OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) – As the temperatures continue to drop in the Kansas City metro area, the risk of frozen and burst pipes rises. That leads to big headaches and even bigger repair bills.
The good news is there are ways to prevent it from happening to you.
KCTV5 spoke with a local plumbing expert for tips on how to protect your pipes.
“When it comes down to it you have to get heat to the pipes,” said Hunter Hamilton.
Hamilton, the General Manager for Dick Ray Master Plumbing, said frozen water lines generally happen on exterior walls of your home.
“We’ve had to cut holes in sheet rock just to blow hot air into the wall cavity where the pipes are,” explained Hamilton as he showed the back of the toilet.
He said pipes freeze, expand, and then burst, so there’s a few things you should do to avoid that.
Let your faucet run; it doesn’t have to be a ton of water but more than a drip and less than a full stream.
“Instead of going only hot or only cold, you want to go right in the middle,” said Hamilton.
Make sure the cabinets underneath your kitchen sink are open overnight.
If you have an area that freezes a lot, you can also run space heaters or open the door to your garage, especially if you have a bathroom above it.
You could also use heat tape.
“Heat tape definitely does work. You don’t want to run it all the time because it’s just going to add to your electrical bill, but times like this your electrical bill and your gas bill are better to pay then it would be to pay to fix this stuff,” said Hamilton.
If you find water not coming out of your faucet, Hamilton said your pipes have frozen.
“So, you almost have to use x-ray vision to see where those pipes run in your house and get heat to those pipes because you can usually thaw them before they bust if you get there in time,” he said.
If you’re too late and a pipe ends up bursting, Hamilton said the number one thing that you need to know is where the main shut off is to your house.
“As soon as water starts flowing from where it shouldn’t be flowing you need to shut off water to the house then we can locate where that burst water line is,” said Hamilton.
On an average day Dick Ray Plumbing gets 30-40 calls, but when temps dip below freezing, that skyrockets to over 300.
Old house, or new, Hamilton said it’s smart to use these preventative measures.
“We have seen it freeze anywhere and everywhere,” he admitted.
Hamilton told KCTV5, as of Tuesday they had not received any calls, but said they are expecting calls in the coming days.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
