East Canton Plumbing Restoration, Starting With the First Hour

The First Hour: A Practical Checklist

Most of the damage from a burst pipe or a broken supply hose happens because water keeps running while people search for a valve. A few minutes of preparation now saves a lot of drywall later. If water is spreading in your home, work through these steps in order.

• Close the main shutoff valve. In most East Canton homes it is in the basement where the water line comes through the front or side wall.
• If you are on a well, also switch off the breaker for the well pump.
• Turn off electricity to any room where water is near outlets, fixtures or appliances.
• Open a faucet on the lowest floor to drain the remaining pressure out of the lines.
• Take photos and short videos of the water and the damaged area before cleaning up.
• Move furniture, rugs and boxes off wet floors and out of the path of dripping water.
• Call us at 330-875-8003 for emergency leak containment and a damage inspection.

What Happens When We Get There

Our first job is to confirm the water is truly off and that nothing else is leaking. Then we find the source. In this area that is often a frozen and split pipe, a failed water heater, a supply hose behind a washer or toilet, or a sump pump that quit during a storm.

Once we know the cause, we explain your repair options and give you a free estimate. Nothing happens until you approve the plan. After the repair, we test the system, check the related lines and fixtures, and finish with a quality inspection. We also document the cause and the work with photos for your insurance company, since we offer insurance assistance and plumbing damage inspections.

Village Homes and Township Farmhouses

The housing around East Canton is a mix. The village has older houses on public water, many with basements and some original galvanized or copper supply lines. Out in Osnaburg Township and toward Waynesburg and Malvern, many homes are older farmhouses with additions, crawlspaces and private wells.

Farmhouses with additions are especially prone to freeze damage. Pipes often run through an old porch converted to a laundry room, a crawlspace with no insulation or an exterior wall that was never designed to hold plumbing. When we repair a freeze break in one of these spaces, we also look at rerouting or insulating the line so it is less exposed next winter.

Is It Safe to Turn the Water Back On

Not right away, in many cases. Turning the main back on before the damaged section is repaired just restarts the leak. Even after a repair, it is worth checking that a water heater that got wet is still safe, that drains are not partially blocked by debris, and that a well pump that ran dry has not been damaged.

If the problem traces to the buried line from the street or the well, our East Canton water main repair service handles that. Slow leaks we find during the inspection can be fixed through our leak repair work.

Preventing the Next Emergency

Tag your main shutoff so everyone in the house can find it. Test your sump pump before spring rains, and consider a backup if your basement is finished; our sump pump service can help with that. Keep heat on in rooms with plumbing during cold snaps, and open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls.

An annual checkup also catches worn parts before they fail. Our maintenance agreement includes a yearly inspection and priority service. For more on restoration across the area, visit our Stark County restoration page.