Telltale signs: emergency plumbing
Some plumbing faults can sit politely until Tuesday. Others cannot. A copper line that has split behind the laundry tub, sewage welling up through the basement grate, a water heater emptying itself across the furnace room or a house that has suddenly lost every drop of supply: these are the calls we drop other work for.
- Water spraying or pouring from a pipe, fitting or appliance hose
- Sewage or grey water rising from a floor drain, tub or lower toilet
- A tank heater leaking from its body rather than a fitting
- No water at any tap, with neighbours unaffected
- A WC overflowing that will not stop when the stop valve is closed
What we bring
- ABS, copper and PEX fittings
- Pipe cutters, torch and press tools
- Drop sheets and a wet vacuum
Tested before we leave
- Every new joint checked under pressure
- Drains run at full flow
- Work area cleaned before we leave
On the job: what we open, clear and test
The first part happens on the telephone. While our van is on the way we coach you, step by step, to shut the main, switching off the water heater and, if water has reached anything electrical, turning off that circuit from a dry spot. Once on site we make the situation safe before we make it pretty: the leak is isolated or capped, the drain is opened so the house can be used again, and standing water is dealt with.
Only then do we look at the permanent repair. Sometimes it can be done on the same visit, such as cutting out a split section and joining in new pipe, as described on our burst pipe repair page. Sometimes a temporary fix buys a few days while parts arrive or while you consult your insurer. Either way you will know which it is.
What can change the job
How easily we can reach the fault decides most of it. Exposed joists downstairs take minutes; a leak inside a finished wall or under a tiled floor means opening up, and we cut the smallest hole that lets us work. The pipe material matters too. Old galvanized lines often crumble next to the failure, so a short repair can turn into a longer one. Blockages that cause sewage backups may be grease, roots or a collapsed section, and the cure differs for each; see drain cleaning and kitchen drains.
Etobicoke homes and this job
Deep cold snaps off the lake are our busiest emergency days: unheated porches, garages over basements and pipes along north walls all freeze and split. Summer brings the opposite trouble, with cloudbursts overloading sewers in the low streets of Mimico and the lakeshore and pushing water back up floor drains.
Before you call
Shut the main if you know where it lives. Our burst pipe guide shows the order of jobs. Then ring (365) 816-2905 and tell us, in a sentence, what water is doing and where.