Most plumbing problems can wait until morning. A dripping faucet, a slow bathroom sink or a toilet that runs now and then is annoying, but nothing gets worse overnight. The calls that cannot wait are the ones where water is going somewhere it shouldn't, sewage is coming back up, or a gas appliance is acting strangely. Knowing which is which, and what to do in the first ten minutes, saves a lot of drywall.
Is this really urgent?
A rough test: if you can stop the damage yourself by closing a valve and the house still works well enough, you probably have time to book a normal visit. If you cannot stop the water, if a drain is backing up into a tub or floor drain, or if you smell gas near the water heater, treat it as an emergency. A burst supply line under a sink, a split pipe in a crawlspace, a water heater leaking from the tank itself, and a main sewer line that won't drain are the usual culprits.
Seattle adds its own twists. Long wet stretches in fall and winter push groundwater up against basement walls and test old side sewers, and the occasional hard freeze catches pipes in uninsulated crawlspaces and on exterior walls that were never built with cold snaps in mind. Plenty of houses in the city are close to a century old, with a mix of galvanized steel, copper and plastic that has been patched together over decades, and those joints between materials are where failures tend to start.
Find the main shutoff before you need it
The single most useful thing you can do is know where the main water valve is. In older Seattle houses it is often in the basement or crawlspace where the line comes through the foundation wall, sometimes behind a stored box or a water heater. In newer homes and townhouses it may sit in a garage, a utility closet or near the water heater. There is usually a second valve at the meter, typically in a box near the sidewalk, which needs a meter key to turn.
Try the house valve once when nothing is wrong. Old gate valves seize up, and it is better to learn that on a quiet Sunday than with water pouring through a ceiling. If it will not budge, that is worth getting looked at, because a stuck shutoff turns a small leak into a big one.
The first few minutes
Close the shutoff nearest the leak if there is one, or the main if there isn't. Open a faucet on the lowest floor to drain pressure out of the lines. If water is near outlets, power strips or a furnace, switch that circuit off at the panel before you step into it. For a leaking water heater, turn off the cold supply on top of the tank and set the burner or breaker to off.
Sewage backups are different. Stop running water anywhere in the house, including the dishwasher and washing machine, because every drop you send down ends up in the lowest fixture. If you have an accessible cleanout outside, do not open it unless you know what you are doing; it can release a lot of pressure at once. Our notes on what to do when a sewer line backs up go into more detail on keeping the mess contained.
Take photos of the water, the source and anything damaged before you start cleaning up. Insurers usually want to see them, and it is easy to forget once you are mopping.
What to tell the plumber when you call
A clear description gets the right person and the right parts to the door. Say what is leaking or backing up, whether you have been able to shut the water off, how old the house is roughly, and whether the problem is on a supply line, a drain, the water heater or something you can't identify. Mention access issues: a crawlspace hatch in a closet, a steep driveway, a basement suite with a separate entrance. If you are a renter, tell your landlord or property manager at the same time; many have a preferred contractor and a process for after-hours calls.
Ask how they charge for after-hours work before they arrive, and whether the visit is to stop the problem now with a permanent repair later. Both are reasonable approaches, but you should know which one you are getting. If you want a sense of how this works with a specific local company, www.plumberseattle.us.com/emergency-plumber-seattle lays out what their urgent service covers.
Small things that prevent the next call
Most emergencies have a slow build-up. Braided supply hoses on toilets and faucets wear out, washing machine hoses crack, and water heaters give warning with rust at the base or damp around the fittings long before they let go. Swap tired hoses, keep an eye on the water heater, and have the side sewer scoped if the lowest drain in the house gurgles or slows down every time it rains hard. Insulate pipes that run along exterior walls or through a vented crawlspace before the first cold snap, and disconnect garden hoses in the fall so outdoor spigots can drain.
It also helps to keep a simple list taped near the panel or water heater: where the main valve is, where the meter box is, and the number you would call. When something does go wrong, nobody in the house has to think. If you are weighing whether an older system is due for bigger work, our piece on how to judge a plumber's response and repair options is a useful next read.