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Plumbers of Louisville
Plumbers of Louisville
Plumbing · the Louisville area
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Emergency Plumber

Close the main valve if the water is coming from the supply, stay out of standing water near electrical equipment, and call from somewhere dry.

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When this becomes an emergency

What a pro does

Emergencies in this area come in two seasons. Winter brings supply failures, and heavy rain brings sewage. Both end with somebody standing at the top of the basement stairs. The plumber's opening move is control: find a shutoff that works, or isolate whatever is feeding the mess. In houses this old that's rarely straightforward, since a main valve in a Portland or Shelby Park basement may be a corroded gate valve that hasn't moved in fifty years, and forcing it can make things worse rather than better. The meter shutoff is the backup. Once the flow is stopped, the cause gets separated from the aftermath. Storm backups get treated as contamination, not just water, and the response is different from a clean supply leak. Where a house sits low relative to the sewer, the conversation eventually turns to a backwater valve, because a river town with combined sewer sections has homes that will flood again in the next big rain unless something is put between them and the street. Not every emergency finishes as a permanent repair on the first visit. Some get made safe and stable and finished properly once the water's out.

Frequently asked questions

It depends on where it originated. A blockage in your own lateral is the property owner's, while surcharging in the public system during heavy rain is the sewer utility's issue and worth reporting to them. A camera and the timing usually make clear which one you had.
Don't force it, because an old gate valve can break off in your hand and turn a leak into an open pipe. The meter box near the street has a valve the utility can operate, and once the immediate problem is handled, a seized main valve is worth replacing while the house is calm.
Not if the water is anywhere near the electrical panel, the furnace, or plugged-in equipment. Cutting power to the basement from a dry location is the safe move, and if reaching the panel means walking through water, that's a call for an electrician or the utility rather than a wade.
For homes that back up during storms rather than randomly, a backwater valve on the lateral is the usual answer, since it closes when flow tries to come toward the house. Whether it fits your property depends on the layout and the sewer connection, which is what an inspection determines.

Emergency Plumber?

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Tap to Call(855) 321-3426

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