Can This Plumbing Problem Wait Until Morning?
Work down the list and find your symptom. If it is not on the call tonight list and you have shut off the water to whatever is affected, it can almost certainly wait, and you will pay less in the morning.
What to do right now
Do these first. None of them need tools or plumbing knowledge, and they limit what this ends up costing you.
Stop and get out if any of these are true
Water has reached anything electrical and you cannot cut power from a dry position, or sewage has entered living space. In either case leave the area, do not touch switches, and call from outside.
- Shut off whatever has failedThe fixture valve if you can reach it, the main if you cannot. That single action converts most emergencies into morning appointments.
- Contain anything still drippingA bucket and towels. A contained drip is a stable situation.
- Check it again before bedIf anything has changed, particularly if a stain has grown or water has started escaping again, that changes the answer.
Does this need a plumber tonight?
- Water escaping that you cannot stop
- Sewage in living space
- No water at all with the house below freezing
- Water near electrics
- A sagging or bulging ceiling
- The only toilet in the house is unusable
- A gas smell near the water heater
- A slow or blocked drain with other drains working
- A running toilet isolated at its valve
- A dripping tap or shower head
- No hot water in mild weather
- Low pressure at one fixture
- A contained drip in a bucket
- A blocked toilet where another bathroom works
- A noisy pipe with no leak
The test underneath the list
Is anything getting worse while you sleep? If yes, call. If no, book it for the morning. Almost every case resolves against that one question.
Damage accumulates, discomfort does not. A leak spreading through a ceiling is getting worse by the hour. A dripping tap has been dripping for months and will still be dripping at nine.
The exception is genuine hardship. A house with no working toilet, or no water in freezing weather, is a fair call at any hour and we are not going to argue about it.
What waiting actually saves
[PLACEHOLDER: PRICING] Whether our own rates differ overnight is pending confirmation. What is certain is that a morning appointment is easier to schedule and rarely worse for the repair.
The other thing waiting buys is parts. Supply houses are closed overnight, so a repair needing anything unusual gets capped tonight and finished tomorrow anyway. In that situation calling at 2am buys you the capping, not the repair.
If the capping is what you need, because water is escaping, that is exactly what the emergency call is for. If it is not, morning gets you the finished job in one visit.
Questions people ask about this
My only toilet is blocked. Can that wait?
That is a fair call at any hour and we would not tell you otherwise. A household with no usable toilet is not a comfort problem.
There is a small leak I have caught in a bucket.
Usually yes, provided it is not increasing and nothing electrical is nearby. Check it before bed and again first thing.
I have no hot water and it is freezing outside.
Cold weather changes the answer. No hot water in July is an inconvenience. In January, with children or elderly residents in the house, it is reasonable to call.
How do I know if it is getting worse?
Mark the edge of any wet patch or stain with a pencil and check it in an hour. If the mark has moved, it is spreading.
If that is not quite what you have
Not sure how urgent this is?
Describe what you can see and hear. We will tell you whether it needs someone tonight, and what to do in the meantime either way.
Emergency line: [PLACEHOLDER: PHONE]
Or send it over
Four things and a photo.