Plumbing Emergency? What to Do Right Now
These guides cover the first few minutes of a plumbing emergency in a Toronto home: what to shut off, what to stay away from, and who to call first. They are written to be read on a phone while standing in the basement. Each one ends with the same next step, which is to call us and be connected live to a plumber.
Two of them are not plumbing calls first. A gas smell is a call to Enbridge Gas at 1-866-763-5427, from outside the building, before anyone else. A sewage backup that started during heavy rain may be the City's sewer, and Toronto 311 needs to hear about it as well as a plumber.
- Burst Pipe Repair: What to Do Right Now (Toronto)Burst pipe repair starts with shutting off the main water valve, then opening a tap on the lowest floor to drain pressure from the system.
- Sewer Backup Toronto: What to Do Right Now if Sewage is Backing Up in the BasementIf you’re dealing with a sewer backup in Toronto, stop all water use in the house right away, keep people and pets out of the affected area, treat everything the water has touched as contaminated, and switch off power only if it’s safe to do so.
- No Hot Water Toronto: What to Check Right NowIf you have no hot water in Toronto, start by checking whether the problem is throughout the property or only at one fixture, then look at the simple causes: the breaker for an electric heater, the pilot light or gas valve for a gas one, whether you are getting only warm water, whether there is also no heat, and whether the tank has a leak.
- I Smell Natural Gas Near My Furnace or Water Heater What Should I Do Right Now: Leave First, Then Call (Toronto)If you smell rotten eggs near your furnace or water heater, leave the home immediately without switching anything on or off and call Enbridge Gas at 1-866-763-5427 from outside; if the smell is strong or you hear hissing, call 911 as well.
The two things to know before anything goes wrong
Where your main water shutoff is, and how to close it. In most Toronto houses it is in the basement on the pipe that comes through the front wall, next to the water meter. Find it now, on a quiet day, and make sure it turns. Almost every water emergency on this page starts with that valve.
Where your breaker panel is, and which breakers cover the basement. Water and electricity meet in basements more often than anywhere else in the house.
Then call
The number on every page is answered at every hour by our assistant, which confirms what has happened and your postal code and connects you live to a plumber who is available now. Say what you have already shut off; it is the first thing the plumber will want to know.