First thing
Call now
Water escaping that you cannot stop, or that you have only stopped by closing the main to the whole house. Sewage backing up into a tub, shower or floor drain. A water heater leaking from the tank body. Any plumbing failure near the electrical panel. A gas smell near a water heater or gas appliance — that one is a call to the gas utility first, from outside the house.
Usually fine until morning
A single dripping faucet. One slow drain with other fixtures working. A toilet that runs on but will flush and refill. No hot water, provided nothing is leaking — unpleasant, but not damaging. A small drip from a supply fitting you have caught in a bucket and photographed.
What after-hours actually costs
Expect a higher call-out and a higher hourly rate outside normal business hours, with weekends and holidays higher again. The honest comparison is not the premium against the normal rate — it is the premium against what the damage does overnight. For an active leak the premium is almost always worth paying. For no hot water it almost never is.
If you decide to wait
Shut off the water to the affected fixture rather than the whole house where you can. Put a container under the drip and a towel under that. Photograph everything. Then submit your request marked as urgent — it reaches the contractor immediately and you are near the front of the morning's list rather than joining it at 8am.
Questions people ask
Can you guarantee someone comes tonight?
No. Availability is the contractor's, not ours. We send your request immediately and flagged as urgent; we will not tell you a truck is coming when we do not control the truck.
Is the $100 inspection different after hours?
The inspection fee covers a licensed plumber attending and giving you a written price. After-hours attendance generally costs more than that, and the contractor will tell you the rate before they come out.
It stopped leaking by itself. Do I still need someone?
Usually yes. A leak that stops on its own has often just found somewhere else to go, frequently into a wall or under a floor where you cannot see it.
