Emergency Burst Pipe Repair in West Chester, PA
When a pipe bursts, the first five minutes decide how much damage you get. Shut the water off, then call. This page tells you how.
What to do right now
Shut off the main
The main is usually where the water line enters the house. A wheel handle closes clockwise. A lever closes when crosswise to the pipe.
Drain the pipes
Open a cold faucet on the lowest floor so water already in the lines drains.
Mind the electrics
If water is near outlets or the panel, keep away and switch off power only if the breaker is dry and reachable.
Photograph, then call
Take pictures of the damage and the pipe for your insurer, then call the 24/7 line.
Finding your main shutoff before you need it
Most houses have the main shutoff where the water line enters the building, often on a basement wall near the front, in a utility room or in a crawlspace. In houses with a meter inside, there may be two valves, one before the meter and one after. The one after the meter is yours to use.
Test it once a year by closing and reopening it. A valve that has not moved in years can seize, and discovering that during a burst is the worst time. If it will not close fully, tell the plumber, because replacing it is a small job that makes every later emergency easier.
Why pipes burst
| Cause | Where it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Freezing | Garages, crawlspaces, exterior walls, unheated basements | Thaw safely, repair the split, insulate |
| Corrosion | Older galvanized or thin copper | Replace the section, consider repiping |
| High water pressure | Anywhere in the system | Install or adjust a pressure regulator |
| Joint failure | Fittings and connections | Repair the joint |
| Physical damage | Where pipes were nicked in remodeling | Replace the section |
Water spraying right now?
Close the main and call. The line is open all night.
When the temperature falls
Frozen water expands about nine percent, and pipes in garages, crawlspaces and exterior walls split first once overnight lows reach the teens. Frozen water expands, and the split usually appears at the weakest point after the ice melts, not while it is frozen.
If a faucet slows to a trickle on a freezing morning, shut off the main and call before the ice thaws. If you must thaw a pipe, use a hair dryer on low heat. Never use an open flame. The prevention page, frozen pipe repair, covers more.
What affects the price
Homeowners policies commonly cover damage from a sudden burst pipe but often not the cost of repairing the pipe itself. Check with your insurer.
After the pipe is fixed
Drying the structure is a separate job from fixing the pipe. For that, see drying and cleanup after a leak and the first 48 hours of a water loss, which use a separate phone line. If a leak is not visible, leak detection visits helps find it.
Pipe materials and how they fail
| Material | Failure pattern | Repair approach |
|---|---|---|
| Copper | Freeze splits, pinholes from corrosion, joint failures | Cut out and replace the section |
| PEX | Rarely splits from freezing, can fail at fittings | Replace the fitting or the section |
| Galvanized steel | Corrodes inside, leaks at threads | Replace, consider repiping |
| CPVC | Becomes brittle with age | Replace the cracked section |
| Cast iron drain | Cracks, corrodes | Replace the section |
If several sections fail in a short time, the pipe is aging as a system. That is a signal to price a repipe rather than patching one failure after another.
What to do in the first minutes
Close the main, drain the lines from a low tap and keep clear of wet outlets. Pipe repairs follow the plumbing code and the pipe maker's standards for fittings and pressure ratings.
If a pipe lets go in Westtown, the page for that township lists the emergency steps in the order to take them. Close the main first, then call.
A split pipe in a downtown building with several tenants can affect the units below, so closing the building's main is the first step and calling is the second. Photograph the damage before anything is moved.
Common questions
Shut off the main valve, open a low faucet to drain, avoid electrical areas and call.
Sudden burst damage is often covered. The pipe repair itself often is not.
A hair dryer on low heat is acceptable. Never use an open flame.
Yes, 24/7.
Many are done in a few hours once the plumber has access.
Insulate exposed pipes, seal drafts and let a faucet drip in extreme cold.