TL;DR: For a burst pipe in Macomb, shut off your home’s main water valve and the breaker to any flooded area first. Then make two calls: a licensed plumber to physically stop the leak, and a water damage restoration company, like Flood and Fire Solutions at (586) 580-0197, to start extraction and drying. Drying needs to start within hours, not days, so both calls happen now, not one after the other.
If water is running across your kitchen floor or spraying from a wall right now, you don’t need a long explanation. You need to know what to touch, who to dial, and in what order. This is that answer, built for Macomb homeowners dealing with a burst pipe in the next few minutes, not next week.
What do I do in the first 60 seconds?
Shut off the water at your home’s main shutoff valve, usually near the water meter in the basement, a utility closet, or where the line enters from the street. Turning that valve stops the flow at the source, even if you can’t find or reach the broken section of pipe.
If water is pooling near outlets, light switches, or your electrical panel, shut off power to that area at the breaker box before you walk through standing water. Water and live electrical components are a serious shock hazard, and a wet basement with an active circuit is not a place to improvise.
After the water and power are handled, move anything you can lift away from the wet area: electronics, rugs, boxes, furniture legs. You’re not trying to clean up yet. You’re limiting what gets soaked while you make the two calls that actually matter.
Who do I call first, a plumber or a restoration company?
Call both, close together, because they solve two different problems. A licensed plumber repairs or replaces the broken pipe so water stops entering your home for good. A restoration company removes the water that’s already inside and dries the structure before mold or warping sets in.
If you only call a plumber, the leak gets fixed but the wet drywall, soaked subfloor, and damp insulation sit there. The EPA notes mold can begin growing on wet materials within 24 to 48 hours, so the clock starts the moment the pipe breaks, not when you get around to cleanup. If you only call a restoration company, they can start extraction, but water keeps coming in until the source is actually repaired.
For the restoration half of this, Flood and Fire Solutions has handled water damage calls across Macomb since 1996 and runs 24/7, so a call doesn’t have to wait for business hours. They don’t repair the pipe itself (that’s plumbing work and outside what they do), but once the plumber has the leak stopped, their crew moves in with extraction equipment and commercial dehumidifiers to start drying the structure the same day. If you’d rather read the full scope of that service first, see the water damage restoration page.
What happens in the first 24 hours after a burst pipe?
The first 24 hours are about stopping active damage, not rebuilding anything. A technician typically arrives, assesses how far the water traveled (it often runs further under flooring and inside walls than it looks on the surface), and starts pulling standing water with truck-mounted extraction equipment.
After extraction, air movers and dehumidifiers go in to pull moisture out of drywall, subfloor, and framing over the following days, usually checked with a moisture meter at set intervals rather than guessed at. Any materials too saturated to dry in place, like soaked drywall or swollen baseboard, usually get removed rather than left to risk mold.
Throughout this, photos and written documentation of the damage get collected, which matters a lot for the insurance step below. If you want the fuller walkthrough of this phase, the burst pipe checklist covers it step by step.
Will my homeowners insurance cover this?
Most standard homeowners policies cover sudden, accidental water damage, and a pipe that bursts without warning usually qualifies, according to the Insurance Information Institute. What they typically don’t cover is damage from a slow leak you ignored for months, or wear-and-tear plumbing failures.
A burst pipe starts out as clean water in terms, called Category 1, but it doesn’t stay clean once it sits on flooring or soaks into building materials for any length of time. That’s part of why fast extraction matters for the claim, not just the structure: most policies expect you to mitigate damage promptly once it starts.
Keep your receipts, photos, and any written scope of work from the restoration crew. That paperwork is what your adjuster uses to settle the claim, and it’s worth reading our plain-English breakdown of water damage coverage before you call your insurer.
A burst pipe in a Macomb Township split-level or a ranch near Hall Road is stressful, but it’s a sequence, not a mystery: stop the water, call the plumber and the restoration crew, document everything, and let the drying start before the day is over.
About Flood and Fire Solutions
Flood and Fire Solutions has served Macomb, MI and surrounding Macomb County communities since 1996. Licensed and insured, the company operates 24/7 and handles water damage restoration, sewage cleanup, fire damage restoration, ice dam damage, content recovery, emergency board-up, and environmental consulting. The team holds a 4.5 Google rating across 35 reviews from area homeowners.