There are only a few things more stressful than trying to track down the best emergency plumber Brooklyn NY has to offer when you are standing in 3 inches (and climbing) of water pumping out of a broken toilet with no end in sight.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of people here in New York City are going to have to deal with too terribly many plumbing emergencies while living in the city – though the potential for a plumbing catastrophe always exists.

Most people understand that the New York City plumbing system is a hodgepodge of literally hundreds and hundreds of years of different plumbing systems all feeding into one another, and most plumbing supply lines (except for those in the most recently built buildings) run the risk of popping at any moment and causing thousands – if not millions – of damage along the line.

This is why (or at least one of the reasons why) you’re going to want to be completely sure that you have the contact information for the best emergency plumber Brooklyn has to offer, and why you need to be certain that these professionals are going to be able to bail you out whenever you’ve deep their help most.

You cannot afford to wait until you find yourself in the middle of a plumbing emergency to comb through all of the different plumbers in Queens  or plumber Brooklyn trying to find one that is going to be able to blend a helping hand.

It just doesn’t work that way, unless you want to spend hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars more than you should have in the first place.

Here is a quick guide designed to help you find the emergency plumber in New York City!

Assess the situation as honestly as you can to determine whether it’s a true emergency

The very first thing that you need to do when you believe yourself to be in the middle of a plumbing emergency is to take a step back and honestly assess the situation to determine whether or not you really do have a plumbing emergency on your hands.

You see, there is as much a difference between a toilet that is overflowing and spilling all kinds of waste across your apartment and a leaky faucet that just doesn’t want to cooperate any longer as there is between the rates that emergency plumber Brooklyn services will charge compared to “regular” plumbers in Queens working during “regular” business hours.

Obviously, if you don’t have to foot the bill for an understandably more expensive emergency plumber you shouldn’t be calling them in the first place, but that means you need to diagnose the situation at hand to make the appropriate decision.

Try to determine whether or not your plumbing situation is going to get worse by the time that normal business hours roll around, and if things are going to spiral out of control you need to get on the horn and contact emergency professionals ASAP.

If not?

Wait until 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning and then give one of the plumbers in NYC a call. You’ll be glad you did (and so will your bank account).

Always look for emergency plumber Brooklyn services that have been in business for at least 5 years

If you do end up having to move forward with an emergency plumber Brooklyn, you need to be sure that you are working with professional services that have been in business for at least five years (minimum).

Yes, there are quality Emergency plumber Brooklyn NY experts in the area that have just recently opened shop, and yes, there are real experts in the area that might not have five years of experience under their belt – but there are just as many (if not more) fly-by-night operations that have only been around for a couple of weeks or two that are looking to gobble up a couple of jobs and maybe do some halfway decent work along the way.

You do not (you CANNOT) ever want to find yourself tangled up with these kind of cut rate emergency plumbing “professionals”. Not only are they going to hit you where it hurts most – your wallet – but they also probably won’t be able to solve your plumbing issue to begin with.

There are so many professional plumber Brooklyn has to offer with track records of success that you can decide to work with that it just makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to go with anyone that doesn’t have real-world experience. Especially when you need the situation resolved right away.

Ask your neighbors for a recommendation or referral

The best time to search for an emergency plumbers in Queens is not when you need their help the most, but instead a few days, a few weeks, a few months, and maybe even a few years before you ever need their help.

Most people living in the city simply don’t take the time to prepare themselves for any and every emergency eventuality, and it almost always comes back to bite them later down the line. If you want to avoid all of the headaches, all of the hassle, and the nightmare that is an emergency plumbing issue – and the sky high bill that a last-minute emergency plumber decision will hit you with – you need to prepare yourself in advance.

The best way (and maybe the easiest way) to do so is to simply contact all of your neighbors and ask them for a recommendation or referrals. They’ll be able to point you in the right direction about which plumbers in Queens can be trusted, which ones should be avoided, and which boiler repair Queens experts can help you out in a pinch.

Not only that, but they’ll also be able to provide you with real insider information about each and every one of these professionals that you would never have had access to otherwise. They’ll be able to tell you exactly what it’s like to work with these emergency plumbers, they’ll be able to tell you exactly what it’s like to receive a bill from one of these emergency plumbers in Queens, and they’ll be able to tell you exactly why they are so happy and self-confident recommending them to you.

