Central Oregon winters are beautiful — and hard on plumbing. When temperatures drop below freezing and stay there, the water inside your pipes can freeze, expand, and put enormous pressure on the pipe walls. The result is often a crack or a full burst, and a burst pipe can release hundreds of gallons of water into your home in a matter of hours.
The good news is that frozen pipes are largely preventable. A little preparation before the cold sets in can save you from one of the most expensive and disruptive plumbing emergencies a homeowner can face. Here’s how to protect your Bend-area home this winter.
Why Frozen Pipes Are Such a Big Deal
When water freezes, it expands by roughly nine percent. Inside a closed pipe, that expansion has nowhere to go, so the pressure builds until the pipe gives way. What makes it especially damaging is that the break often isn’t where the ice is — the pressure can rupture the pipe at a weak point elsewhere in the line.
And the flooding doesn’t happen while everything is frozen. It happens when the ice thaws and water rushes through the new crack, sometimes when no one’s home to catch it. That’s why prevention matters so much more than reaction.
Which Pipes Are Most at Risk
Not all pipes freeze equally. The most vulnerable are the ones exposed to the cold or running through unheated spaces:
- Pipes in unheated areas like crawl spaces, attics, garages, and basements
- Pipes along exterior walls with little or no insulation
- Outdoor hose bibs, spigots, and sprinkler lines
- Any plumbing in a part of the house that stays significantly colder than the rest
If you’ve had a pipe freeze before, pay special attention to that same spot — it’s likely to be a recurring weak point.
Steps to Prevent Frozen Pipes
Insulate exposed pipes. Foam pipe insulation sleeves are inexpensive and easy to install on accessible pipes in crawl spaces, garages, and basements. This is one of the highest-value steps you can take.
Disconnect and drain garden hoses. Before the first hard freeze, remove hoses from outdoor spigots, drain them, and store them. Water left in a connected hose can freeze back into the faucet and the pipe behind it. If you have shutoff valves for outdoor faucets, close them and drain the lines.
Seal drafts. Cold air finding its way in through gaps around pipes, vents, and windows can freeze nearby plumbing. Seal cracks and openings near pipe runs, especially along exterior walls.
Keep the heat on. If you’re leaving town during winter, don’t shut the heat off entirely. Set the thermostat no lower than 55°F so the interior — and the pipes inside your walls — stays above the danger zone.
Open cabinet doors during cold snaps. Kitchen and bathroom sinks on exterior walls benefit from the warmer room air reaching the pipes underneath. Opening the cabinet doors on especially cold nights helps.
Let a faucet drip. During a hard freeze, letting a faucet run at a slow trickle keeps water moving through the pipe. Moving water is far less likely to freeze, and the trickle relieves pressure buildup even if some ice does form.
Know where your main shutoff is. If a pipe does burst, being able to shut off the water immediately is the difference between a mop-up and a major repair. Make sure everyone in the household knows where the main valve is and how to use it.
What to Do If a Pipe Freezes
If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out on a cold morning, you may have a frozen pipe that hasn’t burst yet. Act quickly:
- Leave the faucet on. Running water, even a trickle, helps melt the ice and relieves pressure.
- Apply gentle heat to the frozen section using a hair dryer, a space heater kept a safe distance away, or towels soaked in warm water. Never use an open flame or a torch — that’s a fire hazard and can damage the pipe.
- Work from the faucet toward the frozen area, so melting water can flow out.
- If you can’t reach the frozen section, can’t thaw it, or suspect it’s already cracked, call a plumber. Don’t wait for the thaw to reveal a burst.
When to Call a Professional
Some winter plumbing situations call for a licensed plumber right away — a pipe you can’t reach or thaw, a line you suspect has already cracked, or water where it shouldn’t be. Frozen and burst pipes often lead to hidden leaks inside walls and floors, and prompt professional leak repair can keep a bad day from becoming a major restoration project.
It’s also worth having vulnerable plumbing assessed before winter rather than during an emergency. At Sunset Plumbing, we’ve helped Central Oregon homeowners weather hard winters since 1982, and we know exactly where local homes tend to freeze. A little preparation now beats a burst pipe in January.
Want your home’s plumbing winter-ready — or dealing with a frozen pipe right now?
Contact Sunset Plumbing today or call us at 541-382-0109.
Sunset Plumbing — Licensed, insured, and locally trusted in Central Oregon since 1982. CCB#69172. Serving Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Sunriver, La Pine, Prineville, Terrebonne, Tumalo, and surrounding areas.
