How we handle the job
A frozen pipe is a warning; a split pipe is a repair. Our first job is to find the frozen section, usually where the line runs along an outside wall, above an unheated garage, or near a dryer vent or hose bib. We open the nearest faucet and warm the pipe gradually with a heat gun or heat tape, moving from the tap end back toward the ice so meltwater has somewhere to go.
- Locate the frozen run and check it for splits
- Warm it slowly, tap open
- Watch for leaks as pressure returns
- Cut out and replace any damaged length
- Add insulation or reroute so it does not happen next winter
Signs you need frozen pipe repair
- One tap gives a trickle or nothing while the rest of the home is fine
- Frost on an exposed pipe in the garage or crawlspace
- A toilet that will not refill
- A bulge or hairline split on copper
- Water appearing in a ceiling or wall once the weather warms
Backsplit and sidesplit houses in Dunbarton and Rougemount often run lines through the floor over the garage.
Pickering homes and this problem
Backsplit and sidesplit houses in Dunbarton and Rougemount often run lines through the floor over the garage. Older cottages near the bay were not built for year-round use and have plumbing in uninsulated crawlspaces. North of Taunton, country homes with long runs to barns and outbuildings face deeper frost. Many of these freezes repeat in the same spot, so the lasting fix is moving or insulating the pipe; preventing frozen pipes explains what you can do yourself, and pipe repair covers burst sections.
What affects the cost
- How hard the frozen section is to get to
- Whether the pipe has split
- Drywall or ceiling that must be opened
- Rerouting or insulation work afterward
- Night and weekend calls during a cold snap
What you can do first
Know where the main valve is before anything happens; see finding your main shut-off. Open the cabinet doors beneath sinks on outside walls. Leave the affected tap open a little. If you see water at all, close the main valve straight away and kill the power to wet areas if that can be done safely.
Questions callers ask
Will a frozen pipe always burst?
No. Many thaw without damage. The pressure that builds between the ice and a closed faucet is what splits pipe, which is why opening the tap helps.
Is PEX safer than copper in the cold?
PEX stretches more before it splits, so it tolerates a freeze better, but its fittings can still fail. Keeping lines warm is the real cure.