An emergency plumber’s first job happens before anyone arrives: stopping the damage. Work through this page top to bottom, then get a free quote.
The First Five Minutes
- Shut off the water. Main shutoff if water is flowing freely or you cannot tell where it is coming from; the fixture’s own valve if the problem is clearly one toilet, sink, or appliance.
- Shut off the water heater if the heater itself is leaking or if the house water will be off for a while — follow the instructions on the unit, and do not relight or restart anything you are unsure about. Leave that to the plumber.
- Keep clear of electrical hazards. If water is near outlets, appliances, or a panel, do not wade in. Water and electricity together are the one combination on this page that outranks the leak.
- Contain what you can. Buckets, towels, and moving belongings away from the water. Take a few photos of the damage for your own records before cleanup, if it is safe to do so.
- For a sewage backup: stop running water and flushing anywhere in the house, keep kids and pets away from affected areas, and do not pour chemical drain openers into a backed-up line.
What Counts as an Emergency
A burst or actively leaking pipe. A water heater leaking from the tank. Sewage backing up into tubs, showers, or floor drains. A leak you cannot isolate with a fixture shutoff. No water to the house at all. Everything else — a slow drain, a running toilet, a dripping faucet, a heater making noise — is urgent-but-not-tonight, and the service pages on this site cover each one. Calling about those during normal hours is fine and usually gets you a faster, calmer appointment.
What to Tell the Dispatcher
Where the water is coming from (or where you found it), whether you have shut the water off, when it started, and whether it is clean water or sewage. That is enough. A good dispatcher triages from there — you should not need to diagnose the cause, and you should not be sold a package of unrelated work while water is on your floor.
As general information only, typical residential plumbing repairs in this market commonly fall in the range of $250 to $600, depending on the problem, access, and parts — that is not a quote, and emergency diagnosis is what produces your actual number. The company that responds will explain what it found and what the fix costs before doing the work.
When you send the contact form, answer the triage question: “Do you have active leaking/flooding right now?” If you have an active leak, it is routed as an emergency.
Related: Leak Detection · Drain Cleaning · Sewer Line Repair & Replacement · Contact
Get a free quote
Tell us where the water is coming from, whether you have shut it off, when it started, and whether it is clean water or sewage.
Plumbing problems don’t fix themselves, and they cost less early.
Tell us what’s leaking, clogged, or cold — we’ll line up a licensed local plumber.
Onslow Plumbing Pros — Jacksonville and Onslow County, NC
Home · Emergency Plumbing · Water Heater · Drain Cleaning · Sewer Line · Leak Detection · Repiping · Water Heater Cost Guide · Contact
Onslow Plumbing Pros is an information and referral service owned by Branch and Vine Capital, LLC. We connect homeowners with independent local plumbing companies, and those companies perform all diagnosis, quoting, and plumbing work under their own licenses and insurance.