Water damage in your home can happen quickly. It’s a mess to clean up and can lead to expensive repairs. Everyone should know these emergency plumbing tips whether you’re a homeowner or a renter. Oftentimes you’ll need to act fast and won’t have the luxury of time. That’s why we’ve provided tips that are critical during a plumbing crisis to help contain and protect your home from water damage and the resulting expenses.
The number one, most important tip is to know the location of your main water valve. This is essential should the worst happen and you have a ruptured water pipe or some other plumbing catastrophe. The sooner you shut off your water supply, the better! By turning this valve off, you’ll stop all incoming water from entering your home.
With a water leak, you’ll also want to know the location of your breaker box. Depending upon the type of plumbing emergency, you may need to shut off the power to certain appliances for safety reasons. Water and electricity are a deadly combination!
Back to the main valve … every house is required to have a main valve, and it’s important to know where yours is located and how to use it. The location of this valve varies from house to house. If you don’t know where yours is, you’ll want to locate it as soon as possible and make sure all the members of your family are aware of its location as well. The valve itself is typically either a round handle that you rotate (clockwise or counterclockwise) or a lever valve that you pull (up or down).
In certain situations, you may be able to shut off water to a certain sink or appliance, and not need to shut off the main valve. Sinks, toilets, dishwashers, washing machines, hot water heaters, and most water-using appliances have independent valves allowing you to isolate a particular fixture. This makes it easy to repair, replace, or modify without turning off the water to your whole house. This is especially helpful if you have a leaky faucet or leaky or clogged toilet and aren’t able to get a plumber out to your house for a few days. You can turn off the water to the specific fixture without shutting off the water to your whole home. In the case of a clogged toilet, shut off the water to the toilet and use an appropriate plunger to fix the clog. If this does not fix the problem, the clog may be deeper in the pipes, and it’s time to call a plumber.
Being aware of these emergency plumbing tips can help save your home from further damage. By knowing where your main valve is located and how to turn it off can be the difference between wiping up water to a complete gut job. At Rainaldi Home Services we pride ourselves on being fast and dependable, and we offer emergency plumbing services. When a disaster strikes your home, we’ll be there to help! We can even help you locate your main water valve! Give us a call at (407) 413-9795 or contact us online.