Map your shutoffs before you need them

In an emergency, the most valuable thing in your house isn't a tool — it's knowledge of where water can be stopped. There are three levels, and every adult in the home should know all three:

1. Fixture shutoffs

Small oval or lever valves at each toilet (behind the bowl), sink (inside the cabinet), and washing machine (behind the unit). Turn clockwise to close. These let you isolate one fixture without killing water to the whole house — use them for overflowing toilets and supply-line leaks. If yours are corroded open, that's a cheap fix worth doing proactively.

2. The main house shutoff

One valve that stops all water entering the home. In Austin it's typically where the line enters — garage wall, utility closet, or an exterior wall near the front of the house. Older homes may have a gate valve (round wheel, several turns to close); newer ones usually have a ball valve (lever, quarter-turn). Go find yours this weekend and make sure it actually turns. A seized main valve discovered during a burst pipe is a nightmare we see regularly.

3. The meter shutoff

In the ground-level box near the curb or sidewalk, on the city side. It requires a meter key (a $10 T-handle tool at any hardware store) and sometimes a bit of persuasion. This is your last resort when the house valve fails or the break is between the meter and the house.

Homework that takes ten minutes: locate all three, verify they turn, and put a meter key and a flashlight next to the main house valve. Label the valves with a tag or tape. Future-you, ankle-deep in water at 2 AM, says thanks.

Burst pipe protocol: step by step

Burst pipes in Austin usually come from freezes, but corrosion and water-hammer can split a weakened section any time of year. The sound is unmistakable — a sudden hiss or rush inside a wall or ceiling — followed by water where it shouldn't be.

  1. Shut off the main. Don't hunt for the burst first. Stop the water, then investigate.
  2. Open faucets. Open the lowest faucet in the house (often an outdoor hose bib) and a few indoor taps to drain residual pressure from the lines.
  3. Electricity check. If water is anywhere near outlets, switches, or the panel, kill the relevant breaker. Standing water plus electricity is how emergencies become tragedies.
  4. Contain and document. Buckets, towels, and a wet-dry vac for what you can reach. Photograph everything before cleanup — your insurance adjuster wants to see the damage, not your mopping.
  5. Call. (512) 233-6590 — tell us you've shut off the main and where the water appeared. We'll talk you through anything else while the truck rolls.
  6. Start drying within 24 hours. Mold starts fast in Texas humidity. Fans, dehumidifiers, and pulled-up wet carpet padding make the difference between a plumbing bill and a remediation bill.

Freeze response: what 2021 taught Austin

The February 2021 freeze rewrote the rules for Central Texas. Pipes that had never frozen in 30 years froze, because the cold lasted days, not hours — and because power outages killed the heat that normally protects interior plumbing. Here's the distilled version:

Before the freeze

  • Insulate exposed pipes in attics, crawl spaces, garages, and exterior walls — foam sleeves are cheap and effective.
  • Disconnect hoses and cover hose bibs. A frozen bib splits the pipe inside the wall, where you can't see it.
  • Know where your main shutoff is (see above) and keep a meter key handy.
  • Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so warm air reaches the pipes.
  • Let faucets drip — both hot and cold — on the fixtures farthest from where water enters the house. Moving water freezes slower.

During an extended freeze

  • Keep the thermostat steady day and night — no setbacks. If the power goes out, shut off the main and drain the lines by opening faucets; it's drastic, but it's what saves homes.
  • Never use a space heater or heat lamp near pipes unsupervised, and never use an open flame to thaw a pipe.
  • If a pipe freezes, thaw it gently with a hair dryer or warm towels, working from the faucet back toward the frozen section, with the faucet open.

After the thaw — the dangerous part

Most freeze damage isn't discovered during the freeze — it's discovered when things thaw. Ice plugs a split pipe; when the ice melts, the leak starts. After any hard freeze, walk your house: check under every sink, look at ceilings for new stains, listen for hissing in walls, and watch your water meter. If the meter's leak indicator spins with everything off, water is going somewhere it shouldn't. That's when you call — and when our leak detection service earns its keep.

Gas smell procedure

Natural gas is odorless, so utilities add mercaptan — that rotten-egg sulfur smell. If you smell it, the order of operations is non-negotiable:

  1. Don't touch anything electrical. No light switches, no garage door opener, no phone calls from inside. A spark is the danger.
  2. Get everyone out. People and pets, out the nearest door. Leave doors open behind you if you can do it without delay.
  3. Call from outside. Your gas utility first (they own the meter and the street side), then us at (512) 233-6590 — we handle everything on the house side: gas line repair, leak detection, and new installs, all under our Texas Master Plumber License #M-41147.
  4. Don't re-enter until the utility or fire department clears the house.

Build a $50 emergency kit

  • Meter key and a flashlight, stored at the main shutoff
  • A 5-gallon bucket and a stack of old towels
  • Pipe repair clamp (fits common pipe sizes; stops a pinhole leak well enough to wait for morning)
  • Teflon tape and a pair of channel-lock pliers
  • Our number saved in your phone: (512) 233-6590

None of this replaces a plumber — it buys you the calm, dry hour between “something's wrong” and the truck in your driveway. For the call-first version of all of this, see our Austin emergency plumber page.