Winterize your pipes: how to prevent frozen pipes in a Pennsylvania winter

If you want to know how to prevent frozen pipes, start before the first hard freeze. Lehigh Valley winters bring cold snaps that reach pipes in basements, crawl spaces, garages and outside walls. Water expands when it freezes, and that pressure can split copper, PEX or steel. The good news: most of the prevention is simple, and most of it costs little or nothing.

1. Know which pipes freeze

The American Red Cross lists the pipes most at risk:

• Pipes exposed to severe cold, like outdoor hose bibs, pool supply lines and lawn sprinkler lines.
• Pipes in unheated areas: basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages and kitchen cabinets.
• Pipes that run along exterior walls with little or no insulation.

In older Pennsylvania homes, the usual trouble spots are the kitchen sink on an outside wall, a laundry line in an unheated addition, and the pipe that feeds the outdoor faucet.

2. Find your main shut-off now

If a pipe does burst, every minute of running water adds to the damage. Maine's Emergency Management Agency points out that a crack of just 1/8 inch in a pipe can release up to 250 gallons of water a day.

The main shut-off is usually where the water line enters the house, near the meter. Find it now, clear anything stacked in front of it, and turn it once to make sure it isn't seized. Show everyone in the house where it is.

3. Winterize the outside first

• Disconnect and store garden hoses. A hose left attached traps water in the faucet.
• If your outdoor faucets have an inside shut-off valve, close it, then open the outdoor faucet to let it drain.
• Drain pool and sprinkler supply lines following the manufacturer's or installer's directions.

4. Insulate and seal

Pipe insulation sleeves from the hardware store are cheap and slip right on. Put them on pipes in the basement, crawl space, attic and garage, and on any line near an outside wall. The Red Cross notes that even a quarter inch of newspaper wrapped around a pipe gives some protection in a pinch.

For pipes that freeze every year, heat tape or heat cable can help. Use a UL-listed product and follow the installation instructions exactly. Then seal the drafts: gaps around dryer vents, rim joists, crawl space vents and holes where pipes pass through walls let cold air blow straight onto the plumbing.

5. How to prevent frozen pipes during a cold snap

• Keep the garage door closed if water lines run through the garage.
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors so warm air reaches the pipes under the sink.
• Let cold water drip from faucets fed by exposed pipes. Moving water is harder to freeze.
• Keep the thermostat at the same temperature day and night. Turning it way down overnight saves a little on heat but gives cold spots a chance to freeze.

6. If you're leaving for the winter, or the house is empty

The Red Cross recommends keeping the heat at no lower than 55°F when you're away. For a longer trip, a rental between tenants or an inherited house that's sitting empty, go further: have someone check daily that the heat is still running, or shut off the main and drain the water lines.

This matters for insurance too. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) explains that homeowners policies generally require you to keep the home at a minimum temperature, or shut off the water, when it's vacant. Many policies limit or exclude freeze damage when those steps weren't taken. Check your policy's wording before you leave.

7. Signs a pipe is already frozen, and how to thaw it safely

If you turn on a faucet in cold weather and get only a trickle or nothing, suspect a frozen pipe. What to do:

• Leave the faucet open. As the ice melts, running water helps melt the rest and relieves pressure.
• Apply gentle heat to the frozen section: an electric heating pad, a hair dryer, towels soaked in hot water, or a space heater kept away from anything that can burn.
• Never use a torch, open flame, kerosene or propane heater, or charcoal stove. Thawing pipes with a flame is a real way to start a house fire.
• Call a licensed plumber if you can't find the frozen section, can't reach it, or can't thaw it.

If you use a space heater, the U.S. Fire Administration says to keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away, plug it straight into a wall outlet, and turn it off when you leave the room or go to bed.

8. If a frozen pipe bursts

Shut off the main right away, then turn off power to any wet area if you can reach the panel from a dry spot. Take photos and video before you clean up. Our guide to what to do in the first hour after a basement floods covers the steps in order.

Water that is sudden and accidental, like a burst pipe, is often covered by homeowners insurance when the home was reasonably maintained. Read what homeowners insurance usually covers for water damage in Pennsylvania, and when you're ready, how to file a water damage claim step by step.

This article explains how claims generally work. It is not legal advice, and every policy is different. Read your declarations page and endorsements, or ask your agent. We can't promise a claim outcome. We make sure your claim is documented right.

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