5 Tips to Minimize Water Damage

If you’ve yet to experience your first plumbing emergency, it’s hard to think about how you would react or the things you would need to do. Most people assume that they only need to call the plumber. While J Griffin Heating and Plumbing will handle any general plumbing services or emergencies, here are five tips to help you minimize the damage to your home or business.

What Counts As A Plumbing Emergency?

Plumbing emergencies are those that have the potential to become worse without quick intervention. For example, a leaky pipe can lead to warped flooring. A clogged toilet can overflow and lead to flooding. So, how would you respond to these plumbing situations?

Most people can limit the damage by making a few minor adjustments to either the water or plumbing system until our technicians can arrive. While we do not advocate for our clients to take on heavy plumbing problems, we do teach these tips to mitigate and minimize damages.

  1. Identify Where The Main Plumbing & Water Line Valves Are

As the property owner, you need to acquaint yourself with the location of your plumbing and water system cut-off valves. While you might not feel comfortable with unclogging the toilet or replacing piping, shutting off the valve at least creates time for a professional to arrive and take care of the underlying problem before a more serious issue can occur.

  1. Have A Plan In Place To Handle Plumbing Emergencies

If you have ever experienced an emergency, you know your heart starts beating faster and it’s hard to focus on tasks at hand. Creating a quick plan for emergencies will help you react more appropriately at the moment. For example, you can add things like where shut-off valves are located, directions for turning off your water heater, or the phone number to call J Griffin Heating and Plumbing, your electrician, or HVAC repairman.

  1. Never Take On An Emergency Without Understanding The Cause

While grabbing a plunger sounds like the safest option, you might be pushing an object deeper into the pipe. Do a once over to ensure to find the cause rather than trying to find a solution. If you are unsure of the problem, turn off the water valve to the area and call us. You will avoid the flooding or flushing until it can be properly inspected by a technician.

  1. Ask Someone To Help With Overflow

If a pipe has broken or your toilet is overflowing, it’s a great time to get help from someone nearby. You will have extra hands to turn off valves and reduce the damage to flooring, carpeting, ceilings, or walls. The faster it’s done, the less damage you have. General plumbing services can be complicated as well, so an extra set of eyes helps.

  1. Ensure You Have Some Basic Tools For Emergencies

Unless you already engage in DIY projects, you likely don’t have a basic toolset laying around. We suggest for plumbing emergencies to have tools such as a wrench, pliers, a screwdriver, Allen wrenches, a snake, and a plunger. You should also have some old rags or paper towels in case you need to soak up water. Avoid touching overflowing waste.

While we are just a call away at (781) 521-2188, you can also reach out to us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JGriffinHeatingandPlumbing/ for all general plumbing services.