TL;DR: If a pipe bursts in your Midland home, shut off the main water valve and cut power to any flooded outlets first. Then call a licensed plumber to physically stop the leak and a water damage restoration company to start extraction and drying within hours. Acting fast limits warping, swelling, and bacteria growth in wet materials, and documenting the damage protects your insurance claim.
The water is already on the floor, it’s spreading toward the hallway, and you don’t know whether to grab towels or your phone. That panic is normal, but the next ten minutes matter more than the next ten hours. Here’s exactly what to do, in order, and who you actually need on the phone.
What should you do in the first 60 seconds?
Shut off the water at the main valve, not just the fixture, since a burst pipe is usually upstream of any single shutoff. The main valve is typically near the water meter or where the line enters the house, often in a utility closet or along an exterior wall in older Midland homes on slab foundations.
If water is near outlets, light fixtures, or your breaker panel, cut power to that area at the breaker box before you walk through standing water. Electrocution risk is real whenever water and wiring meet, so don’t skip this step to save a rug.
Once the water and power are off, move valuables and electronics out of the path, but don’t start tearing out drywall or carpet yourself. Pulling up materials before documenting the loss can complicate an insurance claim, and a wet-dry vac on a Category 1 clean-water leak that’s already soaked into flooring won’t dry it the way commercial equipment will.
Who do you call first, a plumber or a restoration company?
You need both, and you should call them close together rather than waiting on one before dialing the other. A licensed plumber is the only one who can repair or replace the broken pipe itself, while a restoration company handles extracting the standing water, drying the structure, and preventing secondary damage.
Most pipe failures, like a frozen or corroded line, start as Category 1 clean water, but that water doesn’t stay clean once it sits against drywall, baseboards, and subfloor for more than a few hours. Drying needs to start fast, which is why calling the plumber to stop the source and a restoration crew to begin water removal at roughly the same time matters more than sequencing them.
For the restoration half of this job, that’s exactly the work ACS Enterprise handles across Midland and the surrounding area, available 24/7 for extraction and structural drying once the plumber has the leak contained. They are not a plumbing company and won’t repair the pipe itself, so keep both numbers handy. If you haven’t picked a plumber yet, our burst pipe emergency checklist walks through what to ask before anyone starts work.
What happens in the first 24 hours after the water stops?
A restoration crew’s first job is extracting standing water with truck-mounted or portable pumps, then mapping how far moisture traveled behind walls and under flooring with a moisture meter. You won’t see most of the damage just by looking; moisture readings tell the real story.
After extraction, technicians set air movers and low-grain-refrigerant dehumidifiers to pull moisture out of studs, subfloor, and baseboards over the following days, following drying benchmarks from the ANSI/IICRC S500 water damage standard. Materials that stayed wet too long, like saturated drywall or swollen baseboard, usually get cut out rather than dried in place.
This is also when photos and a written moisture log get created, both of which your insurance adjuster will want to see. If the water reached carpet or upholstered furniture, a restoration company can usually clean and save those pieces if extraction happens within the first day.
Will homeowners insurance cover the damage?
Most standard homeowners policies cover sudden, accidental water damage, which is exactly what a burst pipe is, but they typically exclude damage from gradual leaks or long-term neglect. The distinction your insurer looks for is whether the pipe failed suddenly or had clearly been leaking slowly for weeks.
Documentation is what protects the claim: photos before anything is moved, the plumber’s repair invoice showing what failed, and the restoration company’s moisture logs and drying records. Keep every receipt. According to the Insurance Information Institute, prompt mitigation is also something insurers expect, since most policies include a duty to limit further damage once a loss occurs.
One thing to flag: if the burst pipe backs up into a floor drain or causes sewage to enter the home, that’s a separate situation. Sewer and drain backups are usually only covered with a specific water backup endorsement added to your policy, not under standard water damage coverage. Our post on whether homeowners insurance covers water damage breaks this down in more detail.
If the pipe is already shut off and the water’s still spreading across your floor, the next call matters more than the next hour of mopping. Request a water damage assessment from ACS Enterprise once the plumber has the source contained, and keep the moisture log going before you decide what’s salvageable.
About ACS Enterprise
ACS Enterprise is a licensed and insured restoration company based in Midland, TX, serving the Permian Basin since 2019. The team handles emergency water removal, water damage restoration, sewage cleanup, storm damage restoration, carpet and upholstery cleaning, and emergency board-up across Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, and nearby communities, and holds a 5.0 Google rating across 367 reviews.
Need help now? Call ACS Enterprise at (432) 847-4704.