Frozen Pipes in Dallas? Here’s Exactly What to Do Right Now

Dallas-Fort Worth homes weren’t built for hard freezes. Your pipes run through attics, along exterior walls, and under slab foundations with little to no insulation, because North Texas building codes have always prioritized cooling over cold protection. When temperatures drop below 20 degrees, those exposed lines can freeze in as little as 3 to 6 hours, and a single burst pipe can release over 250 gallons of water per day through a crack no wider than a pencil eraser.

If a freeze is heading your way tonight, start here: drip your faucets (both hot and cold lines), open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls, disconnect garden hoses, and keep your thermostat at 55 degrees or higher. If your pipes are already frozen and nothing comes out when you turn the tap, apply gentle heat with a hair dryer or warm towels and never use an open flame. If a pipe has already burst, shut off your main water valve immediately (typically near the front of your home where the water line enters, or near your water meter), then turn off your water heater to prevent damage to the unit.

Not sure whether you can handle this yourself or need emergency help? If you can see the frozen section and access it safely, careful thawing is often a DIY fix. But if you have no water flow after thawing, see water pooling from walls or ceilings, or suspect a leak under your slab, that’s a call for a licensed plumber.

This guide covers why DFW homes are uniquely vulnerable, step-by-step prevention before a freeze, safe thawing techniques, burst pipe emergency response, which pipes freeze first, and long-term upgrades to protect your home for good.

Why Dallas Homes Are Especially Vulnerable to Frozen Pipes

Northern homes are designed with freeze protection built into their architecture: insulated basements, deep-set water mains, and pipe runs through heated interior spaces. Dallas-Fort Worth homes take the opposite approach. Supply lines are routed through unconditioned attics to save on construction costs. Exterior walls hold pipes with minimal insulation. And slab foundations mean there’s no basement buffer between your plumbing and the ground.

North Texas sits on expansive clay soil that shrinks in summer drought and swells during rain. This constant movement stresses under-slab pipes year-round. When a freeze event hits, any pipe that’s already weakened by soil movement becomes even more vulnerable to cracking.

The 2021 Winter Storm Uri exposed how dangerous this combination is. Across Texas, homeowners reported burst pipes with average damage costs reaching $27,000 per incident. That wasn’t a one-time fluke. DFW gets hard freezes every few years, and the homes haven’t changed.

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes Before a DFW Freeze

When a freeze warning hits, you have a narrow window to protect your home. Work through this checklist before temperatures drop:

1. Drip faucets on exterior walls. Let both hot and cold lines trickle. Moving water resists freezing. Focus on kitchen sinks, bathroom faucets, and any fixture against an outside wall.
2. Open cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks to let warm air reach the pipes.
3. Disconnect and drain garden hoses. Close the interior shutoff valve for each hose bib if you have one.
4. Set your thermostat to 55 degrees or higher and keep it there overnight. Don’t lower the heat at bedtime.
5. Locate your main water shutoff valve. In most DFW homes, it’s near the front of the house where the supply line enters through the slab, or at the meter box near the street. Test it now so you aren’t searching during an emergency.
6. Insulate exposed pipes in the attic, garage, or crawlspace with foam sleeves or heat tape. Hardware stores stock these for under $5 per 6-foot section.

If you’re leaving town during a freeze warning, don’t turn off your heat. Keep the thermostat at 55 degrees minimum, open all cabinet doors, and ask a neighbor to check on the house daily.

What to Do If Your Pipes Are Already Frozen

You’ll know a pipe is frozen when you turn a faucet and nothing comes out, or only a weak trickle appears. Here’s how to thaw safely:

Safe heat sources:

• Hair dryer aimed at the frozen section
• Warm towels wrapped around the pipe
• Portable space heater placed nearby (not touching the pipe)
• Heat lamp directed at the area

What NOT to do:

• Never use a propane torch, blowtorch, or open flame. This can crack the pipe instantly or start a fire.
• Don’t pour boiling water directly on a frozen pipe. The thermal shock can split it.
• Don’t leave a space heater unattended near combustible materials.

Start heating from the faucet end and work backward toward the frozen section. Keep the faucet open so melting water can flow out and relieve pressure.

Signs a frozen pipe has already cracked (even if you don’t see water yet):

• Frost or bulging on a visible pipe section
• Damp drywall, warped baseboards, or water stains appearing on walls or ceilings
• A hissing sound behind a wall
• Water meter spinning when all fixtures are off

If you see any of these signs, stop thawing and move to the burst pipe emergency steps below.

