Frozen pipes in Abilene: protect your plumbing before a hard freeze

Abilene's first freeze usually shows up around November 11, per the National Weather Service, and it's come as early as October 18. Most winters, a freeze here means one cold night and a warm afternoon. February 2021 wasn't most winters: the Weather Service logged 252 straight hours at or below freezing in Abilene. Even the city's water treatment plants lost power and had chemical feed piping freeze, and Abilene spent February 15 to 21 under a boil-water notice.

You can't do anything about the power grid. You can do something about which of your pipes the cold can reach.

The short answer: the pipes that freeze are the ones your heat doesn't reach: attic lines, pipes on outside walls, garage plumbing, and the spot where the water line enters the house. Before a hard freeze, insulate those, find your main shutoff, and keep the heat steady. On the coldest nights, open sink cabinets and let a faucet drip.

When pipes are actually at risk in Abilene

The Weather Service calls 32°F a freeze, and 28° or colder for an extended stretch a hard freeze. Your pipes care less about the label than about how cold it gets and for how long. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension puts the danger line for exposed pipes at 20°F or below — that's where they can freeze and burst.

A pipe doesn't feel the forecast; it feels whatever space it runs through. A line in a heated wall rides out a cold night fine. The same line in an uninsulated attic doesn't, and the longer a freeze hangs on, the deeper the cold works in.

Which pipes freeze first in Big Country homes

Plumbing on exterior walls is common across the South, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety notes, and AgriLife says pipes in warmer climates often run through attics and crawlspaces with little or no insulation. Check these first:

• Attic lines. If any of your water lines run overhead, they're in air that's close to the outdoor temperature on a cold night.
• Outside walls. The kitchen sink under the window, or any sink on an outside wall with little or no insulation behind it.
• The garage. Lines to a washer or water heater, or pipe running along a garage wall.
• Where the water line comes in. The Red Cross names the spot where your service line enters through the foundation as a likely freeze point. That's often where your main shutoff sits, too.
• Crawlspaces. If your house sits up on piers, check the lines under the floor.
• Hoses, sprinkler lines, and pool lines. The most exposed of all. Disconnect hoses and drain the sprinkler system per the installer's directions — no antifreeze in those lines, the Red Cross warns.

Don't count on the hot side, either. AgriLife notes a hot water line freezes just like a cold one once the water in it stops moving.

Pipes don't freeze because it's cold outside. They freeze because the cold found a spot your heat doesn't reach.

Before the first hard freeze: a short checklist

• Find your main shutoff, and make sure it turns. It's usually where the water line comes through the wall in a garage or utility closet, or in a box near the foundation — the same valve behind our one-valve leak test. A valve that won't budge is a lot better found in October than at 2 a.m. with water coming through the ceiling.
• Insulate what's exposed. Foam pipe sleeves on attic, garage, and crawlspace lines, hot and cold both. For a run that's truly out in the cold, the Red Cross suggests UL-listed heat tape or heat cable.
• Plan for the washer in the garage. If it's in an unheated garage, the Texas Department of Insurance says to turn off its water before a freeze.

Got a tankless water heater? Rinnai, for one, says its units protect themselves from freezing only while they have both power and gas, and that the pipes and valves feeding the unit aren't covered — those need heat tracing and insulation. For outdoor units in cold climates, Rinnai strongly recommends a drain-down kit that empties the heater if power or gas goes out. After 2021, that's worth planning for. (More on tankless in tank vs. tankless in Abilene's hard water.)

On a freezing night

• Open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks so the house's heat can reach the pipes. (Move the cleaners out of kids' reach.)
• Let a faucet drip, the one fed by your most exposed pipes. Even a trickle helps keep a pipe from freezing, the Red Cross says. If the city asks everyone to cut back during a long freeze, do what it asks.
• Hold the thermostat steady day and night. The Red Cross allows that it may raise the heating bill. A burst pipe costs more.
• Keep the garage door shut if there's plumbing in the garage.
• Keep the heat running. If the furnace or heat pump quits in a cold snap, your pipes are next. Our sister company Hawkins Air Conditioning covered getting your heat ready for the first hard freeze.

If a pipe freezes anyway

The tell is a faucet that gives you a trickle, or nothing, on a cold morning. Check the other faucets too — if one pipe froze, others may have. Then:

1. Know where the main shutoff is before you start. A pipe can split while it's frozen and not leak until it thaws. Have somebody ready at the valve.
2. Open the faucet that line feeds. As the ice starts to melt, running water helps clear the rest.
3. Warm the pipe, gently. A hair dryer, an electric heating pad, or towels soaked in hot water. Keep cords out of any water. Never a torch, a propane or kerosene heater, or any open flame — that's how a frozen pipe turns into a house fire or a carbon monoxide problem.
4. Keep at it until full pressure comes back.

If you can't find the frozen spot, can't reach it, or can't get it to thaw, the Red Cross and AgriLife both say to call a licensed plumber. Same if it's inside a wall or ceiling. If it's already split, shut the main and call our 24/7 emergency line. Water coming up at the meter box or in the street goes to the City of Abilene's 24-hour water line at (325) 676-6000.

When to call a plumber about frozen pipes in Abilene

Before the freeze is the cheap time. Bare lines in the attic or garage, a main shutoff that won't turn, a tankless unit outside with nothing protecting its lines: call us in October, not February. We'll look at what's exposed and quote any work before we start.

If a freeze leaves you with a wet wall or a stain spreading across the ceiling, our leak detection finds hidden leaks before they wreck floors, walls, and cabinets.

We're owner-operated and licensed in Texas as a Master Plumber (M-18761). Real work, real people, no corporate runaround.

Call or text (325) 701-7017 or request service online.

Frequently asked questions

What temperature do pipes freeze at in Abilene?

Water freezes at 32°F, but a pipe inside a heated house stays a lot warmer than the air outside. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension puts the risk for exposed pipes at 20°F or below. Lines in the attic, the garage, and outside walls go first, and a freeze that lasts for days is worse than one cold night.

Should I drip the hot or the cold faucet?

The Red Cross says to drip cold water from the faucet fed by your most exposed pipes. The Texas Department of Insurance suggests dripping both hot and cold, since the hot line can freeze too. On a single-handle faucet, setting it in the middle does both. A trickle is plenty.

Should I turn off my water when I leave town in the winter?

If a freeze is coming, yes. The Texas Department of Insurance says to turn off the water at the shutoff valve and leave the heat on, and the Red Cross says to keep it no lower than 55°F. For a trip longer than a week with freezing weather in the forecast, IBHS suggests closing the main slowly and letting a couple of faucets on the lowest floor drain.

Will my homeowners insurance pay for a frozen pipe?

Ask your agent. The Texas Department of Insurance says to check whether your policy covers sudden and accidental water damage, which is the coverage that pays for burst pipes. A policy might not pay if you didn't take steps to protect your pipes, like keeping the heat on, and flood insurance doesn't cover burst pipes at all.