RICHMOND GUIDE

Frozen pipes during a Richmond cold snap

Winters here ice over sometimes. They do not resemble a Great Lakes freeze, and they still split pipes.

By Mike M · Sources checked October 6, 2026 · How we write these guides

Where this housing stock actually freezes

A mild December does not prove the pipes are safe. Richmond cold snaps are short and sharp. A line that was fine all month sits in a vented crawl space or an outside wall overnight, the water is still, and by morning a faucet barely runs. The split, if there is one, often shows itself when the ice melts.

Hose bibs are first. The valve sits in the wall, a hose holds water in it, and the night does the rest. Remove hoses before cold weather. If there is an interior shutoff for that bib, close it and open the outside faucet so the stub can drain. A frost-proof bib still needs the hose off and a chance to drain. It is not magic.

Crawl spaces are next, especially under older houses described in the older supply guide. Vents that help in July pull cold air in January. Insulation that has fallen off a pipe does nothing. Look from the access with a light before the forecast drops. Do not wrap a wet crawl space tight and forget a drip. Moisture and a freeze are two problems.

Walls, additions, and vacant houses

Powder rooms and kitchens on exterior walls are the indoor version. An addition, a sink against siding, a toilet supply on a north wall. Closed cabinet doors keep room heat away from the pipe. On the coldest nights, open those doors. A slow drip at the faucet farthest from the main is a tactic for one night on a line you know is exposed. It is not a lifestyle, and it does not protect a pipe that is already solid ice.

If you travel, leave heat on at a setting that keeps the inside of exterior walls above freezing, not a setting that only keeps the thermostat itself from freezing. Show someone the shutoff before you go. The shutoff guide is the calm-day version of that lesson. A text from the road is a poor time to describe a basement valve.

For a house that will sit empty for weeks, draining the plumbing is a conversation with a plumber. Include the water heater so it is not left full and forgotten, or left empty with an electric element still able to fire. Do not improvise that drain on the way to the airport.

What you notice before the ceiling drips

A faucet that ran last night and trickles this morning is the early sign. A toilet that will not refill while other fixtures are fine may be a frozen supply to that bath only. Frost on an exposed garage or crawl-space pipe is a sign you can see. A bang in the wall during the coldest hour is a sign you cannot.

Do not assume the pipe is intact because you see no water. Ice can seal a split until it melts. Stay home, or have someone walk through, as the temperature rises after a hard night. The stain often appears in the afternoon, under a bath or along a joist. The leak page is how to describe that stain once it shows. Containment comes first if water is already moving.

If only the hot side is affected, the freeze may be on a hot line in a cold zone, or the heater may be in a space that lost heat. Do not relight a gas appliance you do not understand. If the room smells wrong, leave and follow the gas utility. A carbon monoxide alarm is a leave-the-house event, not a plumbing adjustment.

What to do, in order

Open the faucet the frozen pipe serves so melt has a path. If you can see the pipe and it is not split, warm the room. A space heater used as its maker says, with clear space around it, is safer than a torch in a joist bay. Never use an open flame. A hair dryer kept moving is a cautious tool only for a pipe you can see and reach without a stunt.

If you cannot see the pipe, or you see spray, shut the water off if the main will close. Then call. Thawing a hidden line by cutting a large hole and applying heat is how fires start. It is also how you miss a second frozen spot. If the floor is wet near a panel, do not stand in it to flip breakers. Say that when you call.

If water is already through a ceiling, switch to the emergency steps. A burst is a water problem and, quickly, an electrical one. Keep people out from under a bulge. Photos help if you can take them without standing under failing plaster. Do not start demolition to get ahead of the crew.

The day after, and the next snap

Open the cabinets you closed. Run each fixture. Look under sinks and at hose bibs for a drip at the wall. Check the heater pan. Put insulation back only if you are not covering a leak. Write down any line that trickled and then recovered. That is the one to protect before the next cold night.

A valve that cracked, a bib that will not shut, or a house where you never found the main is a reason to schedule work before the forecast drops again. Replacing a main shutoff is ordinary professional work and a bad improvisation. Operating a known valve is yours. Forcing a seized one until the stem snaps is how you lose the only way to stop the water.

Tell the plumber the room, whether the water is off, and whether this happened on the thaw rather than during the night. Richmond cold snaps are short. The repair is simpler when the wall is opened on purpose the next day than when a second night finishes what the first night started. Ask for a written scope if the opening will cross plaster you care about.