What to Do If a Pipe Bursts in Your House

A step-by-step guide to the first hour after a pipe bursts, from finding the main shutoff valve to documenting the damage for your insurance claim.

Licensing, permit, lien and tax rules vary by state and city and change over time. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice; check with your local building department, state licensing board or a professional for your situation.

A burst pipe is one of the few household problems where minutes matter. Water damage is among the most common and costliest disasters a home can face, and the Insurance Information Institute reported that in 2007, more than one in five homeowners insurance claims involved water damage, frozen and burst pipes included, with the average claim coming to $5,531. What you do in the first hour, before the plumber arrives, shapes how large that claim gets and how much of your home you save.

Step 1: Shut Off the Main Water Supply

Go straight to the main shutoff, not to the leak. In most homes the master shutoff valve sits outside the house at the front, side, or back, or in the garage. It will look like one of two things: a wheel (a gate valve) that you turn clockwise until the water stops, or a straight handle (a ball valve) that turns a quarter turn clockwise. The small supply shutoff valves under sinks and behind toilets only stop water to individual fixtures, so they will not help with a burst line behind a wall.

If you can’t find the valve or can’t turn it, open the meter box near the street at the front of your property and use the customer shutoff valve on the pipe between the meter and your house. Turn the handle a quarter turn clockwise.

Verify the water is actually off by opening a faucet or the hose bib near the valve. When the repair is done, turn the water back on slowly, because opening the valve too quickly can damage the pipes, then run the water until air clears from the lines.

Step 2: Cut Power to Wet Areas

Water and electricity don’t mix, and a burst pipe can soak outlets, appliances, and light fixtures. If water is spreading toward electrical equipment and you can reach the breaker panel without standing in water or touching wet surfaces, switch off the circuits that serve the wet rooms. If the panel itself is wet, if you would have to wade to reach it, or if you’re unsure, stay out and let your utility or an electrician handle it. Nothing in your house is worth a shock.

Step 3: Drain the Pipes and Relieve Pressure

With the main closed, open the cold water taps throughout the house to drain what’s left in the lines, and flush each toilet once. Open an outside hose bib as well. This relieves pressure on the damaged pipe and empties the system so less water can escape at the break.

One caution if the pipe is frozen but has not yet burst: don’t leave a faucet turned on and walk away. When the ice lets go, water can come through in a hurry, especially if nobody is home. Stay with it until you know the pipe held.

Step 4: Catch Water and Document the Damage

Now shift from stopping water to managing what’s already loose. Buckets, towels, and a wet vacuum keep water from spreading, and moving rugs, boxes, and furniture out of the wet zone protects them from further soaking.

While you work, document. Take photos and video of the burst pipe if you can see it, the water on floors and walls, and every damaged belonging before you move or discard anything. Insurance claims move faster with clear evidence, and the average water damage claim runs into thousands of dollars, so the record matters. Keep receipts for anything you buy to limit the damage, such as towels or a wet vacuum. Insurers generally expect you to take reasonable steps to prevent further loss, and those costs are often part of the claim.

Step 5: Call a Licensed Plumber

Call a plumber as soon as the water is off, and be clear on the phone about what happened. A burst pipe with active flooding gets a different response than a slow drip.

If the pipe is frozen but intact, the plumber may be able to thaw it before it fails, and there are safe ways to try it yourself while you wait. Keep the faucet open, then apply heat to the frozen section with an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, a hair dryer, a portable space heater kept away from flammable materials, or towels soaked in hot water. As the ice melts, running water helps carry warmth through the pipe.

When you choose the plumber, treat it like any hiring decision. Verify the license through your state’s licensing board and ask whether the plumber carries liability insurance. The same steps we describe in how to check a contractor’s license and what insurance your contractor should carry apply just as much to an emergency call as to a planned remodel, and a licensed, insured plumber protects you if something goes wrong during the repair.

Step 6: Contact Your Homeowner’s Insurance

Call your insurer or agent once the immediate emergency is under control, ideally the same day. A standard homeowners or renters policy covers burst pipes, along with wind-driven rain and damage from ice dams on the roof. As a rough rule, water that falls from above, like rain or a burst sprinkler head, is typically handled by a standard policy, while water that rises from ground level, like a flooded creek or river, generally calls for a separate flood insurance policy from the National Flood Insurance Program or some private insurers.

