//Quick answer
- Main shutoff: near the front hose bib, in a garage wall, or at the street meter box. Clockwise until it stops.
- Then the water heater's cold supply valve, then any breaker feeding a wet area.
- Open a low faucet to drain the lines and take pressure off the break.
- Emergency service is available 24/7.
01Definition
What happens when a pipe bursts?
A supply line under pressure lets go: a frozen or fatigued joint, a pinhole that finally opens, a fitting that fails. Because the line is pressurized, the flow does not stop until the water is shut off. A few minutes is enough to soak a floor, a ceiling or a wall cavity.
What is the order of operations?
Main shutoff first: turn it clockwise until it stops. Water heater second: close its cold supply valve so it does not drain and run dry. Electricity third: if water is near outlets or a panel, switch off the affected breaker. Then open the lowest faucet in the house to drain the lines. Then call.
02When it applies
When is it an emergency call?
Whenever water is still flowing after the shutoff, when the shutoff cannot be found or will not turn, when water is near electrical, or when the house has no water at all. Done-Rite's emergency service is available 24/7; the customer-facing promise is a 1-hour response.
What does the repair visit involve?
Isolate the line, repair the failed section, pressure test, and look at why it failed. A one-off fitting failure is a repair. A pinhole in pitted copper or a split in galvanized pipe is a warning about the rest of the system, and you hear that plainly rather than as a pitch.
03What goes wrong
What goes wrong in the first hour?
Not knowing where the shutoff is. Every minute spent searching is water on the floor. Find it now, on a calm day, and ask the technician to point it out at the end of any visit. The second failure is turning the water back on without a repair to see if it was just a drip; it was not.
04Proof
- No trip charge, a 1-hour response time, and 24/7 emergency service.
- Marilyn Lowry, Google, September 9, 2026: "Spoke with a very nice lady, told her what was wrong, and in less than an hour, Mr. Jon Hanzich arrived at our door, and in no time at all, all was fixed and working"
- Six plumbers averaging more than 9 years in the trade each, plus a General Manager with 25+ years.
- California CSLB C-36 licence #998069. Licensed, bonded and insured, with workers compensation.
05Action
Water off? Now call.
24/7 emergency service, 1-hour response, no trip charge. If it is not an emergency, request a quote and the office will call you back.
//Keep going
Learn
//Terms used in this guide
Where this applies
Done-Rite runs these calls across Orange County from its shop in Anaheim, CA, with no trip charge in any city it serves.
Common questions
Find your main shutoff, usually near the front hose bib, in a garage wall, or at the street meter box, and turn it clockwise until it stops.
There is no trip charge. Done-Rite has not published a separate after-hours rate; ask when you call.
