In Case of Emergency . . .

You’ve waited all week for a quiet Saturday night at home. You put a tape in the VCR, plop down on the sofa and prepare to unwind.

Then you hear the sound of running water. And you’re not watching “The River Wild.” The noise is coming from somewhere in your house. So much for unwinding.

You know what to do in a medical emergency--you call 911 and help is on the way. Household emergencies are not so easy. Even if they happen in the middle of the day, you can’t always get a plumber or an electrician to drop everything and run right over. But it’s one of the laws of modern life that these things generally happen in the middle of night, when getting professional help would take hours.

And they’re non-discriminating--every house, even the most meticulously maintained one, is susceptible. So knowing how to handle them, at least until professional help arrives, can keep an emergency from turning into a disaster.

It’s amazing how many homeowners have no idea where the main water supply comes in or how to quickly turn off the electricity. If you’re a member of that club, here is a guide to handling some of the most common household emergencies.

A word to the wise: If you don’t think you can do any of these procedures in your sleep--because that’s exactly how you may have to do them--practice before anything happens.

Toilets

It’s got to be one of the worst feelings going. You flush, but instead of the water going down, it comes up. And keeps on coming. To immediately stop the flow, take offthe top of the toilet tank and push the rubber flapper (the piece that’s attached to the flush handle) in the tank back into the hole at the bottom of the tank. Then quickly close the shut-off valve at the base of the toilet to keep the tank from refilling. Now, you have to determine the source of the problem.

Often, a stopped-up toilet can be put back in service with a plunger. The most effective plunger for toilets is one that has a cone that extends out of the rubber plunger and forms a tight seal when it is pushed into the toilet bowl opening.

To plunge, push the plunger into the opening to form a good seal, then push and pull the plunger sharply several times--without breaking the seal. After several pumps, lift the plunger with a quick snap to break the seal (this may suck the blockage back into the bowl). Repeat the process several times.

If plunging fails, a closet auger, also known as a toilet auger, may work. It’s a thick, flexible spiral wire with a hook on the end and a crank handle. Feed the cable slowly into the toilet (you may want to wear rubber gloves) so that it works its way up and over the interior rim of the toilet trap.

Crank the handle as you do this until you feel the hook at the end of the cable grab something. If it does, slowly pull out the auger--while cranking in the same direction--until the blockage clears the rim of the trap and pull it out. If both methods fail, it’s time to call a plumber. (Don’t bother with liquid chemical products; because of the way a toilet is constructed, the chemical won’t reach far enough inside to do any good.)

Sinks

A sink that won’t drain is generally more annoyance than emergency, but it’s still a good idea to know how to deal with one. (And this is also good information to have for those times when a contact lens or diamond ring disappears down the drain.) As with toilets, plunging often works on sinks. The type of plunger differs, however. The familiar rubber-cup type is the one to use on a sink.

Press the cup over the drain to create a seal, then, as with a clogged toilet, pump the plunger sharply several times while maintaining the seal. Finally, pull up the plunger sharply.

To make this more effective, there are a couple of things to remember. First, make sure there is enough water in the sink to cover the plunger cup at least halfway. Also, if there is an overflow opening in the sink (it’s at the top of the sink opposite the faucet), stuff it tightly with a wet rag before plunging.

And, if the clogged sink shares the same drainpipe as one or more other sinks, stuff the drain openings of the other sinks with a wet rag. Likewise with a double sink; seal the drain of the other sink before plunging.

If a plunger doesn’t do the job, then cleaning out the trap, which is the U- or J-shaped pipe under the sink, may do the trick. Some traps have clean-out plugs at the bottom that can be unscrewed. If the blockage is in the trap, it can be pulled out through the clean-out hole. If the clog is farther down the line, an auger can be fed through the clean-out hole. If there’s no plug, the trap has to be removed, not a difficult task.

Sewer Lines

While common, stopped up sinks and toilets may signal a more serious problem--clogged sewer or waste lines, the most common plumbing emergencies, plumbers say. To determine whether a clogged sink is a localized problem, run the water in a sink in another part of the house; if it drains, the problem is isolated to the clogged sink.

Checking to determine whether a clogged toilet is an isolated case is a bit riskier. If you’re ready and willing to deal with a possible overflow, flush a toilet in another bathroom. If it flushes freely, the problem is restricted to the clogged toilet.

If it backs up, then the likely problem is a clogged sewer line. (You can keep the toilet from overflowing by pushing the rubber flapper in the water tank into the hole at the bottom of the tank.)

To avoid false test results if the clogged toilet is in a part of the house below the second toilet you check, flush the second toilet a couple of times. The line leading from the upstairs bathroom to the main sewer line below may be capable of holding the water from one or more flushes without backing up.

If after two or three flushes, the second toilet backs up, the main sewer line is clogged. The same with sinks; let the water in the test sink run for a while if that sink is in an upstairs bathroom and the clogged sink is downstairs.

The only emergency remedy for clogged sewer and drain lines is to stop using the plumbing fixtures and appliances in your house and call a plumber or service that deals with this problem.

Burst Pipes

It’s amazing how much water a burst washing machine hose or the like can put forth. And a mini-Niagara in the laundry room is enough to panic just about anyone. Memorize this: The first thing to do is to turn off the main water service, the waterline that comes into the house from the street. And where’s that? you ask. Find it now. After you’ve found it, tag it so that everyone in the house knows what it is.

Of course, shutting off water to the whole house can be inconvenient, especially if you can’t find a plumber to make a house call quickly. For that reason, it’s a good idea and investment to have shut-off valves on hot- and cold-water supply lines that run to individual fixtures and appliances. Should a problem arise in a particular fixture, the water can be shut off to it only, while all other fixtures and appliances continue to operate until you or a plumber repair the problem.

Shut-offs are standard in new homes, but many old houses do not have them on all or some of the supply lines. For quick access, shut-off valves are generally found under sinks and toilet tanks, but in some cases they may be found farther from the fixture. If there are no valves visible under a sink or toilet tank, follow the supply lines and check for valves along the way.

If emergency efforts come too late to prevent water from pooling, then that water should be cleaned up as quickly as possible.

Roofs

If rain springs a leak in your roof, it’s basically time to break out the pots and buckets: A rainy day or, especially, night or when the roof is covered with snow is no time to be on it. One way to minimize the damage is to get into the attic, if there is one, and try to track down the leak to its source; where the water drips down onto the ceiling may actually be a distance from where it is coming through the roof.

Find the spot where the leak hits the ceiling and look at the underside of the roof in that area. If all is dry, try to find a trickle of water and follow it until you discover the source of the leak. Placing a bucket in the attic cuts off further damage below.

A common cause of leaks is clogged gutters and downspouts that cause rain and melting snow to back up under shingles. Another likely source is faulty flashing around chimneys and vent pipes. Beyond those possibilities, shingles may be damaged or missing.

Electrical Problems

Water itself can create considerable damage, but when combined with electricity, it can cause massive destruction.

The same rule that applies to sudden plumbing emergencies applies to electrical ones, too: Remember the main. In the event water and electricity do mix, turn off the main electrical switch in the service box (located in the basement or garage), then turn off the water at the main.

That’s usually the safest course of action when other suspected problems arise, as, for instance, the odor of something burning, caused by overloaded circuits and flimsy extension cords.

Although reaching for the main breaker is a wise emergency measure, knowing which circuit breakers or fuses control which fixtures and receptacles makes life easier by allowing service to be disconnected to a particular problem area without the necessity of shutting off power to the rest of the house.

Finally, unless you have a good working knowledge of electricity, any problem must be left to a professional.

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Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service.