No answering service
Always dispatching
Portland, Oregon
Before work starts
Same at 2am as at 2pm
Lovett is a 24/7 emergency plumber for Portland homes and buildings: a live dispatcher answers at any hour, a licensed plumber is routed to the address, and the first job is stopping the water.
Water running where it should not be is a timed problem. A live dispatcher answers at any hour, a licensed plumber is routed to the address, and the first job on arrival is stopping the flow. Nights, weekends and holidays included.
The pipe is rarely the cost. A split supply line, a failed water heater fitting, a sewer lateral that has finally given up: none of those are difficult repairs on their own. The cost is the hours the water was moving before anyone stopped it, and what it soaked into during that time. Framing, insulation, subfloor, flooring, cabinets, drywall and everything stored at floor level.
Wet materials in an enclosed space start supporting mold growth within 24 to 48 hours. That is the line between a plumbing repair and a containment and remediation project, and it is measured in hours rather than days. Getting the water shut off and the source isolated early is the single decision that keeps a job small.
Lovett has run 24/7 dispatch out of Portland since 1997, under Oregon and Washington LOVETEI995KQ. A person answers the phone at any hour, tells you how to shut the water off while you wait, and routes a licensed plumber with the equipment for what you have described. The repair is a real repair, not a patch to get through the night, and it carries the same 1-year workmanship warranty as any scheduled visit.
The test is simple. If water or sewage is escaping and you cannot stop it, or if the property is unusable without the fixture, it is an emergency. These four account for most after-hours calls.
A pressurized line that has opened up releases water continuously until the supply is shut off, which is why the first instruction on the call is always the main shut-off. Cold snaps are the usual trigger in the Portland area, and the common failure points are exposed runs in crawlspaces, garages, and exterior walls. We isolate the break, cut out the failed section, and replace it in PEX or copper.
Sewage backing up through the lowest drains in a building is a health hazard, not an inconvenience. It usually means the main line is blocked rather than a single fixture. We clear the line with cabling or hydro jetting depending on what is in it, then camera the line to find out why it happened, because a main line that has backed up once on roots will do it again.
A ruptured tank empties its full volume onto the floor and keeps refilling until the cold supply is closed. Even without a rupture, a building with no hot water is not really usable. We shut the unit down safely, drain it, and either repair the failed component or install a replacement, pulling the permit and installing to code including seismic strapping, T&P discharge and correct venting.
A sump pump that fails during heavy rain floods a basement or crawlspace in a short time, and the Portland area's wet season makes that a seasonal call rather than a rare one. We clear blocked discharge lines, replace stalled motors and failed float switches, and install replacement pumps and battery backup so the next storm is not a repeat.
Find the main shut-off and close it. It is usually at the meter, or where the service line enters the building, often in a crawlspace, garage or utility room. If the failure is clearly at one fixture, the stop valve behind that fixture is enough. Stopping the flow is the single action that limits how large this job becomes, and our dispatcher will talk you through it on the call if you are not sure where yours is.
Do not use switches, outlets or appliances near standing water, and do not stand in it to reach them. If water is near a panel, service equipment or a furnace, cut power at the breaker only if you can reach it from a dry position. If you cannot, leave it and tell the dispatcher, because that changes what we bring and how we approach the space.
Move what you can lift out of the water, particularly anything at floor level in a basement or utility room, and open a route to the shut-off, the water heater or the affected fixture. Then note what happened and when: what you heard, where it started, what you have already tried. Five minutes of that detail routinely saves half an hour of diagnosis on arrival.
The line is staffed around the clock, including weekends and holidays. The dispatcher takes the address, asks what is happening and how fast, walks you through shutting off the water if it is still running, and routes the nearest available licensed plumber with the equipment your description calls for. Arrival time depends on where the property is and what else is running, and you are told what to expect rather than left guessing.
The first job on arrival is containment. Water off at the closest effective point, sewage isolated, the affected area secured. Nothing gets diagnosed until the damage has stopped growing, because every minute spent investigating while water is still moving is a minute added to the eventual repair.
With the flow stopped we work out what failed and why. That can mean opening a targeted access point, running a camera down a main line, testing a water heater's gas or electrical supply, or pressure-testing a section of pipe. You get told what was found, what the repair involves, and what it will take, before any further work starts.
The repair is completed to code with materials carried on the truck where the failure allows, and the system is brought back up and tested under full pressure before we leave. You get a clear account of what was done and what was replaced. Work performed after hours carries exactly the same 1-year workmanship warranty as work performed on a Tuesday afternoon.
Acoustic locators, thermal imaging and line tracing find a concealed failure without opening a wall to look for it. That matters most at 2am, when the alternative is either guessing or waiting until daylight to investigate properly.
Cabling machines, hydro jetting units and inspection cameras travel with the emergency crews, so a main line backup can be cleared and then scoped in the same visit. Clearing tells you the line is flowing; the camera tells you if it is going to back up again next month.
Copper, PEX, fittings and common replacement components are on board, so most located failures are repaired the same visit. Where a failure runs deeper, the excavation, trenchless and vac truck crews are in the same company rather than a subcontractor with its own schedule.
Calling a plumber at midnight means letting someone into your house at midnight, and that is a fair thing to weigh. Our technicians are employees of a licensed company that has operated in Portland since 1997, they arrive in a marked truck, they identify themselves, and they work in shoe covers with drop cloths down even when it is three in the morning and the floor is already wet.
What you get told matters as much as what gets fixed. Before any work starts you hear what failed, what has to come out to reach it, and what the repair involves. If we find something adjacent that is a real problem, you will hear about it once, plainly, with the reason. You will not get a list of upgrades read out to you while the floor is still flooded.
