Service
Frozen Pipe Repair
Dealing with pipes that have frozen or split, including the split that only reveals itself when the ice thaws and water starts moving again.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
The damage shows up during the thaw
This is the part that catches people out, and it is worth understanding before you start warming anything.
A frozen pipe does not leak. Ice expanding inside pushes water toward the closed tap ahead of it, and pressure builds until the pipe splits somewhere. That split is then plugged by the same ice that made it.
So everything looks fine while it is frozen. The water starts when the ice melts and the pipe is under pressure again with a hole in it.
Which means the moment to have the shutoff located, and somebody standing at the pipe, is the thaw. Not before it, and certainly not after.
Heat, not flame
Every winter, houses burn down because someone reached for a blowtorch.
Open the tap that the frozen pipe feeds first, so meltwater has an exit and pressure cannot build behind the ice.
Then work from the tap end back toward the frozen section with gentle heat: a hairdryer, a heat gun on a low setting, warm towels. Starting at the tap end means meltwater can escape as it forms rather than being trapped between two plugs of ice.
A flame does three things badly. It heats one spot far past what the pipe or its solder can take, it turns trapped water to steam instantly, and it ignites whatever is behind the pipe. There is no version of this where it is the right tool.
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this service solves
- No water from one fixture during cold weather
- A pipe that has frozen and may have split
- Water appearing as a frozen section thaws
- Pipework in an unheated space that freezes repeatedly
- An outside tap or its supply line that has burst
Signs you need frozen pipe repair
If more than one of these is true, the problem is usually past the point a plunger or a store-bought cleaner will fix.
- One tap gives nothing while others work
- Visible frost or bulging on an exposed pipe
- A pipe in a crawl space or garage feels solid
- Water appears suddenly as temperatures rise
What to expect
How the visit works
Find the main shutoff first
Before thawing anything, everyone should know where the shutoff is, because a split only starts leaking once the ice clears.
Thaw with controlled heat
Warm air or heat applied gradually along the pipe. Never an open flame, which damages pipe, ignites structure and is a genuine fire cause every winter.
Watch as flow returns
The split usually reveals itself in the first seconds of flow. Someone stays at the pipe with the shutoff reachable.
Repair and fix the exposure
Split sections are replaced, and the reason that pipe froze, no insulation, an air path, a bad route, is addressed so it is not annual.
What's included
What you get on every job, whoever we send.
- Shutoff located before thawing starts
- Controlled heat, never a flame
- Someone watching as flow returns
- The cause of the freeze addressed, not just the damage
Questions
Frozen Pipe Repair questions
Is a frozen pipe already damaged?
Not necessarily, and plenty thaw with no harm at all. What causes damage is the expansion of ice pushing against water trapped between the ice plug and a closed tap, and that pressure splits the pipe at a weak point. The split does not leak while it is frozen, because ice is sealing it. It starts leaking when the ice melts, which is why the thaw is the moment to be watching rather than the freeze.
Can I thaw a pipe myself?
Carefully, yes. Open the tap that pipe feeds so meltwater has somewhere to go and pressure cannot build. Apply gentle heat along the pipe working back from the tap toward the frozen section, using a hairdryer, a heat gun on low or warm towels. Never use a blowtorch or any open flame: it is how pipes get destroyed and how houses catch fire, and it happens every winter. Know where your shutoff is before you start.
Why does the same pipe freeze every year?
Because something about its situation has not changed. Usually it runs through an unheated space, an exterior wall, a crawl space, a garage, and either has no insulation or has an air path that lets cold air reach it directly. Insulating it, sealing the draught, or rerouting the pipe into conditioned space fixes it permanently. Thawing it every January treats the symptom of a fixable exposure.
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Get it fixed
Frozen Pipe Repair, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does frozen pipe repair every week.
- Licensed and insured
- Answered 24/7
- Price before work