Late Night Plumbing Emergency: What To Do
Surviving Late Night Plumbing Emergencies
The truth is: if we saw emergencies coming, they probably wouldn't be called 'emergencies'. If you are a home owner, then you have probably experienced at least one plumbing emergency, or to be frank, plumbing nightmare! However, if you happen to have a plumbing emergency in the middle of the night, do you have the first clue of how to find help? Another question is ‘could you do anything to lessen the effects of this fiasco, even as you try to find help?
Keep Calm And Think On Your Feet
In the middle of a plumbing emergency or any other crisis for that matter, the first thing you want to do is to remain calm, while thinking ‘on your feet’. The likelihood of being rational and choosing the best options is far reduced when you panic. The next order of business, once you’ve gotten your nerves settled, at least to think clearly, is to get into the yellow pages or onto your phone or online to see where help is available and how quickly it can get to you. With an emergency such as serious plumbing issues, it is probably a better bet getting help through friends and online than from the yellow pages in the dead of night. So how do you proceed?
Get As Many Contact Resources And Use Them
In emergencies, having as many tools on hand at once usually helps, the same is true for plumbing emergencies when those tools are for quick contacts. Get your cellular phone in one hand, laptop open and yellow pages on the tip of the fingers as you peruse each option. You might not be using all at once, but while a page loads, you can be dialing a number or flipping through the yellow pages.
Internet Searches Can Be Great
A quick internet search will most likely give you a list of the available twenty-four hour emergency plumbing services available; however, it might get a bit tricky getting a responder who resides in your vicinity. There are websites which offer both twenty four hour emergency plumbing service as well as tips to assist you in possible do-it-yourself short term remedies, while you wait on help to arrive. In fact, some websites even offer blog spots and comment sections for you to see what their reviews and ratings are like. Beware of the reviews on these sites though; you might find that they are nothing but paid good reviews.
Interim/Temporary Tips and Tricks
Once you have established where help is, your next move is therefore to see what you can do until help arrives, having been guided by the experts as to possible tips and tricks. If the plumbing emergency is causing flooding, you could do simple things to protect your home or furniture if you are certain that nothing can be done to stop the leak without a professional. Some simple things to do to protect your property include:
1: Placing important documents in Ziploc bags
2: Elevating furniture and appliances which are not waterproof
3: Placing pets and small children out of harm's reach or asking a neighbor to keep them.
4: Getting bags of sand to border doorways and contain the water at the source
5: If you are not able to contain the water, try sweeping out as much as possible, so it doesn't settle or rise
These are just a few options while you wait, instead of feeling helpless in a plumbing emergency. The key to surviving these types of disaster is however, getting everything together to get help quickly and doing what you can while its safe, until professional help arrives.
'Do It Yourself' Help
