Plumbers warn of hidden pipe damage as North Texas prepares for thaw

Texas winter storm: What to do about frozen pipe concerns

Concerned your pipes have frozen over during this Texas winter storm? FOX 4's Lori Brown talked to an expert on what you can and should do as the extreme cold warning is still active through Tuesday in North Texas.

RICHARDSON, Texas - As temperatures remain below freezing, if you have a frozen pipe, you may not even know it yet. 

A plumber tells FOX 4 that if you suspect that one of your pipes is frozen, you will want to be home when things start to thaw.

What we know:

Clayton Whitmire, a plumber with Berkey’s Plumbing, says while the sub-freezing temperatures continue, the signs of problems could remain hidden.

Clayton Whitmire

"Once it gets above freezing, everything starts thawing. Yeah, we are going to run into some problems for as far as the people that have already had frozen pipes," he said.

Whitmire says that's why North Texans need to drip faucets, while colder regions of the country don't.

"Our lines, really in Texas, aren't buried deep enough in this area," he said. "Your water bill will be higher than your normal for the month beforehand, but would you rather have a high-water bill of, you know, $30, $40, or an expensive plumbing bill and possibly water damage?"

Dig deeper:

Even those with new plumbing should still drip their faucets in order to keep their water flowing. Whitmire showed FOX 4 that faucets should drip more like a small stream.

"When water freezes, it expands. So, if you have old copper lines or galvanized lines, that material isn't made to expand like PEX. PEX is what the new water lines and all the new houses are going to. It's made to extend a little to give it a little comfort where it doesn't just crack and bust," Whitmire described.

"You know, all the icicles that are rolling off the roof, that's from a drip that is rolling off, and it's freezing before it can actually drip. If you have a solid stream, it is not going to freeze."

If your water has stopped flowing, and you suspect a pipe is frozen, Whitmire says you will want to be home to shut your water off when things start to thaw out.

"Water can go a long way in a very short amount of time. You can cause a lot of damage with water. I mean, just within an hour span. So when it does get above freezing, and you have an issue, if you have issue, yes, that's when you would go to turn the water off at either your home shutoff valve or at the city valve," said the plumber.

What you can do:

With the lows forecasted to be in the teens tonight, Whitmire says it is still important to keep your faucets dripping.