My team at Rocketman Plumbing specializes in fast repairs done right. We handle plumbing, heating and cooling to keep your home or business running comfortably. Today, we’re going to cover the basic, most majorly important plumbing emergencies you could have and what you can do about some of them if you have to.
How to Handle a Water Line Leak
Let’s start with a water line leak in your house. It could be a toilet; it could be underneath the sink; it could be at your hot water heater. Water leaks can happen anywhere you have water lines, and they can cause a lot of damage to your property. To make this emergency not as big of an emergency, you need to have:
1. Shutoff valves that work underneath all your appliances
2. A shutoff valve on your hot water heater
3. A main shutoff valve for your house
It’s very important that you know where these valves are and whether or not they work.
Make Sure Your Shutoff Valves Are in Working Order
Many old-style shutoff valves that you might find for your toilet or sink are a lot like outdoor water spigots. You have to turn them multiple times, usually about five or six full turns, to get the water to shut off. But because hardly anyone ever turns these valves off, they can freeze up and become impossible to turn at all.
If you have old frozen shutoff valves, you want to get them replaced with the newer type of valves. The newer valves that we use at Rocketman are quarter-turn valves, which means you only have to turn it a quarter rotation to shut off your water. These are very easy to turn off and on.
Make Sure You Have a Main Shutoff Valve to Your House
Another is the main shutoff valve in your house. Some houses do not have one, and that can cause a water leak to become a much more damaging emergency if you can’t shut the water off. So it’s good to have one, and it’s good for you to know where it is and that it works before an emergency occurs.
One thing that Rocketman Plumbing does is we can come in, check all your shutoff valves, and make sure they work. If they don’t, it’s very easy to replace them. And if you don’t have a main shutoff valve, we can find the right location to install one of the quarter turn valves that anyone can turn off or on.
Make Sure You Have a Shutoff Valve on Your Water Heater
There should be a shutoff valve on top of your hot water heater, and it’s important that you check it to make sure that valve turns off and on. Just like with the shutoff valves for your other appliances and the main shutoff valve to your house, having one on your water heater will help prevent costly damage to your home in the event of a leak and hopefully avoid a hot water heater repair.
Can Plumbers Turn Off the Water from the City Water Meter?
Lots of people have meter keys to be able to shut the water off at the city water meter, which is usually right at the curb or the sidewalk of your house. You’re not supposed to shut those off. A plumber isn’t even supposed to shut it off there. We’re supposed to call the city and have them come turn it off, and that can take up to two hours for them to come out and turn off the water. That’s two hours for the leak that might be occurring inside your house to cause damage. That’s why it’s important to know where your shutoff valves are, know they work, and know how to use them.
Water Shutoff Valves Can Prevent Damage from Sewer Line Backups
Usually, people notice they have a sewer backup problem from their washing machine. Your washing machine throws more water down your sewer line faster than anything else. If it starts backing up, it floods from the washer, or sometimes it overflows the toilet. The thing to do is stop running any water in the house. If you’re in the middle of doing the wash, turn off your washing machine and call Rocketman Plumbing. We’ll come out and clear your sewer lines. We can also find out why it backed up in the first place and solve the problem so it doesn’t happen again.
Get a Shutoff Valve Installed on Your Gas Line
A plumber cannot turn off the gas to your house at the gas meter. You cannot legally turn off the shutoff valve going to your gas meter. Only the gas company can touch that. But one thing we can do for you, and it’s code now whenever we do any work on a gas line, is we can put in a shutoff valve on your side of the gas meter. That way, if you smell gas, you can go to that shutoff valve, give it a quarter turn, and turn off your gas. That eliminates the real dangerous emergency. Then just get a hold of Rocketman Plumbing, and we’ll come out right away to find that gas leak, fix it for you, and turn your gas back on.
Call Rocketman for Emergency Plumbing Services
I hope you don’t have any need for an emergency plumber in Albuquerque, but if you do, call Rocketman Plumbing at 505-375-6602 and we’ll take care of it for you in a flash.