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Dealing with any sort of plumbing problem is stressful, but those problems are even worse when you have to make quick decisions that could impact your finances and the future of your home. Unfortunately, that’s precisely the situation a lot of Cleveland, TN, homeowners are thrown into when it comes time to deal with an emergency plumber. The good news is, a little bit of preparation goes a long way toward making emergencies easier to deal with. If you have an emergency that requires the help of a plumber, here’s everything you need to know.

What’s Considered an Emergency?

The first part of being prepared for a plumbing emergency is understanding when you’ve got an emergency on your hands. There are a lot of plumbing problems you can wait to have fixed, particularly the ones that don’t have the potential to cause a lot of damage. However, sometimes you need to call an emergency plumber right away to prevent costly damage.

Burst pipes are one of the most common plumbing emergencies because of the amount of water damage they can cause. On top of that, burst pipes also waste a ton of water, which means an unfixed burst pipe will cost you a fortune on your water bill. Any leak that can cause bad water damage is considered an emergency.

Sometimes plumbing emergencies come in the form of a health hazard. If you have a sewage backup in your home or you’re dealing with excess moisture that’s leading to mold growth, you need to call an emergency plumber. You should never take your health lightly, and a professional can help make sure your home is safe for you and your family.

Shutting Off Your Water

Now that you know what sort of problems to keep an eye out for and when to call an emergency plumber, you need to know what to do while you wait for that plumber to arrive. The most important job you have in terms of handling plumbing emergencies is making sure you get your water shut off as soon as you spot a problem. This is particularly important for major leaks that waste a lot of water and can cause severe water damage.

Fortunately, every Cleveland, TN, home is equipped with a main water shutoff valve that allows you to turn your water off quickly. The problem is, a lot of homeowners don’t know where their shutoff valve is. You should take the time when you move into a new house to locate the shutoff valve so you don’t have to worry about doing that in the middle of an emergency.

In some cases, you can use a shutoff valve located at a fixture to stop the flow of water without cutting water off to your entire home. However, it’s usually easier to get to the main water shutoff valve.

Staying Safe

If there’s one thing you need to try to do during a plumbing emergency, it’s keeping yourself and your family safe. Some homeowners are determined to get to the bottom of a problem or try to minimize the damage before help arrives, but you could end up putting yourself in danger or causing more damage than you were trying to fix. The best thing you can do is keep yourself safe while you wait for an emergency plumber.

Standing water is a big issue when it comes to safety for a few different reasons. For starters, you never know what’s in standing water, and it could be that you’ve got a sewage backup in your home. Plus, that standing water could be seeping into walls and damaging outlets and wiring, so it’s best to let a pro deal with it.

The Aftermath

It’s also important to understand what you need to do in the aftermath of a plumbing emergency. Once you’ve had an emergency plumber come to your home and fix the initial problem, you need to make sure you’re having any water damage or structural damage cleaned up.

Depending on how bad your plumbing emergency was, you might need to hire a water damage restoration company. Water damage restoration involves replacing damaged building materials and making sure everything is completely dry so you don’t have to worry about structural integrity or mold growth in the future. Even if your emergency plumber does a little bit of water damage cleanup, you should still hire a professional.

Preventing Emergencies

The good news about plumbing emergencies is that there are a lot of ways to prevent them. Making sure you have a plumber take a look at your home on occasion is a good start, but there are also a lot of steps you can take as a homeowner to make sure your plumbing system stays in good shape.

Preventing burst pipes is as simple as making sure everything is properly insulated. If you have pipes in an uninsulated exterior wall, have them insulated and consider wrapping them with heat tape so you don’t have to call an emergency plumber for a busted pipe.

You can prevent sewage backups by making sure you keep all the drains in your home clean. Simply be careful about what you’re flushing down the drain and use an enzyme-based drain cleaner on occasion and you’re good to go.

Call Us Now

Dealing with a plumbing emergency is never fun, but it’s even worse when you don’t have a good team of professionals to help you out. Fortunately, Metro Plumbing, Heating and Air can help you take care of all your plumbing needs. Whether you need an emergency plumber or somebody to help you prevent major problems in the future, we can take care of everything. To find out more or schedule an appointment today, call Metro Plumbing, Heating and Air at 423-668-0507 today.