What To Do When a Pipe Bursts
Shut off the main, open the lowest tap, move what water can ruin, then photograph everything before you clean up. In that order. Every minute the water runs adds to a bill that is mostly damage rather than plumbing.
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 an electrical panel, an outlet or an appliance and you cannot cut the power from a dry position. In that case leave the area, do not touch switches, and call from outside.
- Shut off the water at the mainIn most Ogden homes the main shutoff is where the supply line comes through the foundation wall, usually in the basement or crawlspace on the street side, often near the meter or the water heater. Turn it clockwise. If it will not move, do not force it, because an old gate valve can snap.
- Open the lowest tap in the houseOnce the main is off, open a basement or ground floor tap so the remaining pressure drains out rather than pushing water through the failure.
- Cut the power to the affected area if water is near itOnly if you can reach the breaker panel from a dry position. If you cannot get to it dry, leave it, get out, and tell us when you call.
- Move what water can ruinLift boxes, rugs, electronics and anything sitting on a basement floor. Most of the cost of a plumbing emergency is damage to belongings rather than the repair itself.
- Photograph everything before you clean upPhotos and a short video of the water, the source and every damaged item. If you claim on insurance this is the evidence, and it cannot be recreated once the area is dry.
Does this need a plumber tonight?
- Water escaping that you cannot stop
- Water near a panel, outlet or appliance
- A ceiling sagging under the weight of water
- You cannot find or turn the main shutoff
- The main is off and nothing more is escaping
- The split is on an outside line you have isolated
The five minutes in order
Water off, pressure drained, power considered, belongings moved, everything photographed. Doing them in that order matters because each one makes the next easier.
Draining the pressure is the step people miss. Once the main is closed, opening a ground floor or basement tap empties the pipes rather than leaving a column of water pushing out through the split. It takes ten seconds and it noticeably reduces what comes out.
Photographing before cleaning up is the step people regret missing. Once an area is dry and tidy, the evidence an insurer wants no longer exists and cannot be recreated. Two minutes of video covering the water, the pipe and every damaged item is worth a great deal.
The expensive mistakes
Cleaning up before documenting, leaving the water on while looking for the leak, and using an open flame anywhere near a frozen pipe.
The other one is assuming a single burst is the whole story. A pipe that split because it froze usually has neighbours in the same unheated run that were stressed at the same time, and they can fail days later. Getting the rest of that run looked at while someone is already there is cheap.
If the burst happened during a freeze and the house is still cold, do not simply restore the water and walk away. Reopen it slowly and watch the pipe while the system refills.
Questions people ask about this
Should I try to patch it myself?
A proper repair clamp on a small split is reasonable if you have one and the pipe is accessible, and only with the water off. Tape is not a repair and should not be trusted under pressure.
How much damage will this cause?
It depends almost entirely on how long the water ran and where it went. That is why shutting the main comes before everything, including calling us.
Will insurance cover it?
Sudden and accidental damage from a burst pipe is commonly covered, and freeze damage usually is where the property was heated. Photograph everything first, because the claim depends on evidence you can only gather now.
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.