Last Updated: October 30, 2026 | By Cogan Plumbing, Licensed Master Plumber

Emergency Plumbing in Central Arkansas

A plumbing emergency is any failure actively damaging your home or making it unsafe: a burst pipe, a sewer backing into tubs and floor drains, a leaking water heater, or a sudden loss of water. In Central Arkansas, call Cogan Plumbing at (501) 317-0637 any time, day or night. Most repairs run $150 to $500; major line failures cost more.

What Actually Counts as an Emergency

Not every plumbing problem needs a midnight phone call, and an honest plumber will tell you which ones do. These cannot wait until morning:

• Burst or frozen pipe. Water under pressure can soak drywall, flooring, and insulation in minutes. In a slab home, common in Benton, Bryant, and Cabot, a burst line under the foundation can undermine the slab itself.
• Sewer backup. If flushing a toilet pushes water up through a shower drain or floor drain, your main sewer line is blocked or broken. Sewage in living space is a health hazard, not an inconvenience.
• Gas line leak. If you smell rotten eggs near a gas appliance or meter, leave the house first. Call 911 or your gas utility from outside, then call a licensed plumber for the repair once the utility clears the scene. Do not flip light switches or run appliances.
• Water heater leaking from the tank body. A supply line drip can often wait. Water coming through the tank wall itself means the tank is failing and can let go entirely.
• No water to the whole house. A broken main or failed pressure regulator leaves you without water entirely.

Problems that usually can wait for a weekday appointment: a single slow drain, a running toilet, a dripping faucet, or a water heater that makes noise but still produces hot water. When you call, describe the problem and we will tell you plainly which it is.

The First Ten Minutes: What to Do Before We Arrive

The difference between a $300 repair and a $10,000 insurance claim is usually what happens before the plumber knocks. Walk through these steps in order.

1. Close the main water shutoff. Every Central Arkansas homeowner should know this valve. It is typically where the water line enters the house, near the meter at the street, or in the garage or utility room. Turn it clockwise until it stops. This one action stops nearly all indoor flooding.
2. Open a faucet at the lowest point in the house. This drains pressure off the lines so a burst pipe stops spraying and mostly drips.
3. Kill power or gas to a leaking water heater. Switch off the breaker for an electric unit. For gas, turn the control knob to Off. Water and a running burner are a bad combination.
4. Stop using all plumbing during a sewer backup. Every flush and every load of laundry adds water that has nowhere to go except up through your lowest drains.
5. Move what you can and document the rest. Get boxes, rugs, and furniture out of the water. Take photos for your insurance file before cleanup if it is safe to do so.
6. Keep people and pets away from backed-up sewage. Treat it as contaminated, because it is.

If you do not know where your shutoff is, fix that on a calm day. Locating and tagging it is a small job that pays for itself the first time a supply line lets go at 2 a.m.

How Cogan Handles an Emergency Call

The process: stop the damage first, quote before we repair, even at night.

1. You call, a person answers. The emergency line at (501) 317-0637 rings through around the clock. You describe the problem, and we tell you what to shut off while the truck rolls.
2. We stabilize the scene. First priority is stopping the water or isolating the failed section. A capped line tonight beats a perfect repair planned for next week while your ceiling sags.
3. We find the actual cause. A burst pipe near a fitting may be one bad joint or a sign of system-wide corrosion. A sewer backup gets a camera inspection when the situation calls for it, so you are not paying to clear the same root-choked line every six months. Arkansas clay soil shifts with wet and dry cycles, and it moves buried lines with it. We look for the reason, not just the symptom.
4. You get a flat price before repair work starts. The quote is the price. Emergency calls do not carry overtime charges, and the number does not change because the job ran past midnight.
5. We complete the repair and test everything under pressure. Valves get exercised, lines get checked for leaks, and drains get flow-tested before we pack up.
6. We tell you what to watch. If the emergency exposed a bigger issue, like a corroded main line or an aging water heater, you will hear it from us plainly.

Saline County calls run from our Traskwood shop near Benton and Bryant; west side calls run from our shop in West Little Rock.

Emergency Plumbing Pricing Guidance

Emergency pricing scares people because the industry has a reputation for open-ended bills written at the worst possible moment. Ours is flat-rate and quoted before the repair begins, and there are no overtime charges for nights, weekends, or holidays. Most residential repairs run roughly $150 to $500 depending on the job. Common examples in that band include replacing a failed shutoff valve, repairing an accessible burst section of pipe, and clearing a straightforward main line blockage.

