Is This a Plumbing Emergency?
It is an emergency if water is escaping and you cannot stop it, if sewage has entered living space, or if you have no water at all during freezing weather. Almost everything else can wait until morning once the water to the affected fixture is off.
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.
- Ask whether water is escaping right nowNot whether it might, and not whether it is inconvenient. Is water actively leaving the system somewhere it should not be, and can you stop it.
- Ask whether anyone is at riskSewage in living space, water near electrics, or a gas smell near a water heater. Those are safety questions rather than plumbing ones.
- Ask whether waiting makes it worseIf the answer is no, it can wait, and you should not be paying emergency rates for it.
Does this need a plumber tonight?
- Water escaping that you cannot stop
- Sewage backing up into living space
- No water at all while the house is below freezing
- Water near a panel, an outlet or an appliance
- A gas smell near the water heater
- A ceiling sagging or bulging with water
- A single slow or blocked drain with other drains working
- A toilet running constantly but not overflowing
- A dripping tap or shower head
- Low water pressure at one fixture
- No hot water in mild weather with no leak
- A small drip you have contained in a bucket
- A toilet that will not flush where another bathroom is available
Why this page exists
Because most emergency plumbing companies have no commercial reason to tell you that your problem can wait, and quite a strong one not to.
If every problem sounds urgent, every call becomes a call out and every call out is billed accordingly. That is the incentive the whole trade operates under and it is worth knowing about before you pick up the phone.
We would rather tell you the truth and lose the visit. A homeowner who was told honestly at midnight that they could wait until morning is a homeowner who calls back, and recommends us, for years afterwards. That is a better business than one extra call out.
The grey area, and how to decide
Most genuinely difficult cases come down to whether the house is still usable. A blocked main line in a one bathroom house is an emergency. The same blockage where a second bathroom works usually is not.
Apply the same test to no hot water. In July with a working shower next door it is an inconvenience. In January with a small child in the house it is a different question, and it is a fair one.
Vulnerability matters and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Elderly residents, young children, medical needs and anyone who cannot easily leave the property all shift the line, and that is legitimate rather than an excuse to charge more.
- Water damage happening now, call tonight
- Contamination or a safety hazard, call tonight
- House genuinely unusable, call tonight
- Contained and stable, book it for the morning
- Annoying but harmless, book it normally
What to do if you decide to wait
Shut off the water to whatever has failed, contain anything still dripping, move belongings clear, and photograph it all before you tidy up.
Those four things cost nothing, take ten minutes, and mean the morning repair starts from a stable position rather than a worse one.
If anything changes overnight, particularly if water starts escaping again or a stain begins spreading, that changes the answer and you should call.
Questions people ask about this
Is a blocked toilet an emergency?
Not if you have another working toilet and nothing is overflowing. If it is the only toilet in the house, or if it is overflowing, or if other fixtures are affected too, then yes.
Is no hot water an emergency?
In mild weather, with no leak, generally not. In freezing weather, or where someone in the house is vulnerable, it is a fair call and we will not pretend otherwise.
Water is dripping but I have a bucket under it. Can I wait?
Usually yes, provided the drip is not increasing and the water is not reaching anything electrical. Check it before bed and again in the morning.
I am not sure. What should I do?
Call and describe it. Telling you it can wait costs us a call out and earns us a customer, which is a trade we are happy to make.
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.