Every few winters, Austin gets a hard freeze — and every time, pipes burst across the city and homes go without water for days. It always seems to catch people out. The reason is simple, and it's worth understanding before the next cold snap.
Southern homes aren't built for the cold the way northern ones are — and that's exactly why a short freeze does so much damage here.
Up north, code puts water lines deep in the ground and inside the warm envelope of the house, because the cold is a given. Here, it isn't. So our pipes run shallower and more exposed, and when the temperature drops below freezing for a day or two, the water inside them can freeze, expand, and split the pipe. You often don't even find out until it thaws and starts pouring.
The good news: a little preparation goes a long way, and most of it costs nothing.
Drip the hot side — not the cold
This is the one nearly everyone gets backwards. The instinct is to drip the cold tap. But leaving a slow drip on the hot side keeps water moving through the water heater and along both the hot and cold supply, which is what actually helps prevent a freeze. A trickle is enough; you're keeping the water moving, not filling a bath.
Open the cabinet doors
The pipes under your kitchen and bathroom sinks often sit against an exterior wall, boxed away from the home's heat. Open those cabinet doors on a freezing night and you let the warm air of the house reach the pipes. It's the easiest free thing on this list.
A light bulb in the cabinet
For a cabinet that stays stubbornly cold, an old-fashioned incandescent bulb set inside and plugged in throws off just enough gentle warmth to keep the space above freezing. It's a decades-old trick because it works.
Disconnect the garden hoses
A hose left connected traps water against the outdoor faucet and the pipe behind it — a classic first casualty of a freeze. Disconnect hoses, drain them, and cover the outdoor bibs.
Know where your shut-off is — before you need it
If a pipe does burst, the difference between a mopped-up floor and a flooded house is how fast you can shut off the water. Find your main shut-off now, while it's calm and dry, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is and how to work it.
It doesn't take much time, energy or money to save yourself a great deal of all three.
Do these few things before the cold arrives and you'll sail through most freezes untouched. And if one does get you — if you've got a burst pipe or no water after a thaw — that's exactly the sort of call Nick is here for.