Costs climb above that band when the job involves excavation, slab penetration, or full line replacement. A broken sewer line under a driveway or a repiping job is major work, and any plumber who quotes it sight unseen over the phone is guessing with your money. For those, we stabilize the emergency, diagnose with a camera, and give you an exact written price before the big work starts. Treat any phone quote for underground work as a rough range until someone has eyes on the line.

One cost note specific to slab homes: if a leak is under the foundation, ask about rerouting the line through the attic or walls instead of cutting the slab. In many Central Arkansas homes the reroute is cheaper, faster, and avoids jackhammering your floor. Our page on slab leaks and repiping explains both routes in detail.

Why a Licensed Master Plumber Matters More at 2 A.M.

Emergency work is where unlicensed operators do the most damage. Insurance carriers can deny water damage claims when unpermitted or unlicensed work contributed to the loss, and gas line work by anyone without the proper license is a genuine safety risk. Cogan Plumbing is owned by Josh Roberts, Arkansas Master Plumber License MP6055, and the company is licensed and insured. A master plumber has passed the state’s trade exams and answers to the state plumbing board.

It also matters for the diagnosis. Emergency calls are diagnostic puzzles: is the backup a clog or a collapsed line, is the leak one fitting or failing pipe throughout the house? Reading those signs right the first time is almost always cheaper than paying twice. If you are comparing plumbers before an emergency makes the choice for you, our guide to the best plumbers in Central Arkansas shows the licensing, insurance, and proof of work we believe you should demand from anyone you call.

Service Area for Emergency Calls

We run emergency service throughout Central Arkansas, including Benton, Bryant, Little Rock, West Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Cabot, and Conway, plus Haskell and Traskwood and the surrounding parts of Pulaski, Saline, Faulkner, and Lonoke counties. If your problem is a sewer line rather than an indoor emergency, our sewer line repair page covers that work specifically. The full service map is on our Central Arkansas page.

Covered for a Full Year

Cogan Plumbing backs the workmanship on every job for one full year. If a repair or installation fails within 12 months because of how we did the work, we come back and make it right. The warranty is included on every job — never sold as an add-on. Full terms are on our workmanship warranty page.

Related Services

• water softener installation
• leak detection
• backflow prevention
• gas line services
• sewer line repair

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do first when a pipe bursts?

Close the main water shutoff, usually at the meter or where the line enters the house, then open the lowest faucet in the home to drain pressure. Switch off power or gas to the water heater if it is involved. Then call (501) 317-0637. Stopping the flow quickly is the single biggest factor in limiting damage.

How much does an emergency plumber cost in Central Arkansas?

Most emergency repairs run roughly $150 to $500 depending on the job, quoted flat-rate before work begins, with no overtime charges for nights or weekends. Excavation, slab work, and full line replacements cost more and are priced exactly after diagnosis rather than guessed over the phone.

Is a sewer backup really an emergency?

Yes. Wastewater rising through drains is a health hazard and every additional flush makes it worse. Stop using all water and drains, keep people and pets out of the affected rooms, and call. We can confirm whether it is a blockage or a broken line with a camera inspection.

What if I smell gas in my house?

Leave immediately and call 911 or your gas utility from outside or a neighbor’s phone. Do not use light switches, garage door openers, or anything that can spark. After the utility declares the scene safe, a licensed master plumber should make the repair and pressure-test the line before gas service is restored.

Can a slow drain wait until morning?

Usually, yes. A single slow drain with no backup elsewhere in the house can wait for a scheduled visit. If multiple drains are slow at once, or the lowest drain in the house gurgles when you flush, the problem is in the main line and should be treated as urgent.

Do you charge extra for nights and weekends?

No. We do not add overtime charges. You get the same flat-rate pricing approach at 2 a.m. as at 2 p.m., quoted before the repair begins.

Does Cogan Plumbing warranty its work?

Yes. Cogan Plumbing warrants its workmanship for one year — 12 months from the day the job is completed. If work we performed fails because of a workmanship defect during that year, we return and correct it. Fixtures and equipment also carry their own manufacturer warranties, separate from our workmanship coverage.

Water Running Where It Should Not? Call Now.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the emergency line never closes.

• Saline County and Traskwood area: (501) 317-0637, Cogan Plumbing, 267 Oilwell Rd, Traskwood, AR 72167
• West Little Rock: (501) 710-3838, Cogan Plumbing, 10121 N Rodney Parham Rd, Little Rock, AR 72227

Cogan Plumbing is family-owned, licensed and insured, and was voted Best Plumber in the Arkansas Times Best of Arkansas 2026 and named an AY Magazine Best of 2026 honoree. When water is on the floor, that is the call to make.