When a Pipe Bursts: Emergency Steps

A burst pipe is an active emergency. Every minute counts. Follow this sequence:

1. Shut off the main water valve. This stops the water supply to your entire home. In most DFW slab homes, it’s a gate or ball valve near the front of the house or at the meter box by the street.
2. Turn off your water heater. For gas units, switch the control to “pilot” or “off.” For electric units, flip the breaker. Running a water heater with no water flow can damage the tank or elements.
3. Open faucets to drain remaining water. This reduces pressure in the lines and limits additional water that can leak out.
4. Turn off electricity in affected areas if water is near outlets, switches, or your electrical panel.
5. Document everything for insurance. Take photos and video of the damage, the burst location, and any standing water before cleanup begins.
6. Call a licensed plumber for emergency repair. Burst pipes during a freeze require professional pipe repair, not a temporary patch. Staggs Plumbing offers 24/7 emergency response with an average dispatch time of 1.4 hours for active leaks across the Plano and greater DFW area.

Do not attempt to patch a burst pipe yourself with tape or clamps as a permanent fix. These fail under pressure and delay the real repair.

Which Pipes Freeze First in North Texas Homes

Not every pipe in your home faces the same risk. Knowing which ones freeze first helps you prioritize prevention and inspect the right areas.

In 1970s and 1980s Plano-area homes, copper supply lines often run through the attic before dropping down to individual fixtures. These attic runs are the first to freeze and the most common source of burst pipe calls during DFW cold snaps. If you have an older home in Plano, Allen, McKinney, or Richardson, checking your attic plumbing should be your first step.

Can attic pipes freeze even with your heat running? Yes. Your HVAC system heats your living space, not your attic. Attic temperatures can reach outdoor ambient within 1 to 2 hours of a hard freeze, regardless of your thermostat setting.

DIY vs. Call a Plumber: When Frozen Pipes Need Professional Help

Some frozen pipe situations are safe to handle yourself. Others need a licensed professional immediately.

When you do need emergency help during a freeze, response time matters. Every plumber in the metroplex is fielding calls, and wait times can stretch to 12 hours or more with some companies. Staggs Plumbing (TX License #17697) maintains 24/7 emergency dispatch with stocked service trucks across the DFW area, and Family Plan members receive priority scheduling with a reduced emergency trip fee of $75 instead of $149.

Long-Term Freeze Protection for DFW Homes

If you’re tired of worrying every time a freeze warning pops up on your phone, these upgrades eliminate the risk instead of just managing it each winter:

Pipe insulation. Foam pipe sleeves on all exposed lines in the attic, garage, and crawlspace cost $1 to $3 per linear foot for materials. For attic runs longer than 20 feet, self-regulating heat tape provides active warming that turns on automatically when temperatures drop. Heat tape costs $3 to $8 per foot installed.

PEX repiping for freeze-prone lines. PEX tubing expands under pressure better than rigid copper, making it more resistant to freeze bursting. It won’t prevent freezing, but it reduces the chance of a catastrophic crack. Homes with copper attic runs are strong candidates for a targeted PEX reroute.

Whole-house shutoff upgrades. Replacing an old, corroded gate valve with a modern quarter-turn ball valve means you can shut off water in seconds during an emergency instead of struggling with a valve that hasn’t been turned in years. Smart shutoff systems with leak sensors can cut the water automatically if a burst is detected while you’re away.

Recirculation systems. A hot water recirculation pump keeps warm water moving through your lines, which helps prevent freezing in runs that are far from the water heater.

With 40+ years of experience working on DFW homes, Staggs Plumbing has seen how freeze damage patterns repeat in North Texas construction. Homes built in the 1970s through 1990s across Plano, Allen, Frisco, and McKinney share the same vulnerabilities: copper lines in the attic, minimal insulation, and slab foundations over expansive clay soil. A one-time winterization upgrade can prevent thousands of dollars in future damage.

Frequently Asked Questions

When a freeze hits the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the difference between minor inconvenience and major property damage comes down to preparation and response time. If your pipes are frozen or burst right now, call Staggs Plumbing at 972-833-8660 for 24/7 emergency service across Plano, Dallas, and the surrounding DFW communities. With 40+ years of North Texas plumbing experience, TX Master Plumber License #17697, and a 4.9 Google rating across 280+ reviews, your home is in qualified hands.