Water off first. Heat second. The repair after that. Here is the order, where the valve usually sits, and the paperwork that decides what the city credits.
A split pipe is a clock. Water is going into the house at whatever rate the main will give it, and nothing you do about the pipe itself matters until that stops. Austin Water's first thawing step says the same thing: turn off the water at the shutoff valve to prevent flooding if a pipe has burst, then open a faucet near the frozen section so steam can escape as heat is applied.
Austin Water tells customers to make sure everyone in the home knows where the main water shutoff valve is, and that it is clear of debris. In an emergency the first one to try is the property owner's shutoff valve, typically located on your side of the water meter at the meter box. If you cannot find that valve or it is damaged, the city's shutoff valve sits in the same box. Opening the box may take a water meter key, which most hardware stores sell. If you rent, your property manager is the one to ask.
Do it on a mild afternoon. A valve you have never turned, in a box you have never opened, in the dark, with water running, is not a plan. If a pipe has already let go, shut the water off first and then call: our hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 to 5:30 and Saturday by appointment, and the emergency page covers calls that cannot wait.
Water is unusual in that it expands as it freezes. The American Red Cross states the consequence plainly: that expansion puts tremendous pressure on whatever is containing it, including metal or plastic pipes, and no matter the strength of a container, expanding water can cause pipes to break. A pipe does not fail because it got cold. It fails because the ice inside it needed more room than the pipe had.
The pipes that go first are the ones the cold reaches first. The Red Cross names three groups: pipes exposed to severe cold, such as outdoor hose bibs, swimming pool supply lines and sprinkler lines; water supply pipes in unheated interior areas such as attics, garages and kitchen cabinets; and pipes running against exterior walls that have little or no insulation. In a slab-on-grade house with its water lines run overhead, which describes a great many houses in Leander and Liberty Hill, that list is largely a description of the attic.
Austin Water says on its own cold weather page that while Austin often enjoys mild winters, Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 showed that the area must be ready for more severe and prolonged freezing weather. That is the honest shape of the risk here. Not every winter, and not never.
If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, the Red Cross says to suspect a frozen pipe, and that the likely places are against exterior walls or where the water service enters the home through the foundation. You have found it before it broke, which is the good version of this morning.
Leave that faucet open. As the frozen area melts, water begins to move through it, and running water helps melt the rest of the ice. Then apply gentle heat: an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, a hair dryer, a portable space heater kept well away from anything flammable, or towels soaked in hot water. Austin Water adds the direction to work in, starting at the faucet end and moving back toward the wall.
Never use a blowtorch, a kerosene or propane heater, a charcoal stove or any other open flame on a pipe. Both the Red Cross and Austin Water say so, and the reason is that a torch in a wall cavity full of dry framing and insulation trades a plumbing problem for a fire.
Two more things the Red Cross asks for. Check every other faucet in the house, because if one pipe froze others may have too. And if you cannot find the frozen section, cannot reach it, or cannot thaw it, stop and call a licensed plumber. Once water flows again, Austin Water's last step is to look the pipe over for cracks or leaks the freeze left behind, and to shut the water off again immediately if you find one.
The 2021 International Plumbing Code, which the City of Leander's schedule of adopted codes lists along with local amendments, is direct about this. Section 305.4 requires that water, soil and waste pipes shall not be installed outside of a building, in attics or crawl spaces, concealed in outside walls, or in any other place subjected to freezing temperatures unless adequate provision is made to protect such pipes from freezing by insulation or heat or both. The same section puts exterior water supply piping not less than 6 inches below the frost line and not less than 12 inches below grade.
That governs new and altered work. It is not a statement about the house you are standing in. Plenty of houses here were plumbed under earlier codes and have runs that today's code would not allow, and that is exactly where a hard freeze finds them.
