhere. It’s more than likely you’ll get called to an emergency plumber in the middle of the night on Cinco de Mayo or some other festive celebration, but things like clogged bathtubs and broken water heaters can happen during any time of day. In fact, there is a good chance that plumbing problems will happen at the worst possible time.

Emergency plumbing needs to be dealt with fast. If you can’t fix it yourself, for whatever reason, there is nothing wrong with calling an emergency plumber such as Emergency Plumbing Auckland service. They often charge a premium hourly rate but having someone come out immediately usually beats the price of even a minor water damage repair job down the road.