The First 30 Minutes After You Find Water Damage
A minute-by-minute playbook for the first half hour: shutoffs, breakers, photos, and the one call that matters most.
Water damage outcomes are decided early. The same burst pipe can end as a three-day drying job or a six-week rebuild — and the difference is mostly what happens in the first half hour. Here's the playbook our dispatchers walk callers through every week.
Minutes 0-5: Stop the water
Find the source and close the nearest valve:
- Appliance or fixture — close the supply valve behind/under it
- Water heater — close the cold-water valve on top of the tank
- Burst pipe or unknown — close the main shutoff (basement utility room near the water heater in most Wasatch Front homes, or at the meter by the street)
- Sewage coming UP a drain — different problem: stop using ALL water in the house and skip to the phone call
If you can't find the shutoff, call us anyway — we'll help you find it while a crew rolls.
Minutes 5-10: Make it safe
Water and electricity share your basement. Before stepping into any wet area, shut off power to those rooms at the breaker panel. If the panel itself is in the wet area, stay out and wait for help. Never stand in water that's touching cords, outlets, or appliances.
Minutes 10-20: Document everything
Your phone camera is your insurance claim's best friend:
- Video the source while it's obvious (the split hose, the rusted tank seam)
- Photograph every wet room from the doorway, then closer
- Capture model/serial plates on failed appliances
- Don't throw anything away — ruined items are claim evidence
Minutes 20-30: Make the call and protect what's portable
Call Keystone at (801) 948-2501 — 24/7, real person, crew on-site within 45 minutes across Salt Lake, Utah, and Davis Counties. Then, while you wait: move electronics and keepsakes to dry ground, put foil under furniture legs you can't move, and resist the urge to start ripping carpet — extraction equipment saves materials that amateur demo destroys.
What NOT to do
- Don't run a household vacuum on water
- Don't blast the furnace fan to "help dry" — it spreads humidity to dry rooms
- Don't wait until morning. Water keeps soaking while you sleep, and mold's 24-48 hour clock is already running.
Thirty minutes of good decisions, one phone call, and the worst day your house has had becomes a story instead of a renovation.
Questions about your specific situation? Talk to us — advice is free, 24/7.