Emergency lines · answered 24/7
A dispatcher in your city answers, helps you stop the damage over the phone, and tells you the after-hours fee before a tech heads out.
Smell gas? Leave the house now. Don't flip switches or use the phone inside. From outside, call 911 or your gas utility's emergency number. Carbon monoxide alarm going off? Get everyone outside and call 911.
01Stop the damage while you call
Shut off the main water valve. In most rowhouses and older homes it's in the basement on the front wall, where the water line comes in from the street. Turn the handle clockwise. Then open a faucet on the lowest floor to drain the pressure.
Stop running water anywhere in the house: no flushing, no laundry, no dishwasher. Keep kids and pets away from the water.
Turn off the cold water valve on top of the heater. Set the gas control to Pilot or Off, or switch off the breaker for an electric heater.
Check the thermostat setting and batteries, the furnace or boiler switch (often at the top of the basement stairs), and the breaker. On a high-efficiency furnace, make sure the outdoor vent pipes aren't blocked by snow. On a boiler, look at the pressure or water level gauge and tell us what you see.
Open the faucet it feeds, and warm the pipe gently with a hair dryer starting from the faucet end. Never use an open flame. If the pipe has split, shut off the main.
Check that it's plugged in and the breaker is on, and that the float isn't stuck. If water is rising, call us.
02What we treat as an emergency
If it can safely wait until morning, we'll say so and book you first thing, so you don't pay an after-hours fee you don't need.
03What happens when you call
They'll ask what's happening, whether the water is off, and who's home.
After-hours and holiday calls have a higher trip fee. We tell you what it is before anyone is sent.
You get a text with your tech's name and an arrival window. During big freezes or storms, we prioritize active flooding, sewage, and homes with no heat and vulnerable people.
Most emergencies get fixed on the first visit. If a part or a dig has to wait, we make the system safe and lay out next steps and prices.
04Emergency questions
It depends on the weather and how many calls are coming in. On a normal night we can often reach most of each city's service area within a few hours. During a deep freeze or a big storm, we'll give you an honest arrival window on the phone rather than a promise we can't keep.
Yes. Nights, weekends after hours, and holidays have a higher trip fee, and the dispatcher tells you what it is before a tech is sent. The repair itself gets the same upfront, flat-rate price. If your problem can safely wait until morning, we'll tell you, so you can choose to save the after-hours fee.
In most older Pittsburgh and Philadelphia homes, it's in the basement on the wall facing the street, close to where the water line comes in and near the water meter. It might be a round handle or a lever. If you can't find it or it won't turn, tell the dispatcher. We can talk you through it.
Next step