Plumbing
Emergency Plumbing, Answered
Burst supply lines, failed water heaters and backed-up drains do not wait for business hours.
Burst supply lines, failed water heaters and backed-up drains do not wait for business hours.
Quick answer: For a burst supply line, failed water heater or drain backup, describe the active problem and property address when calling so availability and the next step can be confirmed. Licensed plumbing subcontractors perform the plumbing work and pull their own required trade permits. Southeastern Renovation coordinates the project in the Charleston Lowcountry and York County, South Carolina. Call (843) 718-8177 to discuss the property and scope.
Plan the scope: Charleston plumbing cost guide · York County cost guide · What to check before hiring a plumber.
The first thing to do before anyone arrives is find your main shutoff and close it. On a slab-on-grade house it is usually where the supply enters, often in a garage or near the water heater. On a raised house it is frequently under the crawl space hatch or at the meter box near the street. Knowing where it is beforehand is the single most useful thing a homeowner can do.
Charleston averages about 24 freezing nights a year, and roughly two of those drop to 20°F or below (NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Charleston International Airport). That is rare enough that pipes in crawl spaces, exterior walls and unheated garages routinely go uninsulated here — and often enough that it matters. Charleston Water System names the crawl space specifically in its own frozen-pipe guidance.
The December 2022 freeze is the reference case. Leaks across the system roughly doubled treated water flow, and Charleston Water System came close to issuing a boil-water notice; a spokesman described "thousands upon thousands of leaks in customers homes and in their irrigation systems." A Charleston plumber interviewed at the time put it plainly: the vast majority of the broken lines he saw were on the outside of homes, with no insulation.
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Anything actively releasing water you cannot stop, sewage backing up into the house, or no water at all.
A dripping tap or a slow drain is not an emergency and should not be billed as one. If you can close a valve and stop the water, you have time to schedule normally.
Close the main shutoff. If the problem is at the water heater, close the cold inlet valve on top of the unit and switch off its power or gas.
Move what you can off wet flooring. Photograph everything before cleanup — if this becomes an insurance claim, those photographs are what the adjuster wants.
Yes, and the damage is disproportionate precisely because it is uncommon. Pipes in crawl spaces, exterior walls and unheated garages are often uninsulated here in a way they would never be further north.
A single night in the low twenties can burst several runs in one house, and every plumber in the region is booked the following morning.