Frozen Pipes in New Haven: Prevention and What to Do When One Bursts

Why New Haven Pipes Freeze

The city's housing stock skews older, plenty of homes in Westville, East Rock, and Fair Haven still have plumbing running through uninsulated crawlspaces, unheated additions, or exterior walls that were never built to modern insulation standards. Those are the pipes that fail first, because that one section sat below freezing for hours while the rest of the home stayed comfortable.

Five Ways to Keep Pipes From Freezing This Winter

• Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls. It lets warm room air reach the pipes instead of trapping cold air around them.
• Let a faucet drip during a hard cold snap. Moving water is much harder to freeze solid than still water sitting in a pipe.
• Keep the thermostat above 55°F, even when you're away. This is the single biggest cause of frozen-pipe claims: a house left cold and unoccupied during a cold snap.
• Insulate exposed pipes in the basement, crawlspace, and garage. Foam pipe sleeves are cheap and take an afternoon to install.
• Seal drafts where pipes pass through exterior walls or the rim joist. A small gap lets in enough cold air to freeze a pipe that would otherwise be fine.

What to Do the Moment a Pipe Bursts

• Shut off the main water valve immediately. This is the single most important step, it stops the flooding at the source instead of just at one fixture.
• Open the nearest faucet to relieve pressure in the line. This drains remaining water and takes pressure off the break.
• Cut power to the affected area at the breaker if water is near outlets or a panel. Only do this if you can reach the panel without stepping through standing water.
• Move furniture, electronics, and valuables away from the water. Every minute matters once water is on the floor.
• Call a licensed plumber. A burst pipe from a freeze is rarely a single clean break, the plumber should check the rest of that line for additional weak spots before closing the wall back up.

Thawing a Frozen Pipe Safely

If you catch a pipe frozen before it splits, low water pressure or no water from one fixture while the rest of the house is fine, there are two safe ways to thaw it yourself.

• A hair dryer on low heat, held a few inches away. Work from the open end of the pipe toward the blockage, never the other way, so melting ice has somewhere to go.
• Towels soaked in hot water, wrapped around the pipe. Slower than a hair dryer but effective, and it's the safer option near any electrical wiring.

Never use a blowtorch, propane heater, or other open flame on a pipe. It's a common cause of house fires during cold snaps, and it can turn a plumbing problem into something far worse.

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