Two coverage gaps catch homeowners off guard. Sewer and drain backups are excluded from many policies, though you can add a sewer backup rider for roughly $50 more per year, with limits varying by insurer. And flooding from outside the home generally needs flood insurance rather than a homeowners claim.

When you talk to the insurer, ask what the policy requires for cleanup and repairs, whether an adjuster needs to see the damage before anything is removed, and what documentation they want. Get those answers before tearing out drywall or dumping soaked carpet.

Temporary Repairs and Drying Out

Hardware stores sell pipe repair clamps and epoxy putty for temporary use, and they can limit seepage at an accessible break after the lines are drained. Treat them as stopgaps only. A licensed plumber should make the permanent repair, because a patch that fails overnight puts you back where you started.

Drying matters as much as the plumbing fix. Run fans and a dehumidifier in the wet rooms, pull up soaked carpet if the insurer approves, and keep air moving for days rather than hours. Water that lingers inside walls and under flooring can lead to mold and structural damage that costs far more than the original plumbing repair. If the damage is widespread, your insurer can tell you whether they work with water mitigation companies that handle structural drying.

How to Prevent the Next Burst Pipe

Most burst pipes trace back to freezing, and freezing is largely preventable. Water expands as it freezes, which puts pressure on metal and plastic pipes until they crack. Although water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, pipes usually don’t freeze until temperatures drop to 20 degrees or lower. The most vulnerable runs are in unheated spaces: basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, cabinets on exterior walls, and pipes running along outside walls.

A prevention checklist worth working through before the next cold snap:

• Insulate exposed pipes with pipe sleeves or UL-listed heat tape or heat cable. Even a quarter inch of newspaper provides some protection in areas that rarely stay below freezing for long.
• Add insulation to attics, basements, and crawl spaces so heat stays in and pipes stay warmer.
• Seal cracks in exterior walls that let cold air reach the pipes behind them.
• Open cabinet doors under sinks on cold nights so warm air circulates around the plumbing, and let cold water drip from faucets served by exposed pipes.
• Keep the thermostat at the same temperature day and night, and never set it below 55 degrees Fahrenheit when you’re away in cold weather.
• Keep garage doors closed if water supply lines run through the garage.
• Before freezing weather, disconnect and drain garden hoses and shut off the supply to outside faucets.
• Have your furnace or boiler serviced at least once a year, since a heating failure during a cold snap is a common path to frozen pipes.

For the longer term, consider a water leak monitoring and shutoff system that alerts you to leaks and can stop the flow automatically. Check the hoses on your water heater, dishwasher, washing machine, and refrigerator icemaker every year for cracks and leaks, and replace them every five to seven years. If you’ll be away from home for an extended stretch, shut off the water supply and drain the system before you go. A little winter preparation costs far less than an average water damage claim.

Keep reading

• Door-to-door repair scams after storms: how to spot operators who show up after water damage offering quick fixes and upfront payment.
• When a contractor job goes wrong: what to do if the pipe repair or cleanup work turns into a dispute over cost or quality.
• Do you need a building permit?: when plumbing work requires a permit and how the process works in your area.

Homeowners ask

Where is my main water shutoff valve?

It is usually outside the house at the front, side, or back, or in the garage. It has either a wheel you turn clockwise or a straight handle that turns a quarter turn clockwise. The customer shutoff valve inside the meter box near the street is the backup.

Does homeowners insurance cover a burst pipe?

Standard homeowners and renters policies cover burst pipes, along with wind-driven rain and ice dam damage. Sewer and drain backups are excluded from many policies, though a rider costs about $50 a year, and flooding from outside requires separate flood insurance.

Can I thaw a frozen pipe myself?

Keep the faucet open and apply gentle heat with a hair dryer, electric heating pad, portable space heater, or towels soaked in hot water. Never use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, or any open flame, and stay with the faucet since water may rush through once the ice melts.

How cold does it have to get for pipes to burst?

Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but pipes usually don’t freeze until temperatures drop to 20 degrees or lower. Pipes in unheated areas such as attics, crawl spaces, garages, and exterior walls freeze first.