Frozen Pipes in the Upstate: Prevention, Thawing and Bursts

Spartanburg's January averages are about 55 for a high and about 30 for a low, so most nights dip just below freezing and the pipes are fine. The trouble is the cold snaps. In the first week of January 2018, the average temperature at Greenville-Spartanburg was 23.6 degrees, the coldest start to a year in roughly 130 years of records.

Many Upstate houses are built over vented crawlspaces, with supply lines running under the floor and hose bibs and laundry lines in exterior walls. That works for a mild winter. Several nights in the teens with wind blowing through the foundation vents is when those lines freeze.

The pipes at risk are the ones near cold air. Check these before the first hard freeze:

• Supply lines in a vented crawlspace, especially near foundation vents and the access door
• Pipes in exterior walls, often the kitchen sink on an outside wall and laundry hookups
• Hose bibs and the short pipe behind them
• Lines in an unheated garage, including to a water heater out there
• Pipes in an attic, which some houses have for an upstairs bath

Disconnect garden hoses so the water in the bib can drain. Close the foundation vents and the crawlspace door, and open them again when the cold passes. Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so house heat reaches the pipes.

Let faucets served by exposed pipes drip, hot and cold, on the coldest nights. Moving water is harder to freeze and a dripping faucet relieves the pressure that actually bursts the pipe. Keep the thermostat steady day and night, and if you will be away, leave it at 55 or higher.

For the long term, foam pipe insulation on crawlspace lines is simple to install. Heat tape works for problem spots: use a listed, thermostat-controlled product, follow its instructions about wrapping and insulation exactly, plug it into a GFCI outlet, and check it each fall. Old or damaged heat tape is a fire risk.

If you turn on a faucet and get a trickle or nothing on a cold morning, the pipe feeding it is probably frozen. Open that faucet so water can flow as it melts, then warm the pipe starting at the faucet end and working back toward the frozen section.

Use gentle heat: a hair dryer, an electric heating pad, towels soaked in hot water, or a space heater kept well away from anything that can burn. Never use a torch, a propane heater or any open flame, and keep electrical devices away from standing water. If you cannot find the frozen section, it is inside a wall, or the pipe is cracked, call.

Most houses have a main shutoff valve where the water line enters the house: in the crawlspace near the front wall, in a utility room, near the water heater or on a garage wall. There is also a valve at the meter box near the street, which usually takes a meter key and belongs to the water utility. Find the house valve, make sure it turns, and show everyone in the house where it is.

If a pipe bursts, shut off the main first. Then turn off the water heater: set a gas heater's control to Off or Pilot, or switch off an electric heater's breaker. Open a faucet at the lowest point to drain the lines, keep away from water near outlets and cords, and take photos for your insurance. Then call for a repair. Burst lines often show up as the pipe thaws, so check the crawlspace once temperatures rise.