There are many things that the average homeowner has to worry about to keep their homes up and running smoothly: making sure appliances are working correctly, making sure the home’s foundation is stable and sound and making sure the home is safe and secure.

But another problem that most homeowners dread is having to deal with household leaks and even worse, ruptured pipes. If and when a pipe bursts in your home, hopefully it’s during the daytime when a quick call to your local plumber can have a professional out to your house in a jiffy.

But let’s say it’s 4 a.m. on a Saturday. At that point, you’ve more than likely got to do the job yourself and do an emergency repair. If you find yourself in such a situation, here’s what you need to do.

First things first, shut the water off. Turning off the water will prevent anymore water from seeping through and help you focus easier on the task at hand. You’ll also want to turn on the faucet from the pipe’s lowest point to drain all remaining water from it and then dry that area off.

For a short-term fix (such as a pinhole leak), you can do some simple in terms of repair such as using duct tape or electrical tape to cover the affected area. Once tape is applied, you can use a hose clamp to tighten up both ends of the tape. A hose clamp is used to attach and seal hose onto a fitting such as a barb or nipple, but in this case you can think of hose clamps as a sort of zip tie that’s going to help you seal your leak. For a bigger leak, you can also use extra wide hose clamps depending on how big the pipe is.

If you do have a bigger hole to repair, extra wide hose clamps and a lot of tape might do the job temporarily, but something like epoxy putty might be a better option. Once you’ve rubbed the two parts of the epoxy putty together, you can apply it to the affected area and check for leaks after it’s hardened.

Again, let’s say this is the middle of the night and the hardware store is closed. Instead of putty, you can use extra wide hose clamps and some old garden hose or a bicycle inter tube. You’ll want to cut a piece of hose that’s big enough to cover the affected area and then clamp is down with the extra wide hose clamps. Bottom line: you’re trying to plug a hole temporarily and trying to bide time until a plumber can come in and make the repairs you need.

Keep in mind that there are several types of hose clamps at your local hardware store. You’ll see everything from worm gear clamps, spring clamps, screw clamps, stainless-steel clamps and wire clamps among other types. Screw clamps are commonly used in emergency situations, but ultimately you’ll have to find the hose clamp type that works best for what you’re dealing with or what you can stock up on for future use.

With a little bit of knowhow and some basic household items, you can easily pull off a DIY repair for a leaky pipe or a pipe that’s burst. The key is to identify how big the leak or burst is and then take steps to cover it up for a temporary fix. Once you’ve got it under control, remember to contact a local plumbing service to have your pipes professionally repaired.