What to Do When a Pipe Bursts
Quick answer: Shut off the main water valve first, then cut power to any room where water is near outlets, fixtures or the electrical panel. Open the lowest faucet to drain the lines, move valuables out of the water, and photograph everything before you start cleaning up.
The first 30 minutes
- Turn off the water at the main. Closing the valve stops the flow to every fixture in the house. If you can’t find it in the first minute or two, close the valve under the nearest sink or toilet and keep looking.
- Make the electrical side safe. If water is reaching outlets, ceiling lights or the panel, switch off those circuits at the breaker. Don’t touch the panel while standing in water. If the panel itself is wet, keep clear of it and call an electrician.
- Drain the lines. Open the lowest faucet in the house, such as a basement sink or an outside spigot, and a cold tap upstairs. This empties the pipes so the break stops dripping and relieves pressure on other weak joints.
- Turn off the water heater. With the supply off, the tank can’t refill. Switch an electric heater off at the breaker, or set a gas heater to “pilot”, so it doesn’t heat with low water.
- Photograph before you move anything. Take wide shots of each wet room, close-ups of the broken pipe and the water line on walls, and video of any dripping ceiling. Insurers ask for this, and it is easy to forget once cleanup starts.
- Get things out of the water. Lift rugs, electronics, papers and photos onto a dry surface. Put foil or plastic under furniture legs so the finish doesn’t stain the carpet.
Finding the main shutoff
Most houses have two places to stop the water. The first is a valve inside, where the supply line enters the house. In Spartanburg County that is usually in the crawl space near the front wall, in a basement, in a garage, or beside the water heater. It is often a round wheel handle or a lever. Turn a wheel clockwise until it stops; turn a lever a quarter turn so it sits across the pipe.
The second is the curb valve in the meter box near the street. It may need a meter key, and older valves can be stiff. Can’t turn either valve, or the leak is on the street side of the meter? Spartanburg Water can turn service off at the meter while repairs are made. Customers of other county water districts can call their own provider.
Once the emergency is over, label the inside valve with a tag and show everyone in the house where it is. Old gate valves that haven’t moved in years sometimes break when finally turned, so a plumber can swap one for a quarter-turn ball valve during the repair.
Where the water went (and what to check)
Water from a supply line is under pressure, so it spreads further than it looks. It runs along the top of the subfloor, soaks into the wall bottom plates and drips through to the floor or crawl space below. A dry-looking surface proves nothing; what matters is what is underneath.
| Area | What to look for | What to do now |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling below the break | Brown stain, sag or a bulge that holds water | Keep people out from under it. Put a bucket beneath and switch off the light circuit. See what to do with a leaking ceiling. |
| Carpet | Squishing underfoot, darker patches at the walls | Pull up a corner to check the pad. Pad soaks up water like a sponge. |
| Hardwood or laminate | Edges lifting, boards cupping within a day | Remove standing water and run fans and a dehumidifier. Don’t sand or nail down cupped boards yet. |
| Walls | Bubbling paint, swollen baseboard, a wet line | Pull the baseboard so air reaches the bottom of the drywall. |
| Cabinets | Water under the toe kick, swollen particleboard | Empty the cabinet and leave the doors open. |
| Crawl space | Pooling on the vapor barrier, dripping insulation | Look with a flashlight from the access door. Don’t crawl in if wiring is wet. |
Frozen pipes that haven’t burst yet
Upstate cold snaps catch lines in vented crawl spaces, exterior walls and unheated garages. If a faucet only trickles during a freeze, a section of pipe is probably frozen. Leave that faucet open, then warm the suspect section with a hair dryer, a heating pad or a space heater set well back from anything that can burn. Never use a torch or any open flame.
A pipe often splits while frozen but only leaks once it thaws. Stay close while you warm it, and know where the main shutoff is before you start.
When it needs a professional
A plumber fixes the pipe itself. Damage to the house is a separate job, and it is worth calling for burst pipe water damage cleanup when any of these apply:
- Water came through a ceiling or ran into wall cavities
- Carpet pad, hardwood or subfloor got wet
- The leak ran for hours or was found after a trip away
- The house smells musty a few days later
A small leak under a sink that wet a mat and a cabinet floor is usually a homeowner job: dry it, leave the doors open and watch for swelling.
Common questions
Most standard policies cover sudden, accidental water damage from a burst pipe, including drying and repair. They usually exclude slow leaks that went on for a long time and damage from a pipe that froze while heat was off in an empty house. Check your own policy and report the loss promptly.
Yes. With the main off, the tank can't refill. Turn an electric heater off at the breaker or set a gas heater to pilot until water is back on and the tank is full again.
As little time as possible. Wet drywall, carpet pad and wood start to grow mold within a day or two in a warm house, so extraction and drying should start the same day.
You can stay, but you won't have running water for toilets or sinks. A plumber can often cap the broken section so the rest of the house can be turned back on the same day.
A faucet that gives only a trickle or nothing at all during freezing weather, frost on an exposed pipe, or a bulge in the pipe are the usual signs.