How-ToLeak or Water Damage

Freeze Prep for Austin Homes: Protecting Pipes Before a Cold Snap

After the February 2021 storm and the January 2024 freeze, most Austin homeowners know the drill exists — but not which parts of it matter. Homes here have plumbing in exterior walls, uninsulated attic runs and exposed hose bibs, which is exactly what freezes first.

Before the freeze — the afternoon before

Disconnect and drain garden hoses; cover hose bibs with insulated caps.
Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so room heat reaches the pipes.
Insulate exposed pipe in the attic, garage and crawl space with foam sleeves.
Find your main shutoff — at the meter box near the street, or where the line enters the house — and check that it actually turns.
Set a slow drip at the fixture farthest from where water enters the house. Moving water freezes slower.
Keep the heat on, even if you leave. Empty houses burst.
Shut off and drain the irrigation backflow preventer — it’s outdoors and it bursts first.

If a pipe freezes

Leave the faucet open. As the ice melts, flow relieves the pressure behind it.
Warm the pipe gently — a hair dryer or warm towels — starting from the faucet end.
Never use an open flame or a heat gun on high.
If you can’t find the frozen section, or it’s inside a wall, shut the main and call.

Frozen vs. burst — how to tell

Frozen: no water or a trickle at one or more fixtures, and no visible water anywhere.
Burst: water appears somewhere it shouldn’t once things thaw — a ceiling stain, a wet wall, a soaked garage floor, or the meter running with everything off.
Most bursts show up during the thaw, not the freeze. That’s when to walk the house.

After the thaw

Walk the house: ceilings, exterior walls, under sinks, garage, attic access.
Check the water meter with every fixture off — a moving dial means a leak.
Test each hose bib and the irrigation system.
If the water heater lost power or gas, follow the manufacturer’s restart steps — or call and we’ll walk you through it.

Tankless and outdoor water heaters

Tankless units and any heater installed outdoors or in an unconditioned garage rely on electric freeze protection — so a power outage during a freeze is the failure case. Draining the unit is the fallback. Know how before you need to.

Know your shutoff, insulate what’s exposed, and check for leaks during the thaw — that’s most of freeze prep. A burst you catch in the first hour costs a fraction of one you find on Monday.

All guides

Before the freeze — the afternoon before

Disconnect and drain garden hoses; cover hose bibs with insulated caps.

Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so room heat reaches the pipes.

Insulate exposed pipe in the attic, garage and crawl space with foam sleeves.

Find your main shutoff — at the meter box near the street, or where the line enters the house — and check that it actually turns.

Set a slow drip at the fixture farthest from where water enters the house. Moving water freezes slower.

Keep the heat on, even if you leave. Empty houses burst.

Shut off and drain the irrigation backflow preventer — it’s outdoors and it bursts first.

Frozen vs. burst — how to tell

Frozen: no water or a trickle at one or more fixtures, and no visible water anywhere.

Burst: water appears somewhere it shouldn’t once things thaw — a ceiling stain, a wet wall, a soaked garage floor, or the meter running with everything off.

Most bursts show up during the thaw, not the freeze. That’s when to walk the house.

After the thaw

Walk the house: ceilings, exterior walls, under sinks, garage, attic access.

Check the water meter with every fixture off — a moving dial means a leak.

Test each hose bib and the irrigation system.

If the water heater lost power or gas, follow the manufacturer’s restart steps — or call and we’ll walk you through it.