| Do this | Why |
|---|---|
| Remove, drain and store outdoor hoses. Close the inside valve feeding each hose bib, then open the outside bib and leave it open. | The Red Cross wants the outside valve left open so any water still in the pipe can expand without breaking it. |
| Cover the outdoor faucets. | Austin Water suggests towels or a foam faucet cover, and lists hose bib covers as a supply to have on hand. |
| Turn off and drain the irrigation system. | Sprinkler supply lines are on the Red Cross list of pipes that freeze most often. |
| Insulate the pipes in the attic and the garage. | Austin Water names unheated or drafty areas specifically. The Red Cross notes that in places without frequent or prolonged freezing, even a quarter of an inch of newspaper gives exposed pipe real protection. |
| Keep the garage door shut, and open the cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls. | Both sources: it lets warmer room air reach the plumbing. |
| During a freeze of a day or two, let faucets drip at a trickle. | Moving water through the pipe, even slowly, helps keep it from freezing. |
| Leaving town? The Red Cross says do not set the heat below 55 degrees. Austin Water goes further and says turn the water off at the meter and set the thermostat to 65 degrees or higher. | A house nobody is in is a house where a trickle gets no attention for a week. |
A burst pipe leaves a second problem behind it, which is the month's water. The City of Leander is clear that its water customers are responsible for keeping plumbing on their property in good working order, and that leak adjustments are offered as a courtesy to help residents recoup some unexpected repair and water service costs. The conditions are published, and they are worth knowing before you need them.
Leaking faucets, and outlets left running or unattended, are not eligible at all. So keep the invoice. And if the freeze left a slow leak rather than a dramatic one, finding it and documenting the repair is exactly what the billing office is asking for.
Texas regulates this work. Occupations Code Chapter 1301 governs plumbers and defines the responsible master plumber as the licence holder authorized to obtain plumbing permits, who assumes responsibility for the plumbing work performed under that licence. Vaquero Plumbing works under RMP 15304. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners publishes a Find a License lookup and a consumer sheet headed "Always hire a licensed plumber", and you are welcome to run our number through it.
The practical line is this. Covering a hose bib, opening a cabinet, dripping a faucet and warming an accessible pipe with a hair dryer are yours. Anything behind a wall, under the slab, or involving a gas line or a water heater's gas control valve is not, and that is not us being precious about it: it is work Texas requires to be done under a licensed plumber. If a freeze has taken out a run rather than a single fitting, repiping that section is a permitted job, and we cover Leander along with Liberty Hill, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown and Austin. The Leander page has the rest of what we do in town, and the number here is 512-893-8705.
Austin Water's guidance is to try the property owner's shutoff valve first, typically located on your side of the water meter at the meter box. If you cannot find it or it is damaged, the city's shutoff valve is in the same box. You may need a water meter key, which most hardware stores sell. Renters should check with their property manager. Find it and clear the debris off it before a freeze, not during one.
Because water expands as it freezes. The American Red Cross states that this expansion puts tremendous pressure on whatever is containing it, including metal or plastic pipes, and that no matter the strength of a container, expanding water can cause pipes to break. The pipes at risk are the ones the cold reaches: outdoor hose bibs, sprinkler and pool supply lines, supply pipes in attics and garages, and pipes against uninsulated exterior walls. Austin Water notes that while Austin often enjoys mild winters, Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 showed the area has to be ready for worse.
An accessible one, yes, within limits. Leave the faucet open so melting water can move through, then apply gentle heat with an electric heating pad, a hair dryer, a space heater kept away from anything flammable, or towels soaked in hot water, working from the faucet end back toward the wall. Never use a blowtorch, a kerosene or propane heater, a charcoal stove or any other open flame. The Red Cross says that if you cannot locate the frozen area, cannot reach it, or cannot thaw it, call a licensed plumber. Anything behind a wall or under the slab is not a homeowner job in Texas.
It may credit part of it. The City of Leander says water customers are responsible for keeping plumbing on their property in good working order, and that leak adjustments are offered as a courtesy. The leak has to be at least two times the average consumption of the previous three months, you need six months of history at the property, and the request goes in within 90 days of the repair with receipts. One adjustment is granted every two years per address, the review covers at most 60 days or two billing cycles, and the maximum credit is 250 dollars with a licensed plumber's documentation or 100 dollars for a repair you made yourself. Leaking faucets and outlets left running are not eligible.
Yes. Vaquero Plumbing covers Leander, Liberty Hill, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown and Austin under licence RMP 15304. Our hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 to 5:30, with Saturday by appointment, and the emergency page covers calls that cannot wait.
From leaks and clogs to water heaters and repipes, our family-owned crew is ready with same-day service and honest pricing.