Plumbing Questions, Answered

Shut off the water at the main shut-off valve. In most Calgary houses it is inside, in the basement, next to the water meter. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If the leak is near electrical outlets or the panel, stay out of the water. Then open a tap on the lowest floor to drain the pressure, turn off the hot water tank if you will be without water for a while, move what you can and take photos for your insurer. Once the water is off, call a plumber and ask for an honest arrival window.

An emergency is water going where it should not right now: a burst or split pipe, a hot water tank leaking onto the floor, sewage coming up a basement floor drain, or no water in a deep freeze. Any gas smell is an emergency for ATCO Gas first. Plenty of problems can wait for daytime rates: a slow drain that still drains, a dripping tap, a toilet that runs but does not overflow. If shutting off the water at the fixture or the main stops the problem, you have usually bought yourself until morning and saved the after-hours call-out.

The gas company first, from outside. Leave the building right away and take everyone with you. Do not touch light switches or appliances, and do not use a phone inside. Once you are outside and away from the house, call ATCO Gas's emergency line or 9-1-1. ATCO Gas handles gas emergencies in Calgary and makes the property safe. After that, call a certified gasfitter for the piping and connectors on your side of the meter. Never try to find or repair a gas leak yourself.

Typical Calgary ranges for 2026, before GST: an after-hours, weekend or holiday call-out is $175 to $395, and after-hours labour is $165 to $250 an hour. In business hours, a service call is $99 to $199, often credited toward the repair, and labour is $110 to $165 an hour. A burst pipe repair that is easy to reach typically runs $275 to $1,200. The call-out is explained on the phone before anyone is dispatched, and the final price is quoted on site in writing before work starts.

It depends on whether the water is still moving. If the main is off, the leak has stopped and the house is warm, waiting for business hours often saves the $175 to $395 call-out and the higher labour rate. If sewage is coming up a floor drain, the only hot water tank is leaking, or pipes are frozen in a cold snap, waiting usually costs more in damage than the call-out. Tell us what is happening on the phone and you will get a straight answer, including when it can wait.

Yes. The call-out fee is explained on the phone before dispatch. Once the plumber has seen the problem, you get the price for the repair in writing before any work starts, and GST is extra. Prices on this site are typical Calgary ranges, not fixed prices, because the same leak can cost very different amounts depending on access, materials and what is behind the wall. If something unexpected turns up partway through, you get a revised written price before the plumber carries on.

Keep the heat on and the furnace room and basement warm, including rooms you do not use. Open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so warm air reaches the pipes. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off and drain outdoor taps before winter. Protect the water meter against freezing: it is City property, and a frozen or damaged meter is charged to the owner. In a deep cold snap, a small trickle from the tap furthest from the main can help. If you will be away, have someone check the house.

Open the tap the pipe feeds so water can flow as it thaws. Warm the pipe slowly with a hair dryer, warm towels or a space heater kept at a safe distance, starting from the tap end and working back. Never use an open flame or a torch, which can start a fire inside the wall. If you cannot reach the frozen section, or it thaws and starts leaking, shut off the main and call a plumber. Frozen pipe thawing without a burst typically runs $200 to $650.

Because a pipe that split while frozen does not leak until the ice melts. Chinooks, the warm westerly winds that come down from the Rockies, can turn deep cold into a thaw quickly, and that is when splits from the freeze start showing up as drips, stains and wet drywall. After any hard cold spell, check the basement ceiling, the walls behind outdoor taps and the areas around the pipes on outside walls. If you find water, shut off the main and call.

Stop running water in the house: no toilets, showers, laundry or dishwasher, because everything you drain ends up in the basement. The City says to call 311 first for a sewer backup. A City crew checks whether the blockage is in the City main or in your private line. If it is on your side, call a plumber to clear the line, typically $250 to $650 through a cleanout. Keep people and pets away from the sewage and take photos. Sewer backup is usually an optional add-on to home insurance, so check your policy.

