Winter Freeze Tips: How to Protect Your Home

Although Texas typically experiences mild winters, unexpected freezing temperatures can still happen. And during these “colder than normal” freezing temperature events, it is important to be prepared.  

The homes in North Texas are built to withstand normal Texas winters. “Normal” is considered overnight lows in the low 20’s for a few hours. Even dropping into the high teens is not an issue as long as the temps rise into the high 20’s or low 30’s the next day and/or the sun is out to warm the home’s exterior.        

But every couple of years, there are a handful of nights (and days) when temps are in the low 20’s or lower for multiple days.  Making it worse is when the temperatures never rise above freezing for multiple days or when it’s overcast and the sun can’t do its warming thing.  In these times, your house might be susceptible to frozen pipes, burst water heaters, issues with pool equipment, and potentially thousands of dollars in repairs.

The good news is that a little preparation can go a long way to preventing these issues. The team at Earl’s Plumbing put together a comprehensive guide to protect your home from the cold and avoid costly repairs.  

Just to make sure that we are on the same page, this guide is specifically speaking to North Texas / DFW forecasts of temps in the low 20’s or colder for more than 5 hours OR when temps are forecasted to not rise above 25 degrees for more than 2 days.

Why Freezing Temperatures Are Bad for Your Plumbing

Despite all the modern innovations, plumbing systems aren’t built to handle the extreme cold we occasionally experience in Texas. When temperatures dip below 20°F for more than eight hours, below 15°F for over four hours, or when forecasts are not expected to rise above 25°F for more than 48 hours with cloudy skies, standing water in pipes can freeze. As the ice expands, it can crack and burst the pipes, causing significant damage once the ice melts. When you know how to prepare your home for these conditions, you can avoid messy emergencies and unexpected plumbing repairs.

General Tips to Prevent Freezing Issues

Here are a few simple steps you can take to protect your plumbing this winter.

1) Keep Water Moving Through Pipes

Frozen pipes happen when water stagnates, but you can avoid it by:

• Running both hot and cold water at a steady trickle from all faucets, including those in garages and guest bathrooms. Please note that a “steady trickle” is more than a drip. And it is important that both hot & cold faucets are opened in equal proportions.
• Running the single handle tubs & showers regularly. It is important to note that single handle shower faucets cannot be part of the “steady trickle” equation. Therefore, an additional step is to turn on the shower and/or tub faucets full blast for approximately 30+ seconds. 
• Flushing toilets frequently to keep water moving through water lines
• If the shower valve or toilet is located on an exterior wall then the frequency intervals should be increased.  And the colder it gets, the more often this should be done (to the point of a little sleep deprivation if temps drop to the low teens or single digits). 

2) Open Cabinet Doors

If your kitchen or bathroom sinks are located on exterior walls, open the cabinet doors underneath to allow warm indoor air to circulate around the pipes. This small adjustment can make a surprisingly big difference when you’re protecting vulnerable areas.

3) Protect Your Outdoor Faucets

Disconnect your garden hoses and cover up any outdoor hose spigots with hard-shell Styrofoam covers. Dripping or leaking spigots can create ice dams, so replace any that aren’t functioning properly before temperatures drop.

4) Know Your Main Shutoff Valve

Make sure everyone in your family knows where your home’s main shutoff valve is so you can act quickly in case of an emergency. Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT the shutoff valve located inside the city’s water meter box.

• Homes built between 1980 to 2000 will typically have the main shutoff valve in the flowerbed. If it has never been used or replaced, then do NOT attempt to use it.  
• Homes built between 2000 to 2015 will also typically have the main shutoff valve in the flowerbed and it will be shared with the Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV). Not all cities require a PRV, but if you live in Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, Little Elm and in some areas of Plano, you will. But like above, if you have never used this shutoff valve or had it replaced in the last 10 years, then do NOT attempt to turn it.
• Newer homes (built after 2016) usually have the main shutoff valve (and PRV) located inside of the garage.
• There is also the last resort option of using the shutoff valve located at the water meter. However, you will need a special key and tool to make it function.     

If the discussion of this “main shutoff valve” is news to you, buried in mud, difficult to access, or you are experiencing low water pressure, then ask the team at Earl’s Plumbing about replacement options.

5) Winterize Irrigation Systems

It’s important to turn off your irrigation system at the control box. Whenever possible, shut off the double-check valve (DCV) to prevent water from freezing in the lines, which could cause them to burst or create icy sidewalks.

Special Considerations for Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters are particularly vulnerable to freezing temperatures, especially if they’re installed outdoors and/or encased in the brick exterior. Here are a few steps you can take to protect your system:

• Prior to the freeze event, locate the water shutoff valves to the tankless water heater.  Make sure that you identify the shutoff valve and NOT the isolation valve that is used for tankless water heater maintenance. Open & close both the hot & cold valves to ensure they are in good working order and can be easily accessed & turned. 
• During the entire weather event, keep a steady stream of both hot and cold water flowing through ALL of your faucets that have two handles. It’s important that the proportion is equally hot & cold, but we are trying to create enough flow through the tankless water heater to prevent it from becoming an ice maker tray.
• On extreme cold days (below 15), making sure that the tankless water heater has extra water flowing through the unit is important. In other words, more than a “steady stream or trickle.” This is especially important if the unit is located in an exterior cabinet inside the brick. This might require an alarm to be set every 1 to 1.5 hours to turn on faucets.    
• The use of a space heater in & around the tankless unit cannot hurt. Especially if they are installed in the attic or garage.  Pay special attention to the freeze prevention of the condensation waste line. It should be noted that extra condensation is produced in cold weather and it is not under pressure and freezes very easily.  
• If your tankless water heater is one of the bigger more robust units, then it will likely produce condensation. This line and where it empties should be inspected for ice buildup. If an icicle forms or water appears in the tankless pan, then it is imperative that you thaw this line with a space heater or hair dryer as needed.

