How to Prevent Frozen Pipes in a Colorado Winter

A frozen pipe is one of the most common winter calls in the south metro, and most of them are preventable. A few hours of work in October or November can save you from a split line, a soaked ceiling and a week of drying fans. If a pipe has already burst, skip ahead and get help with burst pipe water damage in Littleton; Reestorian can connect you with a local provider.

This is general information. A licensed plumber can assess your home's specific weak spots.

How to prevent frozen pipes before winter

Do these in fall, before the first hard freeze:

• Disconnect, drain and store garden hoses. The Red Cross also advises closing the inside valves that feed outdoor hose bibs and leaving the outside bibs open so trapped water can expand.
• Blow out sprinkler and irrigation lines as the installer directs, and shut off and drain the backflow preventer.
• Insulate exposed pipes in the garage, crawl space, attic and under sinks on outside walls with foam pipe sleeves.
• Add heat cable where needed. The Red Cross and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension recommend UL-listed heat tape or heat cable for exposed pipes that stay cold.
• Seal drafts where pipes pass through exterior walls, sill plates and garage walls.
• Add insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces, as the Red Cross suggests, to keep those spaces warmer.
• Find and test your main shutoff. Denver Water says it is usually in the basement or crawl space on the wall facing the street.
• Check your insurance for any rules about heat and vacancy.

Where pipes freeze in Littleton homes

How to protect pipes from freezing during a cold snap

When forecasts call for temperatures at or below about 20°F:

1. Keep the thermostat steady day and night instead of turning it down at night, as the Red Cross advises.
2. Open cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks on outside walls so warm air reaches the pipes. Move cleaners out of children's reach.
3. Let faucets drip. The Red Cross says even a trickle of cold water from faucets on exposed pipes helps. Denver Water suggests the faucet farthest from where water enters the house, with a bucket underneath to save the water.
4. Keep the garage door closed if water lines run through the garage.
5. Check vulnerable spots each morning. A faucet that runs slow is a warning sign.

How to prevent frozen pipes when you travel

Winter trips are risky for pipes because no one is home to notice a slow faucet or a dripping ceiling.

• Keep the heat on. The Red Cross and Texas A&M AgriLife say no lower than 55°F. Denver Water suggests above 65°F for trips of several days. Warmer gives more protection to pipes in outside walls.
• Open cabinet doors on outside walls before you leave.
• Ask someone to check the house daily if a deep freeze is forecast.
• For long trips, shut off the main valve and open faucets to drain the lines. Shut off the water heater according to its instructions first.
• Install leak sensors or an automatic shutoff so you get an alert if water appears.

How to keep pipes from freezing without heat

A winter power outage or a furnace failure is the hardest case. Without heat, a house cools steadily, and pipes in outside walls freeze first. Steps that help:

1. Let faucets drip on exposed lines so water keeps moving.
2. Keep doors and curtains closed to hold in the heat that's left, and close off unused rooms.
3. Open cabinet doors on outside walls so the remaining warm air reaches the pipes.
4. Use a safe backup heat source only as the manufacturer directs. Never run a generator, grill or camp stove indoors because of carbon monoxide.
5. If the outage will last long in deep cold, shut off the main water valve and open faucets to drain the lines.

Why insulation alone isn't enough

Foam sleeves slow heat loss, but they don't add heat. The International Code Council notes that insulation alone doesn't prevent freezing; it needs a heat source. In a cold garage or crawl space, a sleeved pipe will still freeze if the cold lasts long enough. That's why sealing drafts, keeping spaces warm and adding listed heat cable where needed all matter.

Products that help

Colorado notes: wind, elevation and freeze-thaw

Colorado winters swing between deep cold and sunny thaws. Wind pushes cold air into gaps around foundations and garage doors, so drafty walls freeze sooner. Homes at higher elevations, like Castle Rock and the foothill neighborhoods of Ken Caryl, see colder nights than lower parts of the metro. And repeated freeze-thaw cycles stress pipes and fittings that already froze once, so a pipe that survived one cold snap may fail in the next.

Check your insurance before winter

The Colorado Division of Insurance says burst pipes and the resulting water damage are generally covered by homeowners and renters policies. Many policies have conditions about maintaining heat or shutting off and draining the water when a home is vacant. Read those sections now so you know what's expected. See does homeowners insurance cover frozen pipes?

Related reading: Learn the temperature at which pipes freeze, and keep the burst pipe checklist handy in case one does.

When should you call a water damage professional?

Prevention works most of the time, but not always. Call a plumber to repair a frozen or split pipe. Call a water damage professional when:

• Water ran into walls, ceilings, insulation or flooring
• A ceiling is stained, bulging or dripping
• Water reached a finished basement or the floor below
• You smell mustiness days after a leak

Pipe froze and burst despite the prep? Call (928) 394-5135 to reach a local water damage provider.