Emergency Plumber in Santa Clarita

Who to call first: your side of the meter or the utility’s

Some emergencies start on the utility’s side, and the utility handles those. For SCV Water customers, the line belongs to SCV Water as far as the meter, meter included; from the meter to the house, it is the owner’s. SCV Water itself asks customers to call a plumber for problems on their side of the meter.

SCV Water’s number is for its own customers, and your water bill names your supplier. Its rules reserve the meter stop, the valve on the street side of the meter, for SCV Water’s own use, and prohibit anyone else from turning the water off there without its authorization. So if your own valve won’t close, ask Customer Care to turn the service off, and call again once the repair is done: SCV Water turns the water back on itself.

The county’s line covers the City of Santa Clarita, whose sewers LA County maintains under contract, and the unincorporated county areas. If you are not sure whose sewer it is, the county says to call anyway.

Emergency or not: what can wait for a booked visit

Call straight away when water or sewage is somewhere it shouldn’t be and doing damage now: both do more harm the longer they go on. A gas smell is an emergency too, and SoCalGas takes that call first. Most other problems can wait for a booked visit once nothing is getting wet:

• a dripping faucet, or a toilet that keeps running;
• one slow drain, when the others in the house still run normally;
• a leak under a sink or at the washer that the fixture’s own valve has stopped.

Valves under sinks, at the clothes washer and on the water heater shut off just that fixture, so the rest of the house keeps its water while you wait. Close the fixture’s valve, then call the shop and say what happened.

Shutting off the water to the house

Your side of the meter usually has two shut-offs. SCV Water’s rules require a customer valve just past the meter, as close to it as practical, and SCV Water says house valves usually sit outside, sometimes just below the hose bib where the main line comes into the house. Find yours before you need it.

• A round or oval handle is a gate valve. Turn it clockwise. It closes slowly and can take several turns to close all the way.
• A straight lever is a ball valve. Turn it a quarter turn, until the lever sits across the pipe. SCV Water says to open and close a ball valve slowly and smoothly, so the pipes and fittings aren’t strained or damaged.

If a valve won’t budge, don’t force it: call SCV Water and ask for the service to be turned off at the meter. If your house has no shut-off valve at all, SCV Water suggests having one installed.

A valve that hasn’t moved in years can stick just when you need it. Working the main shut-off open and closed now and then keeps it moving, so it works when it’s needed.

When the water heater is the leak

Water around a water heater usually comes from a fitting, a valve or the tank itself. A leaking fitting or valve can usually be repaired. A tank that has rusted through can’t, and the heater has to be replaced.

Closing the cold-water valve stops more water going into the tank, and turning off the gas or the breaker means the heater isn’t heating a tank that is losing water. Emergency water heater repair covers what comes next, and the same page explains a heater that has stopped heating. Plumbing by Kirk works on tank and tankless heaters alike, from a repair to a replacement.

Burst pipes, hidden leaks and backed-up drains

With the water off, the next job is finding the leak. A pipe that burst in plain sight needs no search, only the repair. Water you can hear but can’t see, a damp patch on a floor or a wall, or a meter that keeps moving with every faucet off points to a hidden leak, and leak detection finds where it is.

Sewage coming up a tub or shower drain usually means the main line has stopped. It is usually opened from the main line clean-out, with a drain cable or, when grease or roots fill the pipe, hydro jetting. A clog in one fixture on its own is everyday work for drain cleaning.

Emergency plumbing across the Santa Clarita Valley

Kirk’s crew works out of the shop on Avenue Tibbitts in Valencia and serves homes across the Santa Clarita Valley, from Castaic and Stevenson Ranch to Saugus, Newhall and Canyon Country.

When you call, give the address, say what you are seeing and whether the water is off, and mention anything already wet, such as a ceiling or the flooring.