Emergency plumber in North Vancouver
Burst pipes, leaks coming through ceilings, no hot water, sewage backing up. Tell us it's urgent and we'll do our best to get to you the same day.
Do it now: find your shut-off
If water is actively escaping, shutting it off matters more than reaching us. Every minute of flow is more damage and more restoration cost.
- A single fixture — toilet, sink, dishwasher — usually has its own small valve on the supply line beneath or behind it. Turn it clockwise.
- A hot water tank has a valve on the cold inlet at the top. Close that and the tank stops refilling.
- The whole house shuts off at the main. In most North Vancouver homes it's where the supply enters — a crawlspace, a basement wall, a utility room, or a garage. Older homes often have it near the front foundation wall.
- Strata and apartment units normally have unit shut-offs inside the suite. If you can't stop it, call the building's emergency line as well as us, because the riser may need isolating.
Worth doing on a calm afternoon rather than at midnight: find your main shut-off, make sure it actually turns, and show everyone in the house where it is. Valves that have sat untouched for twenty years sometimes seize, and that's much better to discover now.
Stop what you're doing. Don't use light switches, phones or anything else that could create a spark. Go outside, leaving the door open behind you.
From outside, call FortisBC's 24-hour emergency line on 1-800-663-9911, or dial 911. They come out free of charge and they'd far rather attend a false alarm than a real one. Call us afterwards, once the gas side is made safe.
What we treat as urgent
Not everything that feels like an emergency at 8pm actually needs someone that evening, and we'd rather tell you honestly than charge you for a rushed visit. Things that genuinely can't wait:
- A burst or actively leaking pipe, particularly inside a wall or ceiling.
- A leaking hot water tank. Tanks fail from the bottom and get worse, not better.
- Sewage backing up into a tub, shower or floor drain — a health issue as much as a plumbing one.
- No water at all, or a main that won't shut off.
- No heat or hot water in cold weather, especially where there are young children or elderly residents.
Things that usually keep until a normal booking: a slow drain, a dripping tap, a running toilet, a single fixture out of action when others still work. We'll still come — it just doesn't need to cost you an urgent call-out.
How our availability actually works
We're a small local shop, not a national dispatch service, and we'd rather be straight with you about what that means. We're available seven days a week, 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. Urgent calls get moved to the front of the day's schedule, and we do our best to reach genuine emergencies the same day.
What we won't do is promise a guaranteed two-hour response at three in the morning and then not deliver it. If we can't get to you in the time your situation needs, we'll say so on the phone rather than let you sit and wait.
While you're waiting
Once the water's off, a few things limit the damage. Open the taps at the lowest point in the house to drain the pipes and relieve pressure. Move what you can out of the way and get towels or a bucket under an active drip. If water is near electrical outlets, a light fitting or a panel, shut off that circuit at the breaker — and if you're unsure, leave it alone and tell us when we arrive.
Photograph everything before you clean up. Insurers ask, and the photos are much easier to take now than to explain later.
Water where it shouldn't be? Call now.
Shut off the supply first, then dial. We'll talk you through it.