South Louisiana gets a handful of hard freezes a year, which is exactly why burst pipes do so much damage here. Homes in Minnesota are built for it. Homes along Bayou Lafourche are not. Supply lines run through unconditioned crawl space under raised houses, through uninsulated exterior walls, and to hose bibbs with no frost protection, and it only takes one night in the twenties to find every one of those weak points at once.
Why Pipes Split
Water expands as it freezes, but the pipe usually does not fail where the ice is. Ice forms and grows until it seals the line, then continued freezing pressurizes the water trapped between the ice plug and a closed faucet. That pressure has nowhere to go and splits the pipe at its weakest point, often well away from the frozen section. This is why the damage frequently appears somewhere you were not worried about, and why relieving pressure by opening a tap is genuinely useful.
If a Pipe Has Already Burst
Shut the main water off immediately, before anything else. Open the lowest faucets in the house to drain the remaining pressure and water out of the system. Kill power at the breaker to any area where water is near outlets, wiring, or panels. Then call. The most common expensive mistake is spending twenty minutes looking for the leak before turning the water off, and in twenty minutes a split supply line moves a remarkable amount of water into a house.
If a Pipe Is Frozen But Has Not Burst
Open the faucet that line serves so melting water has an escape and pressure cannot build. Apply gentle heat starting at the faucet end and working back toward the frozen section, using a hair dryer, a heat lamp, or towels soaked in hot water. Never use an open flame, a torch, or a propane heater on a pipe. If you cannot locate the frozen section, if the pipe is behind a finished wall, or if flow does not return, stop and call rather than escalating the heat.
Preventing the Next Freeze
Insulate exposed supply lines in crawl spaces and unconditioned areas, and pay particular attention to lines on exterior walls. Install insulated covers on hose bibbs and disconnect hoses, because a connected hose holds water against the bibb and splits it. When a hard freeze is forecast, let a faucet on an exterior wall drip, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, and do not set the thermostat back at night. For camps and homes left empty during offshore rotations, the safe move is shutting the water off at the main and draining the system.
Repair Done Properly
We repair the split, then look at why that spot froze, because a pipe that froze once will freeze again in the same place. Sometimes the answer is insulation, sometimes it is rerouting a run out of an exposed space. Our emergency plumbing line is answered around the clock. Louisiana license 40204, in business since 1967. Call (985) 632-6428.
