The snowy winter weather offers a fun day sledding down a nearby hill or snowball fights in the neighbor's yard. At the same time, winter weather can be hard on your home. Severely cold conditions can cause the water lines in your house's plumbing system to freeze and burst, which may lead to serious water damage and enduring negative effects.

Once your pipes are frozen solid, you may want to call a plumber in to handle the problem. Nevertheless, there’s a lot you can perform on your own to prevent this from happening – and even just a bit of prevention can go a long way.

What Pipes Are at a Higher Chance of Freezing

The pipes at the greatest risk of freezing are exposed water lines. Common locations for uncovered pipes are in attic crawlspaces, near exterior walls, in the basement or even running beneath a modular home. Water lines that are not appropriately insulated are at the greatest risk.

How to Stop Pipes from Freezing Over in Your Home

Properly insulating exposed water lines is a solid first step to keeping your pipes ice free. You’ll often locate most of these materials from the local plumbing company, and could also already have some somewhere in your home.

Be mindful not to wrap up other flammable insulation materials where they may be caught on fire. If you don’t feel safe insulating the pipes on your own, get in touch with your local plumbing services professional in to handle the job.

If you do prefer to insulate the pipes by yourself, common insulation materials for pipes are:

  • Wraps or roll insulation: Most plumbers, hardware stores and large retailers sell insulation – commonly fiberglass, foam wraps or pipe sleeves – that you can use to wrap or fit around your pipes. They are sold in different lengths and sizes to satisfy the needs of your home.
  • Newspaper: To a decent degree, newspaper can be used as an insulator. If the weather is going to get cold and you aren’t able to add insulation soon enough, try wrapping uninsulated pipes in this.
  • Towels or rags: If you don't have the chance to add insulation and don’t have any newspaper to use, wrapping notably vulnerable pipes with towels or clean rags as a last-ditch effort could be just enough to keep the cold air off the pipes.

One other preventative step you can attempt to prevent pipes from being covered in ice is to fill any cracks that can allow cold air inside your home. Keep an eye on the window frames, which can let in surprisingly powerful drafts. Not only will this help to keep your pipes from freezing, but it will have the added benefit of making your home more energy efficient.

Five More Ways to Keep Your Pipes from Freezing:

  • Open the cabinet doors. Opening the cabinet doors beneath the sinks and other rooms of your home with pipes will permit more warm air from the rest of the room to flow near the pipes.
  • Letting water drip. Keeping a flow of water by letting your faucets drip even a small amount can help avoid frozen pipes.
  • Open interior doors. By opening doors between rooms or hallways, your home can be heated more equally. This is particularly important if there's a room that tends to be colder or hotter than the rest of the home.
  • Close the garage door. The exception to the open doors tip is the garage door, which you should keep down – especially if your water lines can be found near or under the garage.
  • Keep the heat steady. Experts recommend setting the thermostat at a persistent temperature and leaving it there, rather than permitting it to get lower at night. Set it no lower than 55 degrees.

How to Prevent Pipes from Freezing in an Empty Home

When you’re at home, it’s easy to recognize when something goes wrong. But what extra steps can you take to stop pipes from freezing in an empty home or vacation home when the damages from a frozen pipe might not be discovered for a while?

As with a primary residence, placing extra insulation around any exposed water lines, opening interior doors inside the home and winterizing the vacant home are the first steps to try at first.

Alternative Steps to Stop Pipes from Freezing in a Vacant Home:

  1. Leave the heat on. Even though you aren’t going to be there, it’s best to leave the heat on – even if you switch the thermostat down lower than you would if you were there. As with a primary home, experts recommend keeping the temperature at no colder than 55 degrees.
  2. Shut water off and drain the lines. If you’re going to be out of the house for a long time or are winterizing a vacation cabin or cottage, shutting the water off to the house and draining the water out of the water lines is a good way to stop pipes from freezing and bursting open. Remember to flush the water out of your appliances, like the hot water heater, and the toilets. Confirm you clear out all the water from the system. If you are not sure of how to clear out the water from the pipes, or don’t feel secure performing it yourself, a plumber in will be delighted to step in.