Emergency plumbing in Salem, answered day and night

Most plumbing emergencies get worse by the minute, and the most useful thing you can do is stop the water before the plumber arrives. Knowing where your main shutoff is, and how to close it, saves more floors and ceilings than any repair afterward. This page walks through what to do first.

We answer 24/7, every day of the year. When you call, we ask what is happening, help you shut things off over the phone if needed, and send one of our own plumbers with a truck stocked for common emergency repairs. You get the price for the repair before work starts, once the plumber has seen the problem.

What to shut off first in a plumbing emergency

If water is spraying or pouring, find the closest shutoff and close it. A burst line under a sink or toilet usually has its own stop valve right there. For a leaking water heater, close the cold valve on top of the tank and turn off its gas or breaker. For anything bigger, go to the main.

If sewage is backing up, stop using all water in the house, including toilets, sinks, the washer and the dishwasher. Every gallon you send down adds to what comes back up. If you smell gas, leave the house, then call the gas utility and us from outside.

• Burst fixture line: close the stop valve under that fixture
• Leaking water heater: close the cold supply and shut off gas or power
• Unknown leak or burst pipe: close the main shutoff for the house
• Sewer backup: stop running all water until the line is cleared

Where Salem main shutoffs usually hide

Because so many Salem homes sit over a crawlspace, the main shutoff is often under the house, just inside the foundation wall on the street side, where the water line enters. In homes with an attached garage, it may be on a garage wall near the water heater or the hose bib. Some homes have one behind an access panel in a closet.

If you cannot find an inside valve, use the shutoff at the meter box near the street or sidewalk. Lift the lid and look for a valve on the house side of the meter, which a meter key or large adjustable wrench can turn. Find your main shutoff on a calm day, so you are not searching during a flood.

• Crawlspace, near where the water line enters through the foundation
• Attached garage wall, often near the water heater
• Meter box at the street, on the house side of the meter

Frozen pipes and the cold-snap rush

Salem does not freeze every year, but when a hard cold snap arrives, emergency calls jump. Pipes in vented crawlspaces, on north walls and in unheated garages are the usual failures. During the January 2024 ice storm, many homes found broken pipes only after temperatures rose and water began to flow again.

If a faucet stops running in freezing weather, the pipe is likely frozen. Open the faucet, warm the pipe gently with a hair dryer or space heater, and never use an open flame. If you see a split, close the main before it thaws. Thawed burst pipes leak fast.

Sewer backups during the long wet season

Heavy, steady rain from fall through spring raises groundwater and can push water into old clay or concrete sewer laterals through cracked joints and root openings. A line already partly blocked by roots can back up during a storm, and the first sign is often water coming up a basement floor drain or a lower shower.

Stop using water, keep people and pets away from the backup, and call. We clear the line, usually through a cleanout, and can run a camera after to show you whether roots, a sag or a broken section caused it. That tells you whether a repair is needed or whether it was a one-time clog.