Emergency plumbing when a pipe lets go

A pipe has let go, water is coming in, and you need one clear next step. Shut off the water at the main if you can reach it, then call (360) 901-9133. Bobrick Plumbing takes emergency calls across Camas, Washougal, Vancouver, and the surrounding Clark County area, and a licensed plumber will tell you what to do next and when we can be there.

What happens when you call

When you call, a licensed plumber talks through the situation with you. We ask what you are seeing, where the water is coming from, and whether the main is shut off. From there we give you a real arrival window and, while you wait, the steps that slow the water until we arrive.

How to shut off your water

Stopping the water is the single most useful thing you can do before help arrives.

• At a fixture: look for the small oval valve under the sink or behind the toilet and turn it clockwise until it stops.
• At the water heater: close the valve on the cold line entering the top of the tank.
• At the main: find the main shutoff where the water line enters the house, often in the garage, a utility closet, or a crawl space, and turn it clockwise. Homes fed from a street meter also have a valve inside the meter box.

Once the water is off, the situation stops getting worse and we have the time to do the repair right.

Keeping damage down while you wait

While you wait, a few steps limit how far the water reaches. Move what you can off the wet floor, set a towel or a bucket under an active drip, and after shutting the main, open a low faucet to drain the lines away from the leak. If it is safe to reach, switch off power at the breaker to any room taking on water. None of this is the repair, but it keeps a bad hour from turning into a worse one.

What counts as a plumbing emergency

Some problems can wait for a scheduled visit. These usually call for a fast one:

• A burst or split pipe putting water into the house
• No water at any fixture in the home
• A sewage backup coming up through a drain or toilet
• A water heater leaking from the tank
• A failed supply line to a toilet, sink, or washing machine

If you smell gas, leave the building first and call your gas utility or 911 from outside. Once you are safe and the gas side is handled, reach us for the plumbing.

Frozen and burst pipes in winter

A Clark County cold snap is the classic cause of a burst pipe. Water expands as it freezes, and the split often shows up when things thaw and the water starts flowing again. If a pipe has frozen but not yet burst, shutting off the main and opening a nearby faucet relieves the pressure. Once a line has split, it needs a proper repair, and if the damage runs through the house, our whole-house repipe work restores the system end to end.

After the water is stopped

With the leak controlled, the repair itself is ordinary plumbing done carefully. We confirm the failure point, replace or repair the pipe, valve, or fixture, and test the system under normal pressure before we leave. If the same line has failed more than once, we show you why and talk through a longer-term fix, from a section of new pipe to a full repipe.

When to call, and when it can wait

If you are unsure whether a problem can wait, the safe move is to stop the water and call. Water going where it should not belongs on the phone, even at an odd hour, because an hour of an unchecked leak does more damage than the call ever will. Describe what you are seeing and we will tell you honestly whether it is a now problem or a morning one. We would rather talk you through a shut-off and a same-day visit than have you guess.

Heading off the next one

Once the emergency is handled, we look at why it happened. A supply line that failed from age, a water heater near the end of its life, or a pipe that froze because it runs through an unheated space each point to a small fix that keeps the same call from coming back. We tell you what we see and what it would take to head it off, so a one-time scramble stays a one-time thing.

Serving Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver

Emergency calls come in from across Camas, Washougal, Vancouver, and the surrounding Clark County area. Wherever you are in the county, start by shutting off the water, then call (360) 901-9133.