Winterizing

Preventing Frozen Pipes in Midwest Winters

Every January cold snap, Midwest plumbers run flat-out on burst pipes. Nearly all of those calls were preventable. Here is the checklist that keeps you off that list.

Why pipes burst (it is not where you think)

Pipes do not usually split where the ice forms. As water freezes it expands and pressurizes the trapped water between the ice plug and a closed faucet — the burst happens there, often inside a wall. That is why a frozen pipe can fail an hour after you notice low flow, and why opening a faucet to relieve pressure is the single most useful emergency move.

Know your risk spots

In Midwest housing stock, the usual offenders are: hose bibs and the pipes feeding them, kitchen sink lines on exterior walls, anything running through an unheated garage or crawl space, bathroom plumbing above cantilevered floors or bonus rooms, and supply lines near rim joists in the basement. Walk your house once and you will know your specific list.

Before winter: the one-afternoon checklist

• Disconnect garden hoses, drain hose bibs, and shut their interior stop valves if you have them. A connected hose traps water that freezes back into the wall.
• Insulate exposed runs in the garage, crawl space, and rim joist area with foam pipe sleeves — cheap, and they slide on in seconds.
• Seal air leaks near pipes: a quarter-inch gap by a rim joist can direct freezing air straight onto a supply line. Caulk and foam are better than insulation alone, because moving cold air defeats wrapped insulation.
• Find and label your main shutoff valve now. In a burst, minutes matter.

During a hard freeze

When forecasts drop into the single digits, especially with wind: open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls, let the most vulnerable faucet run at a pencil-lead trickle (moving water resists freezing and relieves pressure), keep the garage door closed, and do not drop the thermostat at night below about 60°F. If you travel, leave heat on and have someone check the house — a burst that runs for days is a five-figure insurance claim.

If a pipe freezes anyway

Open the faucet it feeds. Warm the pipe gradually with a hair dryer or heating pad starting from the faucet side — never a torch, which turns ice to steam and splits pipe. If you cannot find the frozen section, or flow does not return within an hour, stop: a hidden ice plug may already have cracked the pipe, and it will leak the moment it thaws. Shut off the main and get a plumber out the same day.

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