How to Avoid Frozen Pipes During Winter

How to Avoid Frozen Pipes During Winter

Published by Remtech Environmental Team · Last updated April 2025

Extreme cold can cause pipes to freeze and burst, leading to water damage and mold development. If you want to avoid Santa’s Homeowner Naughty-list, make sure you are prepared to take the necessary steps to avoid frozen water pipes this winter.

Why Do Water Pipes Freeze and Burst?

In Raleigh, temperatures dip below freezing about 70 times per year. When temperatures drop below 32 degrees, water in your pipes can freeze. When water freezes, it expands and can cause your pipes to burst. Frozen pipes are much more common along exterior walls and underneath your home, where there is little insulation to prevent freezing.

In our state, we experience all four seasons. Rather than long, snowy winters, Raleigh’s cold snaps come with freezing temperatures. Most homeowners in North Carolina don’t insulate their pipes, making them more susceptible to freezing when temperatures do dip low.

How Do I Prevent My Pipes from Freezing?

Homeowners can be vigilant against freezing pipes. Pay careful attention to the weather forecast, and perform these simple tasks:

• Insulate Exposed Pipes: Use pipe-insulation to insulate exposed pipes under your home.
• Let Water Drip from Faucets: On especially cold evenings, allow warm water to drip from your kitchen faucet.
• Fix Active Leaks: If water is already leaking from your pipes, freezing temperatures may exasperate the issue. Make sure all leaks are repaired before the cold sets in.
• Open Cabinets: Especially for pipes against exterior walls and in cold areas of your home (basements), open cabinets to expose pipes to heat.
• Close Garage Doors: If water pipes run through your garage, keep the doors closed during the winter.

My Pipes Froze, Now What?

During winter, if you turn your kitchen faucet on only to discover there is no water, you probably have a frozen pipe. Time is of the essence. Mold can develop within 48 hours of the occurrence of water damage. If you have a frozen pipe, follow these steps:

You may choose to skip all of these steps and contact a professional immediately. Remtech has decades of experience repairing water damage. Furthermore, we can help determine if mold is present and whether remediation will be required. Don’t let the cold ruin Christmas. Be vigilant against the rising flood of frozen pipes.

• Find the frozen pipe. Determine if it is leaking or has burst. The culprit will likely be along an exterior wall or under your home.
• If the frozen pipe has not burst, you may be able to thaw it with a hair dryer. Do not try to thaw pipe with an open flame or torch.
• If the pipe has burst, turn off the main water supply. If the leak is near electrical appliances, turn off the main power to those appliances.
• Assess the extent of the damage. Leaking water can be pervasive. Depending on the size and location of the leak, water damage may extend to carpets, walls, and the sub-floor. Determine whether you should call a professional. Err on the side of caution.
• Remove wet furniture, carpet, etc. Use towels to soak up the all of the water.
• Contact a professional, especially if there is evidence water soaked your walls or sub-flooring. A professional water damage expert will dry the area with wet-vacs and dehumidifiers. If the water is not properly dried, mold will likely develop.

North Carolina homeowners learned a hard lesson during the January 2025 cold snap, when an Arctic air mass pushed Raleigh-Durham temperatures down to 11 degrees Fahrenheit on the morning of January 22 and held the region below freezing for nearly four consecutive days. Plumbers across the Triangle reported their busiest week in years, with hundreds of burst pipe calls clogging dispatch boards from Wake Forest to Pittsboro. That event was a near replay of the December 2018 ice storm, which dropped a half-inch of ice on Wake County and knocked out power to more than 90,000 Duke Energy customers, leaving thousands of homes without heat in subfreezing conditions. In both events, the most expensive damage was not from ice or wind, it was from frozen pipes that thawed days later and flooded homes whose owners were already dealing with power outages and downed trees. North Carolina's housing stock is built for moderate winters, which means most homes have uninsulated pipes running through crawl spaces, exterior walls, and unconditioned attics. When temperatures drop into the teens or below for more than a few hours, those pipes are at serious risk. This guide draws on lessons learned from the 2018 and 2025 events, the IBHS FORTIFIED Home program guidance, and decades of Remtech Environmental fieldwork to give you an actionable winterization plan.

Key Takeaways

• The January 2025 Triangle cold snap and the December 2018 ice storm both produced widespread burst pipe damage, with the worst losses coming from delayed thawing in unconditioned spaces.
• Pipes burst from pressure between an ice plug and a closed valve, which is why a dripping faucet relieves the pressure and prevents the rupture even if a freeze occurs.
• Wrap every accessible pipe in crawl spaces, garages, and exterior walls with closed-cell foam sleeves rated R-3 or higher, sealed tight at every joint.
• Air-seal foundation vents, rim joists, and utility penetrations because cold air infiltration accelerates freezing more than ambient outdoor temperature alone.
• Maintain at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit indoor temperature during freeze events, open cabinet doors under sinks against exterior walls, and keep garage doors closed.
• Disconnect outdoor hoses, install insulated faucet covers, blow out irrigation lines, and verify your main water shutoff valve actually closes before winter arrives.
• If a pipe bursts, shut off the main water and any affected electrical circuits, document everything for insurance, and call a licensed IICRC S500 restoration contractor within 24 hours to prevent mold colonization.