24/7 Emergency Plumbing

Plumbing emergency in Aubrey or Denton County? Call now, then shut off the water

Vor-Tex Plumbing Co. is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If a pipe has burst, a drain is backing up into your home, or water is coming through a ceiling at 2 a.m., call (469) 552-2881. We will tell you what to do while you wait and get a licensed plumber on the way. Texas license M-46210.

This page covers what counts as an emergency, what to do in the first few minutes, and how our 24-hour service works.

What counts as a plumbing emergency

Call right away if any of these are happening:

• A burst or leaking pipe you cannot stop. Water pouring from a wall, ceiling, or slab, or a spray from a supply line.
• Sewage backing up. Waste coming up through a floor drain, tub, or toilet, or several fixtures backing up at once. See drain and sewer line cleaning.
• No water at all when your neighbors have water, which can point to a failed line on your property.
• A leaking or flooding water heater. A tank that is losing water heavily is not a repair you can wait on. See water heater repair.
• A frozen pipe that has split, or a line that has frozen solid and is at risk of splitting when it thaws.
• A gas smell. This one starts with leaving the house, not with a phone call to us. Details below.
• A toilet that will not stop overflowing even after you close its supply valve.

Things that are annoying but usually not emergencies: a slow drain, a dripping faucet, a running toilet, or a water heater that makes noise but still heats. Call anyway if you are unsure. We will help you decide, and we offer same-day or next-day service for problems that can wait a few hours.

What to do before we arrive

1. Shut off the main water valve. The main shutoff is usually where the water line enters your house: an exterior wall, a garage, a utility room, or a closet near the water heater. A ball valve turns a quarter turn so the handle sits across the pipe. A round gate-valve handle turns clockwise until it stops. If you cannot find it or cannot turn it, there is often a shutoff at the water meter near the street, which may need a meter key and may be the utility’s to operate.
2. Open a faucet at the lowest point in the house, such as a tub or an outdoor spigot, to let pressure and leftover water drain out.
3. Stay clear of electricity. If water is near outlets, a panel, or appliances, do not touch them. If you can reach the breaker box without stepping through water, switch off the affected circuits. If you cannot, call us and tell us, and call 911 if you see sparking or smell burning.
4. Isolate the fixture if it is a single fixture. Supply valves under sinks and behind toilets turn clockwise to close.
5. At the water heater, close the cold-water valve on top and turn the unit off. For electric, that means the breaker. For gas, set the control to off or pilot.
6. For a sewage backup, stop using water in the house, do not flush, and do not pour chemical drain cleaner into the line. It will not clear a main line and it is harmful to anyone who handles the water afterward.
7. Protect what you can. Move rugs, electronics, and boxes out of the wet area, and take photos of the damage for your insurance company before you start cleanup.

How our 24-hour service works

You call (469) 552-2881 any hour, any day. We ask what is happening, tell you which valves to close, and arrange a visit. We do not promise a number of minutes, because we do not know your situation or our schedule until we hear from you. Instead, we give you an honest arrival window and keep to it.

When we arrive, the first job is to stop the damage. After that, we find the cause, explain what we see, and give you an up-front estimate before any repair starts. The $79 dispatch fee covers the visit and is applied toward your repair total when you approve the recommended work. We do the work, show you what we did, and when we supply the parts, they come with a 5-year warranty on parts and labor.

Freezes and the pipes that fail first

Cold snaps cause a surge of emergency calls across Denton County. During Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, Denton logged 16 water main breaks in one week, and a hard freeze in January 2026 produced frozen pipes across Denton County. The lines that fail first are usually the ones on exterior walls, in attics and garages, and outdoor hose bibbs. If a pipe has frozen but not split, open the faucet slightly, and call us before it thaws. Our pipe insulation page covers how to prevent it next time, and emergency leak and burst pipe repair covers the repair itself.

What an emergency visit costs

Emergency repairs vary a great deal, from a single failed supply line to a section of pipe behind a wall, so we do not quote a price over the phone before we see the problem. What we promise is the process: up-front estimate, your approval, then the work. For typical numbers across common repairs, see our plumbing cost guide. Browse all plumbing services if your problem is not on this page.