The first ten minutes of a burst pipe
Where the shut-off is in a Fremont tract house, what to open after it, and the two things not to do.
Water is coming through the ceiling or out from under a wall. You have about ten minutes before a repair becomes a restoration job. Here is the order.
1. Find the house shut-off
In most Fremont tract houses built from the 1950s to the 1980s it is one of three places: a lever or wheel on the garage wall nearest the street, a valve on the front hose bib riser, or a valve in a box by the sidewalk next to the meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If it is a wheel that has not moved in twenty years, use both hands and go slowly; do not force it with a wrench.
2. Open the lowest tap
A hose bib or the laundry sink. This drains the lines and takes the pressure off the leak, which is what stops the flow fastest. Open a tap upstairs too so air can get in.
3. Gas water heater: set it to Vacation
With the water off, a gas tank heater can overheat. Turn the dial to Vacation or Pilot. Do not turn the gas off at the meter unless you smell gas; the utility has to come out to turn it back on.
4. Call, then photograph
Call us, say the shut-off is closed, and we skip the triage questions. Then take a photo of where the water came from. The photo tells us which fittings to bring, and most leaks are fixed on the first visit because of it.
The two things not to do
- Do not open the ceiling with a knife. If the drywall is bulging, push a screwdriver through the lowest point to let the water out into a bucket. A square opening comes later.
- Do not run fans into a wet wall cavity yet. Dry the room, not the wall; a restoration company or we will open it properly.
Afterwards
If the meter box is where your shut-off is, buy a meter key for the garage wall. If you have never found your shut-off, book a planned visit and we will label it for you. We do that on every call anyway.