Plumbing in Houston fails wet. Gumbo clay and slab leaks put water under the floor until a warm spot in the floor or the sound of running water gives it away. Cast-iron drains in mid-century houses scale and crack, then surcharge when a downpour fills the city line and sewage rises in the shower. A garage water heater sits exactly where floodwater goes first. Freeze bursts are not the lead. Street water and tired underground pipe are.
Tell the backup apart from the leak. If sewage comes up while the street is flooded, stop using the drains. That is a surcharge, not a clog you should chase with more water. If the floor is warm or you hear supply water with the fixtures off, think slab leak and leave the flooring alone until the line is found. Opening the wrong bay of concrete is a clumsy way to guess. Describe the sound, the warmth, and which rooms.
Humidity and floodwater finish heaters and steel pipe early. A tank in a garage that has taken on water needs a plain report: how high the water came, whether the burner or the controls were submerged, and whether it still lights. Supply lines in damp soil corrode. Hose bibs matter less for freezing than for leaking into a bed that is already too wet. Say where the tank and the main shutoff actually are so the visit does not start with a search.
Older houses often mix galvanized remnants, cast iron, and a newer patch of plastic. Name what you can see under the sink and at the water heater. Repeated slow drains in more than one fixture point to the building drain or the lateral, especially if roots and grease have somewhere wet to live. A single slow lavatory may be a local stoppage. That distinction saves a needless dig in the yard after a storm that was only a coincidence.
Have the address and one line: slab leak, sewer backup during rain, a heater that met floodwater, or a drain that is simply slow. Say if the water is off or if sewage is still rising. Ask the visit to find the source before the slab or the yard is opened wide. Call the number on this page.