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While there are some plumbing problems you don’t need to fix right away, others can cost you thousands if you don’t take care of them in a timely manner. Making sure you’re prepared for these plumbing emergencies is one of the best ways to avoid having to pay for expensive structural repairs. Not only do you need to know when to call an emergency plumbing service, you also need to know what to do to minimize the damage in the meantime. If you want to protect your home from plumbing emergencies, here’s what you need to know.
Common Plumbing Emergencies
Preparing for plumbing emergencies starts with understanding what actually constitutes a plumbing emergency. Any time-sensitive plumbing problem is considered an emergency if you want to save money. Even if you have to spend a little more on emergency plumbing services, knowing when to make the call can save you a lot of money.
Burst pipes are one of the most common plumbing emergencies, especially during the winter. Pipes generally burst as a result of water freezing inside the pipe. Water freezes when it expands, which means a pipe full of water will expand to more than the pipe’s capacity. This can cause pipes to burst and spew gallons of water every minute. Major plumbing leaks like these are some of the worst plumbing emergencies you can have.
Another thing you should always call an emergency plumbing service for is anything that could be sewer-related. If you’ve got a sewage backup in your home or something you think might be sewage, you should never deal with it on your own. Instead, you should call a plumber who has the proper equipment and knows how to dispose of sewage in a safe manner.
Shutting Off Your Water
One of the best things you can do to save your home from water damage while you wait for an service is shut your water off. Every home has a main water shutoff valve that allows you to cut the supply of water from the city to your home. If you don’t know where your main shutoff valve is, you should have a plumber show you where it’s at.
Not only can leaks cost you a lot of money because of how much water they waste, they can also cause a lot of damage in your home. The last thing you want is a room or crawlspace filled with water because you didn’t know how to shut the water off. The good news is, shutting your water off only takes a moment, so you can do it while you’re waiting for an emergency plumbing service to arrive.
Electrical Problems
Something you always have to consider when you’ve got a plumbing problem is how it may affect other parts of your home. If you’ve got a pool of water building up inside your home, it can do a lot of damage to your electrical system. In situations where you’ve got water that’s at or near the level of the electrical outlets, you should cut the power to your home while you wait for a plumber to arrive.
You can turn off power to your home in one of two ways. If you have a disconnect switch on your electrical meter, you can use that to turn the power off to your entire home. If you’ve checked your meter and there’s no disconnect switch, you’ll have to use the main circuit breaker in your electrical panel to cut the power while you wait for an emergency plumbing service.
Mold Problems
One of the biggest things to remember after you’ve had a plumbing problem is that mold absolutely loves growing in spots where there’s a lot of moisture. Since so many plumbing problems end up leaving moisture in hard-to-reach spots in your home, mold growth is a common problem after a plumbing emergency.
The best thing you can do to minimize mold damage after you’ve had an emergency plumbing service fix the problem is make sure the area gets fully dried out. You can do this by setting up fans and keeping the moist area warm. You might also consider using vinegar or a mold-killing spray to stop the mold at its source if you’re not getting good results from simply keeping the area dry. The worst case scenario is that you have to call a professional to redo the drywall where the mold problem is.
Proceed with Caution
Whenever you have a plumbing emergency at your Knoxville, TN, home, it’s important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t do too much on your own. While it might be tempting to try to put a temporary stop to a problem, it’s best to call an emergency plumbing service and have them take care of it instead.
If you’ve got standing water in your home, you should always call a professional instead of dealing with it yourself. You don’t know what’s in that water, and it could be as bad as a sewage backup. On top of that, you never know if the water is making contact with any electrical wiring or outlets that could be electrically charging it. The best thing you can do is keep your distance and wait for an emergency plumbing service to take care of the problem.
The Smart Way
If you want to prevent thousands of dollars of structural damage in your home, knowing when to call an emergency plumber is important. However, there are also some things you can do to make sure you’re minimizing damage in the meantime.
Lucky for you, My Professional Plumber is here to help you take care of any plumbing emergencies you may have at your Knoxville, TN, home. Next time you’ve got a problem that requires an emergency plumbing service, give My Professional Plumber a call at (865) 238-7049.