When Is a Plumbing Problem an Emergency? | Tips from Your Cypress, TX Emergency Plumber

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Chances are you've dealt with a plumbing problem or two in your home, but that doesn't mean you've seen the full spectrum of potential problems. One of the best things you can do as a homeowner is know which plumbing problems are emergencies and keep an eye out for them. If you do have an emergency plumbing problem in your Cypress, TX, home, the first thing you should do is call an emergency plumber to get it fixed. Fortunately, we've got a few quick tips to help you determine whether a plumbing problem is an emergency or whether you can wait for a regular plumber to fix it.

Water Damage

One of the biggest things you need to consider when it comes to whether or not a plumbing problem is an emergency is the potential for water damage. This is mostly a problem when you've got a leak in your home.

Some leaks are very small and only let out a small amount of water; these are called pinhole leaks. If left untreated, these pinhole leaks will get worse to the point where you'll need to call an emergency plumber. Leaks only get worse with time, so it's important to get them taken care of as soon as you notice a leak in your home.

Another thing to consider when it comes to water damage is the location of a leak in your home. If you have a leak underneath your kitchen sink, you can simply put down a bucket to catch the water and prevent massive water damage. However, that's not the case when you're dealing with a slab leak underneath the foundation of your home. Since these leaks are hard to spot and nearly impossible for a homeowner to deal with, they're definitely a problem that warrants an emergency plumber.

Standing Water

As far as major plumbing problems in your home go, standing water is one of the biggest indicators that you need an emergency plumber. There are a lot of things that can cause enough flooding to leave standing water in your home, but the bottom line is you should never deal with that water yourself.

The first dangerous part about standing water is that you never know what's in it. Depending on where this water came from and what it picked up along the way, it could have contaminants that make it dangerous for you to deal with. However, electricity is the bigger worry when it comes to standing water. If you've got enough standing water in a room in your home that it could be touching electrical outlets, wires or plugs, don't touch the water. An emergency plumber can come to your home and safely shut off power before dealing with standing water. Plus, plumbers are trained to deal with the potential dangers of contaminants in standing water.

Sewage

There are a lot of potential plumbing emergencies that can occur in your Cypress, TX, home, but plumbing problems involving sewage are some of the worst. We already mentioned how dangerous it can be to deal with standing water because of the potential for contaminants, but you're guaranteed to expose yourself to those contaminants if you try dealing with a sewage backup yourself.

Sewage is a hazard to human health, which is why emergency plumbers have equipment that's specially designed to allow them to deal with sewage. They can get rid of the sewage in your home and stop the problem at its source so you won't deal with another sewage backup due to the same cause.

Aside from the fact that sewage is dangerous to deal with, leaving raw sewage in or around your home exposes you to a lot of contaminants. This is why you should have an emergency plumber remove any sewage backup from your home and figure out the source of the problem as soon as possible.

Sump Pump Problems

In terms of making sure there aren't any flooding problems in or around your Cypress, TX, home, there's nothing more important than your sump pump. Sump pumps are designed to pump water out of a space to keep it from flooding, so a failing sump pump means you're at a higher risk of flooding.

This is a particularly big problem if you've got drainage problems in your yard. If your sump pump fails and you have a ton of standing water in your yard, it can cause the ground to shift and make trudging through your yard a brutal process.

Water Heater Failure

The fact of the matter is, most homeowners can't go very long with no hot water. This is why a lot of calls to emergency plumbers end up being related to water heater failure.

Water heaters are only made to last so long, so you should replace yours every 8 to 12 years. While some water heaters may last longer than that, you're putting yourself at risk for an emergency water heater problem if you go much longer than that.

Even if it hasn't been a decade since you bought your water heater, there can still be problems that require an emergency plumber. If you've never had your water heater flushed or you have especially hard water in your area, it can cause corrosion in your water heater that warrants early replacement.

A Simple Fix

There's nothing worse than having a major plumbing problem that leaves you feeling dazed and confused, but an emergency plumber can help you take care of those emergencies quickly. The key is knowing which problems are and aren't emergencies.

You need an emergency plumber you can count on when you're dealing with major problems, and bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Northwest Houston has you covered. If you're looking for a plumber you can count on in the Cypress, TX, area, give us a call today at (832) 225-4328.