The work is a repair, not a stopgap. After-hours calls carry the same 1-year workmanship warranty as scheduled work, and the crews do the same job to the same standard at either time. If the failure points at something bigger, aging galvanized supply, a sewer lateral full of roots, a water heater at the end of its service life, we will say so and book the real fix rather than leave you to discover it during the next storm.
A plumbing failure in an occupied building is three problems at once: the water, the tenant, and the record. We isolate to the smallest zone that stops the damage so the rest of the building stays in service, coordinate unit access through you rather than around you, and document what was found, what was done and when, so the incident closes properly in your file and with your carrier.
This page covers plumbing. Where the failure crosses trades, active water intrusion needing extraction and drying, a utility strike, a sewer or stormwater failure needing vac truck work, or anything that turns into a site problem rather than a pipe problem, our emergency response service is the right entry point. Same dispatch line, same crews, wider scope of work, and it is the page to bookmark if you carry a portfolio.
Either way the number is the same and a live dispatcher answers it. If you are unsure which one you have, describe what you are looking at and we will scope it on the call.
“I hadn’t lived in my new place for ten days when a pipe broke. Dan came first thing the next morning, cut a 5×10 hole in the wall and capped off the pipe, problem solved! He also took the time to turn down the heat on my hot water heater, and explain the plumbing system to me. I wish I could give him another star.”
Homeowner, Portland, OR
“We had an emergency last night at our community. I called Lovett and got an actual person on the phone right away. The plumber Sarah showed up in short order with a fantastic can do attitude, ready to get to work right away. She was there for hours and would not quit or give up! She even had to leave to grab more equipment and came back working late into the night.”
Property Manager
Dispatch reads every request and the right crew calls you back. For an active leak or backup, call instead.
Read by our dispatch team, normally answered within one business day. For an active leak or backup, call 971-204-8148 instead.
971-204-8148. A live dispatcher answers 24/7, including weekends and holidays.
info@lovettservices.com
6920 NE 42nd Ave
Portland, OR 97218
Mon to Fri 7am to 5pm
24/7 Emergency Dispatch
Anything actively causing damage or making the property unusable. Water escaping that you cannot shut off, sewage backing up through a drain, a ruptured water heater, a complete loss of water, a sump pump that has failed while it is raining, and any suspected gas leak. If you can stop the water at a valve and nothing is soaking into the structure, it can usually wait for a scheduled visit, which is easier to book and far less disruptive.
Yes. Dispatch is staffed around the clock and has been since 1997. A live person answers rather than an answering service taking a message for the morning. The same licensed technicians and the same stocked trucks cover nights and holidays, and the workmanship warranty is identical regardless of when you call.
It depends on where the property is and what is already running. The dispatcher will tell you what to expect rather than give you a number that sounds good on the phone. Note that our model in the far-outlying parts of the service area, Eugene, Albany, Salem, Keizer, Corvallis and Woodburn, is built around advance scheduling rather than rapid dispatch, because of the distance from our Portland hub.
Shut off the water at the main, or at the fixture stop if the failure is clearly at one fixture. Keep away from outlets, switches and appliances near standing water. Move what you can lift clear of the water and open a path to the shut-off and the affected area. Then note what happened and when, because that detail shortens diagnosis when the technician arrives.
Yes, and it is handled differently. If you smell gas, get everyone out of the building. Do not use light switches, phones or anything electrical inside, and do not go looking for the source. Call the gas utility from outside and have them shut off service. Once the utility has confirmed the building is safe to re-enter, call us and we will handle the gas line repair and the restoration of service.
A proper repair, in almost all cases. Our trucks carry copper, PEX, fittings and common replacement parts, so a located failure on an accessible line is usually repaired on the visit. Where the real fix needs an excavation crew, a permit, a parts order or a tenant-coordinated shutdown, we make the property safe and stable, tell you exactly what remains, and book the completion. You will be told which of the two you are getting before we start.
Yes. We clear main line blockages with cabling or hydro jetting depending on what is in the line, then camera it to establish why it happened. If the lateral itself has failed, the excavation and trenchless crews are in-house rather than subcontracted, so a collapsed line can move from diagnosis to a repair plan without waiting on another company’s schedule.
Yes. Our 1-year workmanship warranty applies to after-hours and holiday work exactly as it does to scheduled work. We do not run a different standard outside business hours, and the technician doing the work at midnight is the same kind of licensed employee who would do it at midday.
This page is plumbing: supply lines, drains and sewers, water heaters, sump pumps and gas lines, most often at a house. Our emergency response service is all-trades commercial dispatch for property and facilities teams, covering plumbing plus water extraction and drying, excavation, utility strikes and vac truck work on a building or a site. Same phone number, same dispatch, different scope of work. If you are not sure which one you need, describe what you are looking at and we will tell you.
(Answer 9 links “emergency response service” to /emergency-response/. Answer 3’s far-outlying-six framing is mandated by CLIENT-CONTEXT.md §4.)
Most emergencies are a system that was already near the end of its life. These are the three that call most often.
A tank that ruptures empties its full volume onto the floor. Replacing a unit at 8 to 12 years old, on your own schedule, is the calmest version of this conversation.
A pump that fails during a storm floods a basement quickly. Testing before the wet season and adding battery backup turns a storm-night emergency into a non-event.
A main line that has backed up once will back up again if the cause was roots or buildup. Clearing plus a camera survey tells you which one you have.
A live dispatcher answers at any hour, tells you how to shut it off, and routes a licensed plumber to the address. Portland, the Willamette Valley and Southwest Washington, 24/7 since 1997.
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