What Counts as a Plumbing Emergency
If water is going where it shouldn’t, sewage is coming up, or you’ve lost heat or hot water in winter, call us right away. Common emergency calls include:
- Burst or frozen pipes
- Sewer backups into the basement floor drain, tub or toilet
- A flooded basement or a sump pump that failed during a storm
- A leaking water heater
- No heat from a boiler in freezing weather
- A gas leak, once you’ve left the building and called the gas utility
What to Do While You Wait
A few quick steps can limit the damage before our technician arrives:
- Shut off the main water valve, usually near the water meter where the line enters the house
- For a leaking water heater, close the cold-water valve on top of the tank and turn the gas control to off or switch off its breaker
- Stop using sinks, toilets and the washer if sewage is backing up
- Move valuables off a wet basement floor, and stay out of standing water near outlets or appliances
- If you smell gas, leave the house and call 911 or your gas utility from outside
A Real Plumber on the Phone, Day or Night
When you call at 2 a.m., you won’t reach an answering service that takes a message for the morning. A real plumber answers, asks what’s happening and helps you get the situation under control while help is on the way. We’ll give you an honest arrival time and text you 30 minutes before the technician pulls up.
There’s no service fee for us to come out and look. The technician stops the immediate problem, explains what failed and writes a flat-rate price before doing the repair, so an emergency doesn’t come with a surprise bill.
Emergency Repairs We Handle
Our emergency service covers the full range of our work. Burst pipes and leaks are handled with standard Plumbing Repair, basement flooding often traces back to a failed pump covered under Sump & Ejector Pumps, and a sewer line that’s collapsed or packed with roots may need Sewer Repair & Replacement. If a gas line is leaking after the utility has made it safe, our Gas Line Installation & Repair work is done by the same licensed team.
We serve Des Plaines, the North Shore, the northwest suburbs and parts of DuPage County. Check our service area for the towns we cover.
Heading Off the Next Emergency
Many emergencies give warning signs first: a sump pump that hums but doesn’t pump, a floor drain that gurgles, a water heater with rust at the base. Having the sump and sewer checked in late winter, before the spring floods, catches most of them early. Every repair we make carries at least a one-year warranty, so the fix you get at midnight is one we stand behind.
Know where your main water shutoff is before you need it, and make sure it turns. Older valves often seize after years untouched, and a valve that won’t close in an emergency turns a small leak into a flooded basement. If yours is stuck or crumbling, replacing it is a quick job that pays for itself the first time something goes wrong.
