What to Do in a Plumbing Emergency in Wake Forest

Step one: stop the water

In most plumbing emergencies the cheapest repair is the one that starts sooner. Find your home's main shutoff valve before you need it, often where the water service enters the house or near the water heater, and make sure everyone in the household knows where it is. If you cannot find an inside valve, the water meter box at the street is where Raleigh Water's service ends and yours begins.

Raleigh Water notes that the pressure reducing valve, or PRV, is usually located on the customer side of the water meter box, and that a PRV can be replaced by a plumber. Everything from that point toward the house is private plumbing. If you shut off water to a whole house in winter, remember the frozen pipe guidance in our burst and frozen pipe guide.

Step two: decide whose problem it is

Raleigh Water's FAQ says it is responsible for breaks in water and sewer mains in the street, while the property owner is responsible for breaks on private property. Water bubbling up in the road or a gutter, or several neighbors losing water at once, points to the public system. Report those to Raleigh Water at 919-996-3245, which the city says is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The Town of Wake Forest's utilities contact page lists the numbers residents use most: water leaks, pressure problems, no water and billing questions go to 919-996-3245, and sewer backups and water quality issues to 919-996-2737. Call before you dig goes to 811. If the problem is inside your house or between the house and the meter, it is a job for a plumber.

Step three: limit the damage

Once the water is off, open a faucet at the lowest point of the house to drain the lines, move valuables off wet floors, and photograph the damage for your insurer before you start cleaning. Keep people away from water near electrical outlets or appliances. If a water heater is leaking, turn off its water supply and its power or gas following the label on the unit.

For a sewer backup, stop using water in the house, because every flush or shower adds to the overflow. Our page on sewer backups and drain cleaning explains how to tell a private line problem from a public sewer problem, and when to call Raleigh Water instead of a plumber.

Step four: hire carefully, even in a hurry

Emergencies are when people skip the checks that matter. Ask for the plumber's North Carolina license number and check it with the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, which offers an online license search; our license check guide explains the P-I and P-II classes. Ask for the scope and price in writing before work starts.

Ask whether the repair needs a permit. North Carolina law requires permits for the installation, extension or general repair of plumbing systems, with a narrow exception for some like-for-like water heater replacements, and the Town of Wake Forest Inspections Department issues permits inside its jurisdiction. See plumbing permits in Wake Forest.

After the emergency

Check your next water bill. A leak that ran for days shows up as extra CCFs, and Raleigh Water's tiered rates mean the extra water may be billed at a higher tier. Our leak cost calculator estimates the cost from the published rates, and our high bill guide explains the charges.

Then make the next emergency smaller. Label the main shutoff, insulate exposed pipes before winter as the Red Cross recommends, and test for silent leaks with the meter, as described in leak detection in Wake Forest.