A burst pipe: what to do in the next ten minutes.
A burst pipe is a water-volume problem before it's a plumbing problem. The repair takes an hour; the water keeps running the whole time you wait. Do these in order.
Kill the water first
Find the main shutoff and close it. On most houses it sits where the water line enters: a basement wall, a crawl space, the garage, or a utility closet near the water heater. It's a wheel valve or a lever. Wheel valves turn clockwise until they stop. Lever valves turn a quarter so the handle sits across the pipe.
If you can't find it, can't reach it, or it won't move, Seattle residents can call the SPU Operations Response Center at 206-386-1800. It runs around the clock and can send someone to shut the water off at the meter. Outside Seattle, your water district has an equivalent emergency line.
On a well or private system, kill the pump breaker instead. Same result.
Then protect what's in the path
- Move furniture, rugs, and boxes away from the water's path
- If water is near outlets or the electrical panel, kill power to that part of the house at the breaker. Don't wade toward a wet panel.
- If the ceiling above is bulging, that's water pooling. Poke a small hole with a screwdriver over a bucket so it drains where you choose instead of where the drywall chooses
- Take photos before you move anything. Your insurer will want them
What not to do
- Don't open the fixture the burst feeds and hope it drains faster. The main is already off; leave it off
- Don't run the water heater on an empty supply line. If the burst is on the hot side, switch the heater off at its breaker or gas control
- Don't assume a frozen-pipe burst is done leaking because the flow slowed. Ice in the line can plug its own hole and let go again when it thaws
When you send the request
Mark it urgent and write three things: what burst if you know (a supply line, a fixture line, a pipe in a wall), whether the water is off, and where the water went. That's enough for the plumber to show up with the right shutoff tools and repair fittings instead of making a second trip for parts.
