A Homeowners Guide to Emergencies

It’s inventible, you will have a home emergency--you don’t know when, you don’t know what, but it WILL happen. Unfortunately, it happens to all homeowners at some point! Check out the video below for some tips on how to turn off water, power, gas, etc. in an emergency.

Learn to turn off the water to your house in the video above

My (Vicki) own home emergency happened when I came home one afternoon and there was water pouring out of my garage--really wasn’t expecting to see that! Turns out, my washing machine, which I had “stopped” before I left home by raising the lid, had not stopped and water was gushing all over the house!

It was a pretty significant flood. I did have the wherewithal to turn off the water to the washer, but after that I was clueless as to what to do. (In hindsight, I should have cut the power to the house before stepping into the water to turn off the water. If there had been an electrical issue related to the washer, I would have been in serious trouble).

I ended up sweeping out as much as I could and using up lots of towels to soak up excess water. I did determine I needed a water extraction specialist to take care of the soaked carpets. Since it was a weekend, after hours, it was an expensive service call! 

Learn how to turn off the gas to your house in the video above

Steph also had a water related emergency. She woke up to squishy carpets one morning. So how did she cope?—she called me and I said “call a plumber!” She was proactive and turned the water off at the street to the house. Her emergency was a slow leak in the pipes in her bathroom. 

Steph's pipe leak

Steph's damp carpet

Learn how to turn the power off to your house in the video above

Be Prepared

We have put together a free printable PDF to help you plan for that eventual emergency by knowing what to do to mitigate further damage (i.e. turn of the water, etc.) and who to call to clean up the mess. A little research ahead of time will make your next emergency a little easier to cope with. 

Please note: We are not sponsored by any of the companies we have listed on the guide.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don’t claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

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