Frozen pipe burst: what to do

What decade your Richardson house went up usually decides where it’s most likely to freeze. Newer plumbing tolerates cold better than older plumbing does, but where a line actually runs through the house matters just as much as what it’s made of.

Before 1980: original copper, exterior walls

Close to half of Richardson’s housing, 46.9 percent, went up before 1980, and much of that stock still runs its original copper. Supply lines from that era often pass through uninsulated exterior walls or a garage, both spots that track outside temperature closely once a hard freeze sets in. A wall like that offers almost no buffer against a real cold snap.

1980s and 90s: additions tied onto an older frame

Houses and additions from these two decades often mix original construction with plumbing runs added later, sometimes without matching the insulation of the section they tie into. A supply line added during a remodel can end up running through a wall that was never built around it, leaving it just as exposed as a much older pipe would be.

2000s and later: PEX changes the odds, not the outcome

Homes from this era mostly run PEX, a flexible plastic tubing with some give built in, so a plug of ice inside can push outward without cracking the material most of the time. That flex buys some houses a freeze or two without a break. It doesn’t make a line freeze-proof on its own, especially wherever it still runs through an uninsulated attic or wall. Texas found out how much that matters during the statewide hard freeze of February 2021, when burst pipes added up to one of the state’s most expensive insurance stretches in memory. Whether damage from a freeze burst gets covered comes down to the same sudden-versus-gradual logic covered in the homeowners insurance guide.

The moment it splits: three quick moves

Get to the main shutoff and close it as soon as you know a pipe let go. Open the nearest faucet on that line afterward; it relieves pressure and gives you a rough sense of whether water’s still moving. Then take a few photos of the wet area before anything gets touched or moved. The what-to-do guide indexes the fuller list of moves once a pipe’s confirmed burst, ranked by what each one actually saves. The burst pipe cleanup page field-tests what happens next once water’s actually moving through a wall or a floor.

This line answers during the freeze too

A hard freeze doesn’t close this line down. Calls come in just as often overnight during a freeze warning as they do on an ordinary afternoon, and someone picks up either way.

The homework doesn’t need a forecast

You don’t need a freeze warning to find out how exposed your house actually is. A quick walk through the attic and any exterior-facing utility spaces, done on a mild day, tells you more than waiting to find out during a cold snap. That’s homework worth doing once, well before the next one shows up.