Winter Tips for Heaters and Expansion Tanks

Shutoff Valves

For traditional tank water heaters, locate the shutoff valve on the right side of the unit. If you have a gate valve (a multi twist handle), avoid using it. It can break and cause additional damage. Let us upgrade it to a reliable ball valve.

Expansion Tanks

Expansion tanks have a typical lifespan of 5–7 years. Older or improperly installed expansion tanks can fail, leading to significant water damage. This tank holds a small amount of water that is extra susceptible to freezing. This freezing could create a rupture in the tank.  If your tank is nearing the end of its lifespan, it’s time for a replacement.

What to Know About Water Softeners

Despite the North Texas water only being considered “moderately hard”, the installation of salt tablet water softener systems and/or water filtration systems have become VERY common throughout the area. However, based on what we see, these are rarely if ever installed properly. And by “properly” we mean that the water line is brought up from under the ground and enters through the side of the brick face and then returns back to the main water line in the same manner.

This is wrong on so many levels! Ask yourself this: If this were acceptable and allowed, then why would it not be done this way throughout the entire house? Why go through the trouble of burying the water line during the construction process?   

And when the water line is altered in this manner – even if insulated – your exposure to a catastrophic water damage issue is significantly multiplied. Please note that these companies that just do water softener & filter installations (Culligan, EcoWater, RainSoft, Aquasure, SpringWell, etc.) are NOT licensed plumbers.

When improperly installed and during even a minor freeze event, your main water line leading to your water softener is going to freeze. Once that happens there is nothing we can do to help. You just have to wait until it warms up. But during a significant freeze event, the water flow that is the main force that prevents all of your pipes from freezing and bursting is stopped.

What to Do If Pipes Freeze

If your water flow stops during freezing weather, your pipes are probably frozen. If your entire house is affected then you likely have a water softener that is (like most) improperly installed.  In this case, there is nothing that we can do to get your water back flowing again.  It just takes time & warmth.  And there is also not much that you can do other than hope and then take some preventive damage steps.  Those steps would include:   

1. Shut off your home’s main water shutoff valve. With the water OFF, this will prevent an uncontrollable flood in case of a pipe rupture when the pipes eventually thaw.
2. Unplug your water softener / water filter and place the unit in “bypass mode”. Also, if this applies to your home unplug your hot water recirculation pump and/or your tankless water heaters.
3. With the steps above completed, open all faucets and flush toilets to drain remaining water. This includes opening the exterior hose spigots and allowing all of the water to flow out of the system via gravity. Keep all of these fixtures in the open position.  In the event of a frozen line this will remove some of the water and all of the air allowing the water to expand into the open spacing during the free process rather than on itself.
4. If you have a tankless water heater, locate the isolation / shutoff valves under the heater. Remove the maintenance caps.  Open the isolation ports to allow the water to drain from the tankless water heater.
5. If you own an air compressor you could strategically blow air through the lines using an upstairs faucet. This should be done in two phases. One with all of the faucets open.  Then a second time with all of the faucets closed EXCEPT for the exterior hose spigots. Leave these open and allow the air to push the remaining water through the lowest points in the system.  After completing this last step return all of the faucets and shutoffs (except the main shutoff valve).
6. Contact Earl’s Plumbing to safely restore water flow and run an inspection for potential damage.

It is important to note that all water lines can freeze. However, only copper water lines used in homes built prior to 2015 (give or take) are what is susceptible to freeze breaks & ruptures. We have never seen a PEX water line burst or rupture. They will however freeze and this lack of water flow can cause similar issues noted above. PEX fittings that are made of plastic (95% of new homes) can crack inside the wall during a freeze so the steps above are universal. 

Protecting Homes with Fire Suppression Systems

Is your home over 5,000 square feet? It probably has a fire suppression system with uninsulated CPVC pipes and is vulnerable to freezing. CPVC is the weakest of all of the plastic water pipes! You should have your system drained & winterized before cold weather arrives, as repairs to fire suppression require a different licensed specialist. Not a plumber.  

It should also be noted that after the significant freeze event in February 2021, in the homes that were required by code to have a fire suppression system, in the vast majority of cases the damage was caused by ruptured fire suppression lines and NOT the domestic water lines. So even if your house is newer (2015 or later) and has PEX water lines, your residential fire suppression system is still a weak point in your system when it comes to freeze damage.

Winterize Your Home with Earl’s Plumbing

While freezing temperatures can cause stress on your plumbing, taking proactive measures can prevent costly repairs and insurance claims. As we like to say at Earl’s Plumbing: “Would you prefer a $400 water bill, a $4,000 water heater replacement, or a $40,000 insurance claim?” The choice is clear! 

If you’re not sure if you’re ready for winter or suspect you already have some freeze related damage, we can help. Give the team at Earl’s Plumbing a call and we’ll come out for an inspection, repairs, new installations, and anything else you need to keep your home safe and dry this winter.

In addition, you might want to consider getting out in front and moving yourself to the front of the customer list while getting a free home inspection and some sizable repair & installation discounts. Become an Earl’s Plumbing VIP Advantage Member.