Reasons to Call a 24-Hour Plumber: Emergencies That You Shouldn’t Ignore

As you may know, home-ownership goes hand in hand with many maintenance responsibilities. The plumbing, which consists of dozens of feet of piping running beneath the floors and inside the walls of your home, can present you with a host of problems. While some are minor and can be fixed easily with do-it-yourself solutions, others are more serious and require the immediate attention of a plumber.  By keeping the phone number of a good all-hours plumber on hand, you can be sure to get the help you need fast when you experience:

A Burst Pipe

Pipes can burst in your home for two main reasons. Age-related wear and corrosion can eat through the wall of the pipe and cause it to break, or an overnight freeze can cause ice to form inside a pipe, cracking it. The pipe will then begin to leak and flooding can occur when the ice melts. Either way, a pipe burst requires immediate attention from a plumber, because flooding can damage your walls and flooring materials and also cause mold to grow inside your home. Make sure you know where your main water shutoff is so that you can stop the flooding while you are waiting for your plumber to arrive.

A Clogged Drain

Your home’s drains carry waste-water from your sinks, dishwasher, washing machine, toilet, and bathtub to the main sewer line. Unfortunately, although the pipes are not designed to handle anything beyond water and toilet paper, other types of waste often end up getting washed down the drain. Food scraps, grease, facial tissues, cotton swabs, and other types of waste can stick inside your pipes and cause backups, which eventually lead to clogs. You should call a plumber to inspect and unclog your drains, because commercial drain cleaning chemicals can be very dangerous, and they may not effectively dissolve all blockages.

A Leaky Toilet

When the rubber seals that prevent water from flowing out of your toiler tank and into the bowl deteriorate, a slow leak of fluid causes water to constantly run. Toilet leaks can waste hundreds of gallons each day, so if you hear your toilet running, you should determine if there is a leak. Add a few drops of food coloring to the tank and wait about an hour to see if it leaks into the bowl. If it does, call a plumber to fix the problem so that you can avoid elevated water bills.

A Collapsed Sewer Line

The sewer line that runs beneath your home and connects it to the municipal waste-water system is very vulnerable to collapse. Shifting soil can exert uneven pressure on the pipe, minerals in the water supply may corrode it over time, and tree roots searching for water can attack it and expand any existing cracks. If your sewer line collapses, your crawlspace, basement, or home can fill with contaminated, disease-causing water. You will need to hire a plumber immediately to replace the sewer line.

For more information on common plumbing concerns or to schedule for a plumber to come check problems in your home, visit our main page and consult the Ask the Expert section of our site.