You truly never know when you will need an emergency plumber. Unfortunately, when a plumbing emergency occurs, damage typically extends far beyond the pipes and fixtures. You can experience home interior flooding, a damaged electrical system, ruined flooring, sheetrock erosion and appliance or furniture destruction. There are also health risks associated with plumbing catastrophes. For help with all your plumbing issues, reach out to Inner City Plumbing.
All of the above scenarios are reasons why every homeowner or apartment dweller should keep a reputable plumber’s emergency phone number in their contact list. You may even want to put them on speed dial after reading some of the horror stories below.
The Exploding Toilet
Many people love vintage items in their homes, such as furniture or appliances. But you may want to rethink having a vintage toilet, as one senior couple in Wisconsin unfortunately learned. Having lived in the state for more than 60 years, this particular couple adored their Eisenhower-era pink toilet in an upstairs bathroom. That is, until the toilet exploded.
Perhaps “exploded” is a minor exaggeration. The pink toilet’s tank spontaneously broke apart while the couple was out enjoying their day. This sent water spilling out onto the bathroom floor and, after two more hours of free reign, flowing into the kitchen downstairs. By the time the couple returned home, an inch of water accumulated in the kitchen. This water ruined the linoleum, separated wallpaper from the walls and shorted out appliances.
Plumbing emergencies like these make having homeowner’s or renter’s insurance a no-brainer. But it only takes two hours to do this much damage. You can also see from these effects why it is important to have a connection to a good emergency plumber.
Wintry, Watery Wrath
As anyone living in the northern part of the Americas knows, winter has a wrath all its own. You cannot just leave a home unattended during sub-freezing weather without taking some important steps to winterize. Turning off the water main is particularly important, if you expect to be away from your home for an extended period.
One northern man forgot to do this. Then the empty home’s furnace failed without him knowing, since he was basking in warm sunlight elsewhere. As a result, the pipes did what pipes do when left unattended in freezing temps. That is, multiple pipes froze and burst. Water flowed into the house from several directions for weeks before one of his relatives stopped by to check on the property.
Not only did the homeowner suffer extensive damage to every room in his home, he also faced an incredibly high utility bill. The result of not being on-site to call an emergency plumber meant he had to replace flooring, walls, the electrical system and other items.
Inexperienced Plumber On Call
Just because a plumber is willing to help you out during an emergency, it does not make him or her an emergency plumbing professional. To the contrary, inadequate service can make your emergency much, much worse. One unfortunate apartment resident learned this when she called a plumber and gave the job to the first one who answered his phone.
The apartment renter flushed her toilet one evening. Raw sewage then started bubbling up into the adjacent bathtub, through its drain. As the backup increased, she grabbed her phone and called the inexperienced guy in her search results who did not even have a license. Of course, she did not realize that until later.
When the so-called plumber arrived, he attempted to snake the sewer line to clear the culprit clog. But this only led to the discovery that a tree root was creating the blockage, instead. For some reason, he decided to disconnect the toilet from the apartment floor. This only gave raw sewage more reason to flow freely into the lady’s bathroom and living room. By the time the plumber grabbed his shop vac from his truck, it was too late to save her belongings or prevent the damage that was done.
This plumber gave up and left the apartment. The unfortunate situation meant the resident had to call another plumber. She also had to contact a disaster mitigation company for emergency cleaning and sanitizing. This only added to her bills and frustrations.
What to Do In a Plumbing Emergency
When you have a plumbing emergency, call an experienced plumber licensed to work in your region. Of course, you should always have such an expert in your contact list, should an emergency occur. The last thing you want is to suffer more expense, damage and problems by calling an under-qualified person.