Burst pipe: what to do in the first ten minutes

A burst supply line puts out a surprising amount of water, fast. Roughly a garden hose left running, indoors, until someone stops it. The good news is that stopping it is the one part you can do yourself, and it takes about a minute once you know where to look.

Shut off the main

Your main shut-off is where the water line enters the house. In most GTA homes that is the front basement wall, near the water meter, or in a utility room. There are two kinds:

• A round wheel handle. Turn it clockwise until it stops.
• A lever handle. Turn it a quarter turn so the lever sits across the pipe instead of along it.

If the valve is stiff, spins without stopping, or starts dripping when you touch it, leave it alone and call. Forcing an old gate valve can snap the stem, and then nothing is shut.

Take the pressure off

Open a cold tap on the lowest floor of the house, usually the laundry sink, and one tap upstairs. The pipes drain down and the leak drops to a trickle within a minute.

Deal with the power

If water is anywhere near outlets, appliances or the electrical panel, turn off the breaker for that area. Never stand in water to reach the panel. If the panel itself is wet, stay away from it and tell us when you call.

Take photos

Thirty seconds of photos now saves weeks of back and forth with your insurer later. Get the water line on the wall, the pipe that failed, and anything that is ruined.

Move what you can

Lift boxes, rugs and electronics off the floor. Put plastic or foil under furniture legs. Do not try to pull up soaked carpet on your own, it weighs far more than it looks.

What not to do

• Do not turn the water back on to "see if it's still leaking". It is.
• Do not tape or clamp the pipe and hope. A split pipe fails again the moment it sees pressure.
• Do not run a shop vac with wet hands, or near a live outlet.
• If the pipe froze and split, do not thaw it with a torch or heat gun. Leave the water off and call.

Then call

That is the whole list. Once the water is off, the emergency is over and the repair begins. A licensed plumber replaces the failed section, tests the line under pressure, and if water got into drywall or flooring, the same crew handles the drying and repair so you are not coordinating two companies at midnight.

If you cannot find the shut-off, call anyway. We can usually talk you to it on the phone.