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Angel Salazar insulates the pipes at an apartment complex that he maintains in preparation for sub-freezing temperatures later this week.

Angel Salazar insulates the pipes at an apartment complex that he maintains in preparation for sub-freezing temperatures later this week.

This Houston home suffered damage to the ceiling when pipes froze in the February 2021 winter storm.

In the 2021 winter storm, the ceiling of this kitchen fell in after water damage from burst pipes.

Dry wall was cut out of the dining room wall of this Houston home that was damaged after water pipes broke during the 2021 freeze.

Below-freezing temperatures are coming, and when they do, the pipes in our homes can freeze, then burst and damage our homes. Taking precautions now could save you a lot of work and money.

Joe Bany, director of field operations and responsible master plumber at John Moore Services, reminds us of the damage from Winter Storm Uri of 2021, when the temperature reached a low of 13 degrees and Mother Nature brought us snow, sleet and freezing rain that caused power outages, rolling blackouts and frozen/burst pipes in many homes.

LIVE WEATHER UPDATES: Houston freeze: NWS issues wind advisory for southeast Texas, colleges announce closures

This week's storm isn't likely to register the same list of extreme weather, but it will get cold enough to do some damage.

Bany offers this advice for taking care of your home:

Your pre-freeze preparations should begin outside. Make sure that your outdoor hose bibs are protected with some type of insulation or a foam cup that covers the bib to keep it protected. A hose bib is the faucet on the outside of your home where you likely screw in a garden hose. Remove the hose or anything else attached to this tap. Wrap the bib with insulation or pipe wrap from a hardware store. Do not use old clothing, towels or even newspaper; these materials will get wet, hold moisture and accomplish the opposite of what you're setting out to do.

MORE WARM NEWS: 10 soups that will keep you warm during the freeze and every other cold day

Your sprinkler also needs to be addressed. Bany said it's really not possible to drain sprinkler pipes, but you do need to wrap or insulate the backflow preventer, the big brass object that stands up above ground where your sprinkling system was installed. Turn off the water to the backflow preventer, and make sure it is protected with a water heater blanket and duct tape or insulation. Don't use any materials that hold moisture.

During last year's freeze, the biggest problem was the loss of power, which meant the inside of homes couldn't stay warm, compounding the frozen pipes issue.

Pipes in your attic should be wrapped with pipe insulation you can get at hardware stores. It serves as a barrier, with an R2 or R3 rating and will help, but it won't guarantee that attic pipes won't freeze. If you don't have blown-in insulation that help regulate the temperature of your entire home, at least roll out some batting-style insulation on top of your pipes. It comes in 20 to 25-foot rolls and is an easy, if not temporary solution. 

When temperatures are the coldest, Bany urges homeowners to keep water moving in your pipes. You have a couple of options. One is to run your faucet with the tiniest of drips to keep water moving.

To protect pipes under your kitchen and bathroom sinks, open the doors to the cabinets to let warm air from your home onto those pipes. You could wrap those pipes with towels or some form of insulation since they're indoors. Bany said that if the inside of your home is 70 degrees, you don't need to wrap any pipes. 

"Water at rest freezes faster than water that's moving," Bany said. "So don't let water sit in your pipes."

Temperatures are coldest overnight when we're sleeping, so you can get up every couple of hours to run faucets and flush toilets to intermittently move water through your pipes.

Another option — and some people did this in 2021 — is to turn off the water to your house and flush remaining water out of your pipes by turning on the faucet until it runs dry and flushing your toilet. Then in the morning, turn your water back on. The turn-off valve is on your water meter outside of your home.

If your home sits on a pier and beam foundation, Bany's advice is much the same: keep water moving through the pipes. These homes, sit up off of the ground though, so adding some sort of wind block that covers the gap between the ground and the home can help. Make sure the pipes under your home are insulated — just as those with pipes in attics take care of theirs.

Bany said that some conservationists might balk at a huge city like Houston having millions of faucets all running at the same time.

"Some people don’t like to let water drip because of water conservation. I’m not trying to be selfish, but I do want to protect my home, my investment. You can let the water drip, turn it on and off on a regular basis and flush, or turn the water off completely," he said.

While Houston Public Works cautions that leaving your faucets dripping during freezing weather could cause harm to Houston's water system, many experts recommend it. Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a press conference Tuesday that if everyone in Houston drips their faucets, there might not be enough water pressure to fight a fire. 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo advised those who are on the county's water systems to go ahead and trickle their faucets.

Houston Public Works director Carol Haddock told KHOU 11 that she is going to turn off the water and drain the pipes at her house; then she will turn the water back on in the morning. 

Bany plans to drip the faucets at his home.

"Remember what happened last year. We hope that doesn’t happen again, but if it does, what is the next thing I can do?" Bany said. "Everything is about prevention. Be prepared to do the things to take care of your home."

Diane Cowen has worked at the Houston Chronicle since 2000 and currently its architecture and home design writer. Prior to working for the Chronicle, she worked at the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and at the Shelbyville (Ind.) News. She is a graduate of Purdue University and is the author of a cookbook, "Sunday Dinners: Food, Family and Faith from our Favorite Pastors."

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