Don’t miss out on this valuable resource of information.

Verify insurance (this is a BIG one) – then double check

You should only choose to work with plumbers in Queens and plumber Brooklyn that are fully licensed and fully insured as a general rule, but you especially need to make sure that the emergency plumbers you are working within the city are completely and fully protected by multiple layers of insurance.

And once you’re sure that they are protected by those multiple layers of insurance you need to check again.

Every single professional emergency plumber Brooklyn is going to be able to prove that they carry multiple insurances (including liability insurance), and will be more than happy to provide you with documentation that verifies their current insurance information. This is information that you absolutely need to request before they show up to tackle any work whatsoever, as you cannot afford to have them make a mistake and create an even larger plumbing issue that gets wildly more expensive along the way.

Protect yourself by verifying that the plumber in Brooklyn you decide to work with is on the up and up, is a legitimate professional, and carries more than enough insurance to protect him AND you in the event that things go a little bit south.

Make sure they have a response time that you feel comfortable with

Even the best and fastest plumbers in Queens is going to have a response time that you may or may not be completely comfortable with, especially if you’re calling them in the middle of the night with an emergency on your hands.

Most of the emergency plumbing operations in the city operate on a 24 hour/7 day a week basis, though some of them only operate “extended” business hours that might stretch beyond the traditional 9-to-5. This is something that you’re going to want to look into so that you know whether or not you can even take advantage of a particular emergency plumber Brooklyn, but it’s also something that you’re going to want to look into so that you know whether or not they’ll be able to help you out before things get worse.

After all, it really doesn’t make all that much sense to have a plumbing expert who specializes in emergency situations halfway across the city – maybe an hour or more away – when you need their help 15 minutes ago. Make sure that you talk to them about response time, any lead time that they need, and what you can do in the interim before they show up to help stop the bleeding, as they say.

Uncover any extra fees (all emergency calls will have them) as well as a project estimate

Emergency plumbers in Queens, emergency plumber Brooklyn, and emergency plumbers all over the world are going to charge extra for their emergency services – it’s a big part of why they offer them in the first place.

However, most of the emergency services out there are going to be a lot more reasonable with their prices than you expect or anticipate, though there are definitely a handful of “gougers” out there that will take you for absolutely everything they can when you know you are the most vulnerable.

What you need to do here is make sure that you understand exactly what you’re going to be charged for the emergency part of the project all on its own, way before you figure out exactly how much it’s going to cost to have the plumbing work performed.

This is at least going to give you some kind of ballpark figure that you can work off of going forward, a bit of insider information that will let you know whether or not you should move forward with a particular group of emergency plumbers in NYC or look for someone else’s help.

The bottom line is that you shouldn’t ever be shocked to find emergency plumbing services in Brooklyn to be considerably higher than you originally expected or anticipated. It’s a premium service and carries a pre-price tag.

Find out if they have the parts/supplies already or if you’ll be responsible for “shopping time”

Almost all of the plumbers in NYC that offer emergency services are also going to stock up on supplies, tools, and everything else they need to perform a bit of “emergency surgery” on your plumbing system – but not all of them.

This is why you need to ask about the responsibility of paying for “shopping time” if it’s necessary, as well as whether or not they are pulling parts and supplies from a warehouse so that they don’t have to waste any time visiting emergency plumbing supply locations.

This is definitely something that you want to bring up with a plumber way before you decide to have them come in and tackle your emergency project in the first place, and it’s something that you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable asking. After all, you want to know exactly what you have to pay when the bill comes due.

Who’s responsible for permits if they are necessary?

Though most of the common plumbing emergencies throughout the city do not require permits to be pulled, sometimes emergencies are going to be caused by a much larger and more serious issue that may involve permits and permission from the city.

In the event that permits are going to be required, you should be able to rely on the best plumbers in Queens to “stabilize” the situation for you so that you don’t have to worry about gallons and gallons of water flooding your home while you wait for the city to crank out a permit.

If a permit is required, you’ll need to also figure out whose responsibility it is to sign up for and pay for the department, and what you need to do if it falls under your umbrella of responsibility.