When looking for plumbers in your area, you may find some plumbing services that also refer to themselves as emergency plumbers. But what exactly is it that an emergency plumber does, and how do you know when it’s time to call one instead of just a regular plumber?
At its core, the title of an emergency plumber refers to a plumber whose work consists mainly of plumbing jobs with a high level of urgency. While regular plumbing work may focus on maintenance, checking on pipes, upgrading fixtures and maybe replacing old ones, emergency plumbers will usually handle urgent repairs and replacements to restore the system to good working condition.
If you’re not sure whether your problem counts as a regular plumbing issue or an emergency plumbing problem, ask yourself: can this wait until tomorrow? Or even next week? In the event of a dripping faucet, an outdated toilet, or a water heater that’s a bit too slow to heat up, you likely don’t have an emergency on your hands — just a regular plumbing problem. While it will still need to be fixed, it doesn’t warrant a call to an emergency plumber.
However, if you are experiencing something like a burst pipe, an overflowing or clogged toilet that you can’t figure out how to fix with just a plunger, a sewer line blockage, a broken water heater, or anything else that requires an immediate fix for your house to function, that is when you need to call in an emergency plumber instead of waiting for a regular appointment.