How to prepare your pipes for freezing weather

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX)—When frozen water expands, Pipes can begin to burst once temperatures drop below freezing.

Killeen Resident, Belinda Johnson, said a pipe in her home burst late Sunday night.

“So when I looked out this window, I could see the sidewalk was wet and nowhere else,” Johnson said. “So it made me come outside and all this was wet.”

The busted pipe soaked her front yard and sidewalk. The city of Killeen arrived later to shut the water off.

Kelvin Palmer with Mr. Rooter Plumbing said PVC pipes, like the one Johnson had, are more likely to burst during freezing weather.

“When the water freezes, it expands,” Palmer said “And when you have a hard pipe like the PVC, it doesn’t have the capability to expand like the PEX pipe, so it pops.”

PVC does not expand when water freezes which results in bursts.

Palmer replaced it with a Pex pipe. Pex is flexible and expands when water freezes.

“It’s more durable. It’s more flexible,” Palmer said “So when you have it in the yard and the yard shifts, out here in Texas you have a lot of that, it can move with the ground rather than being stiff.”

But if you can’t replace your PVC pipes with PEX in time for freezing weather, Palmer said insulation is key.

“Insulate whatever pipes you can that are exposed,” Palmer said. “In the house, you wanna have faucets dripping at night. That way you have the constant water flowing. And then open up your cabinets as well so that hot air you have going through the house gets underneath there and helps warm up the pipes.”