If your basement has plumbing below street level, a backwater valve is the main protection against sewage backing up from the street. The City's guidance is that Alberta's plumbing code requires below-grade fixtures to be protected from sewer backup, and the City recommends installing one. Options are a full-port valve on the main sewer, which needs servicing every year, or individual branch valves. A retrofit typically costs $1,800 to $4,500 including the floor cut, permit and concrete patch. There is no City backwater valve rebate we can confirm.

The line splits at the property line. The City looks after the sewer main and its side of the connection. The owner provides and owns the connection from the property line to the house plumbing, under the Wastewater Bylaw. Repairs on your side are yours to pay for: a private-side spot repair typically runs $2,500 to $7,500, and a full replacement $9,000 to $30,000+, depending on length, depth and whether trenchless methods are possible. A sewer camera inspection, $250 to $550, shows what you are dealing with first.

Turn off the tank's cold water supply valve on the pipe at the top of the tank. For a gas tank, turn the gas control to off or pilot; for an electric tank, switch off its breaker. If water is pooling near the floor drain, let it drain there and move anything that can be damaged. A leak from the tank body itself usually means replacement. A leak from a fitting, valve or the T&P relief valve can often be repaired. If you smell gas, leave the house and call ATCO Gas from outside.

Repair when the fault is a part: a thermocouple, gas valve, element or T&P valve, typically $175 to $650. Replace when the tank itself is leaking or the tank is old and failing repeatedly. A 40 to 50 gallon gas tank replacement typically runs $1,900 to $3,800, including disposal, with a permit if the gas line or venting changes. Calgary's water is hard, and scale builds up inside tanks and shortens their life, so an older tank that needs an expensive repair is often worth replacing.

A permit may be required depending on the work. The City requires one when the gas line upstream of the tank's shut-off changes, when the venting changes, or when the type of heater changes, such as natural draft to direct vent. Since a City advisory in September 2026, if the existing ABS venting is no longer approved for the new appliance, the vent must be replaced. The contractor pulls the permit, and the quote should say whether one is needed.

All four quadrants and the City Centre. That includes the downtown core, the Beltline, Mission, Inglewood and Hillhurst-Sunnyside in the centre; communities like Brentwood, Dalhousie, Tuscany and Bowness in the northwest; Bridgeland-Riverside, Marlborough, Falconridge and Saddle Ridge in the northeast; Altadore, Killarney-Glengarry, Elbow Park and Lakeview in the southwest; and Ogden, Forest Lawn, Cranston, Auburn Bay and Mahogany in the southeast. If your community is not listed, ask on the phone.

You get an honest arrival window on the phone, based on where the nearest plumber actually is and what the roads are doing. We do not promise a number of minutes, because a snowstorm or a busy night during a cold snap changes things quickly. While you wait, shut off the main water valve, usually in the basement next to the meter, or the fixture's own shut-off, and move anything you can away from the water.

Yes. Our plumbers and gasfitters are Alberta-certified journeypersons, and certificate details are available on request. In Alberta, Plumber, Gasfitter Class A and Gasfitter Class B are designated trades with compulsory certification, administered through Apprenticeship and Industry Training. That means restricted work has to be done by a certified journeyperson or a registered apprentice. Alberta plumber graduates also receive Gasfitter Class B certification. Ask any contractor you hire for their certificate details.

The contractor. The City says all plumbing and gas installations require permits, and a plumbing permit is needed when a system is constructed, extended or altered, including replacing water and sewer lines. Repairing a leak, replacing existing fixtures or clearing a drain does not need one. To pull trade permits, a business needs a City Contractor business licence and registration as a City Qualified Tradesperson. Homeowner permits exist only for owner-occupants doing their own work, not for rentals or apartment condos.

It can be, but ask one question first. In Alberta, a business that concludes a home repair contract away from its place of business, such as in your home, and takes money before the work is finished needs a prepaid contracting licence from Service Alberta. Ask whether the contractor holds it. Consumers can cancel door-to-door or prepaid contracting contracts within 10 days in the cases Alberta's Consumer Bill of Rights describes. Get the scope and price in writing before you pay anything.