Emergency Plumber Calls: With Plumbing, Sometimes the Stakes Are Higher Than You Realize | Myrtle Beach, SC

9/6/2021

Photo By SGM at Shutterstock

There’s a human tendency not to want to make a fuss. This may guide how you feel when your plumbing is having issues, perhaps it’s late, and you think maybe it’ll wait until regular business hours. Perhaps you call during the day, but say, no big deal, come when you can. We appreciate your consideration, but sometimes a plumbing issue needs more urgent care than you realize, especially to avoid consequences such as major disinfection and cleanup, damage to your appliances, or serious water heater issues. Our Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach, SC emergency plumber service is here to help you avoid bigger problems down the road, as well as to keep your family comfortable with plenty of hot and cold running water and working fixtures and toilets. You deserve to live well.

Sink and Toilet Backups That Could Indicate Bigger Problems

When sinks, tubs, showers, and toilets back up, there are many possible causes. Calling the emergency plumber ensures that the true cause is found and remedied, which could be an object or material flushed or dropped down the drain, but it could also be blockages forming further down the line that finally are having a significant effect, or other plumbing issues that are destined to cause other backups elsewhere. It’s hard to be sure, and simply getting the water to flow again may not indicate the trouble is over. Strategically located pipe blockages can cause odd effects such as flushing causing unsanitary sink backups, or even increasing problems as the main sewer line becomes increasingly clogged and backups rise through the home’s plumbing. This is one reason that we recommend an annual drain cleaning service: starting fresh with clean pipes and a sewer line checkup ensures that compounded drain problems are unlikely.

Leaks, Sometimes the Tip of the Iceberg

A small damp area on the wall or ceiling can be the first sign of a prolonged or major leak in a hidden area that’s finally dripped, traveled, and soaked through. There could be pooled water elsewhere, mold growing in moist, dark areas, or even insect colonies were drawn to the moisture. Our emergency plumber has tools to locate and address leaks no matter where they occur, sometimes preventing expensive damage to the building and nearby materials, or avoiding health issues from mold or bacteria growth and wastewater-related damage that requires disinfection as well as cleanup. Even leaks under the slab, below the concrete basement floor, can cause more problems than expected, as they change the soil characteristics with pooled water, and the potential for foundation cracks and leaks increases.

High Water Usage

A leak under the slab is often detected by high water usage, either on the water bill or through checking the motion and count on the water meter. Another situation our emergency plumber encounters is high water usage from a damaged water supply line coming into the house. Wasted water and the resulting expense is not the only issue, since a crack or displacement in the water line also provides a way for contamination to enter your water supply and affect your family’s health or damage clothes washed in discolored and dirty water.

Who Used All the Hot Water?

The irony of finger pointing when there’s not enough hot water to go around is that the finger might be best pointed at the hot water heater. Many water heaters have dual heating elements, and if one isn’t operational, you’ll get a limited hot water supply along with possibly strange behavior such as a long run of cold or warm water from the top of the tank until it’s depleted and the hot water enters the supply line. While a reduced hot water supply may not be an actual emergency plumber situation, if your water heater isn’t regularly maintained and the safety features checked, there could be an emergency situation and if both heating elements fail, you might want to call for fast service to restore your family’s hot water supply.

When You Hear Bang! As the Dishwasher or Washing Machine Cycles

Loud bangs and rattling sounds from your pipes can be emergency plumber situations on the way, or possibly appliance repair situations. The bang is often a pressure spike caused by automatic valve action in your appliances, and it can damage pipes or appliances over time. Having us install water hammer arrestors on your appliances can help relieve these pressure spikes.

Nasty Rotten Egg Smells in Your Yard or Inside Your Home

Sewer gases should normally be trapped by those curved pipes under your sinks and released through your plumbing vents. If you’re smelling rotten eggs in the house, or near your sewer line outside, it’s time to call the emergency plumber or the gas company to remedy the situation immediately.

Overflows and Leaks Can Mix with Electricity

A particularly risky problem arising from leaks in your pipes is the effect that water has on your home’s wiring and electrical fixtures. Moisture can cause immediate problems and corrosion can lead to a risk of circuit problems and fire at some point in the future. This is another reason to keep on top of leaks as soon as you are aware of them. Getting an emergency electrician involved may be a good idea as well. Our plumbers and customer service personnel can talk about remediating the damage and related risks.

Storm Related Water

Here in Myrtle Beach, SC, water doesn’t just come from your pipes, it can rain down from the sky and cause all sorts of plumbing issues from sump pump problems and basement flooding to backup from your sewer pipe from groundwater.

When in Doubt, Call Our Emergency Plumber Line and Ask

Our emergency plumbers at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach is an expert plumbing diagnostician, ready to trace the source of leaks, drain problems, and water supply issues and get to work. Give us a call for quick action and professional service.