There's Water All Over The Place !! - OMG Who Do We Call ??!!

When you have a plumbing emergency in your home the last thing you want to be running for is the Yellow Pages looking for emergency plumbing services. I learned this lesson well recently when my father had a problem in his house.  

The thin copper refrigerator ice maker water line connection somehow failed or ruptured on the back of his refrigerator where it connects to the back of the refrigerator.  This caused a slow but steady leak that must have started during the day (and was unnoticed by him at the time) and continued through the night until the morning.  When my father woke up in the morning and went downstairs to the kitchen he discovered he was standing on a water soaked kitchen floor, that then leaked through to the lower level basement ceiling.  

Going through the Yellow Pages and calling local plumbing companies for "emergency service" did not get anyone to come over right away or within a few hours.  I got the frantic call from my father and was able to respond and go over to his house by mid morning and locate the main water shut off valve, as well as another separate "artery" water line pipe that fed water into the kitchen and refrigerator ice maker which luckily had been installed with its own separate shut off valve too.  I was able to stop the flow of water dripping and leaking onto the kitchen floor by shutting off the main and feeder water line valves.  

Here is another valuable lesson for any homeowner or renter in the case of a plumbing leak or water line or valve rupture, ALWAYS KNOW IMMEDIATELY WHERE TO FIND YOUR MAIN WATER LINE SHUT OFF VALVE which controls the flow of water from the street main water line into your house.  There is also another one usually located at the curb which your local water authority provider can also shut off.  

While we were waiting for an "emergency plumber" to show up (by this time it was around noon or 1:00 p.m., my father remembered that he had an extended service plan rider, attachment or addendum to his HVAC regular maintenance/service contract which covered plumbing calls as well.  We called this company and they actually showed up in an hour or so of the call (now by 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.) and the first "emergency plumber" contractor had still yet to show up!!  The plumbing contractor confirmed my diagnosis and identification of the problem and the source of the leak.  We were able to turn the main water flow valve back on to restore water to sinks, toilets and showers (and cut off the flow of water to the refrigerator ice maker from the "artery" line valve that I was able to locate and close off).  My father was subsequently able to get a new refrigerator installed (without ice maker line connected or installed) in a few days.

In this situation I learned the value of having an extended service contract addendum or rider to your regular HVAC maintenance/service contract. In this case they did not substantively do anything but confirm my diagnosis of the problem; however, they were there on site in a very short amount of time and well before another "emergency plumber" had responded.  Had I not been around and able to go over to my father's house to help him out, they would have been able to at least stop the flow of water (as I did) and to render further assistance if necessary.

An HVAC regular maintenance/service contract usually provides for the contractor or company to come out twice a year; once in the late Spring before the height of the summer to check on the functioning of your air conditioning components to ensure optimal performance and energy savings for the summer months; and the same once again in fall to check on your electric heat pump or gas furnace heater.  If you have such a regular HVAC service contract, make sure it also covers plumbing "emergencies" or calls as well.  

It is well worth having this as an "insurance" plan so that in the event of such a "geyser" - LOL or unexpected flow of water in your home, you know immediately and instinctively what to do and who to call for service instead of going through your local Yellow Pages and hoping you can get an "emergency" plumber to come out.