The Hudson House With No Way to Shut Off Its Water Two Days Before the January Freeze, and Which Pipes Actually Freeze in Pasco and Hernando

On January 28, two days before the National Weather Service placed Pasco and Hernando under a freeze warning, a homeowner off Vassar Court in Hudson called us because the main shutoff valve at the house was leaking. Replacing that valve requires turning the water off at the meter first, and the homeowner believed the meter was located in a neighbor's backyard. Our plumber located two meters there, ran water inside the house, and watched them both. Neither one moved, so neither one served that home. We provided the Pasco County Utilities number to request a meter search. When the utility responded, shallow digging at its flag uncovered a fence post rather than a meter. After that visit, the house still had a leaking main valve and no working way to shut off its water, and the $402.50 valve replacement had to wait until the meter was located.

A freeze warning is a good reason to locate your own shutoff before you need it. Pipes in Pasco and Hernando rarely freeze, but when one does, or when any pipe breaks, the first ten minutes determine how much water ends up on the floor, and those minutes go far better with a valve you have already located and tested.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Building Research Council determined that in southern states, where homes are not designed for hard freezes, trouble begins when the outdoor temperature falls to about 20 degrees. That is when uninsulated pipes in an unconditioned attic began to freeze in their field tests. Pipes exposed to wind can freeze at higher temperatures. The forecast for the late January freeze called for lows as cold as 20 degrees in parts of our area. Here, the vulnerable pipes are the ones outside the heated house. They include hose bibs on exterior walls, the backflow preventer on an irrigation system, pool equipment plumbing, a well pump and pressure tank in an open shed, water lines in an attic, and the supply lines underneath a mobile home behind the skirting.

Inspectors here take freeze protection seriously. On a job in Brooksville this October, the city inspector required freeze protection on a backflow preventer before approving the work. The inspector cited section 608.15.2 of the Florida plumbing code, which requires a backflow preventer exposed to freezing to be heated, insulated, or fitted with unions so it can be removed. The correction was an insulated cover over the entire assembly and insulation on the exposed risers down to the ground, with the test ports left accessible. The same approach protects the exposed pipes at your house. An insulated cover for a hose bib or a backflow device costs a few dollars at a hardware store and installs in a minute.

On a freeze warning night, the steps that matter are short. Disconnect garden hoses from the hose bibs, since a connected hose holds water against the valve. Cover the hose bibs and the backflow preventer, and leave the heat on in the house even if you are away. If you live in a mobile home, confirm that the skirting is closed and any heat tape on the pipes underneath is plugged in. Dripping a faucet on an exterior wall helps during a hard freeze, because moving water is slower to freeze. In most of our area it is only necessary on nights forecast in the low twenties.

Every home has two places to stop the water. The first is the main shutoff at the house, usually where the water line emerges from the ground, often near a front or side hose bib, or in the garage beside the water heater. The second is the valve at the meter, in a box with a lid near the street. Homes on a well shut off at the pressure tank or by switching off the well pump. Locate the house valve now and operate it once, off and back on. Older gate valves with round handles often seize or break when someone finally turns them. A ball valve with a lever closes in a quarter turn and is considerably more reliable. In February the shutoff valves in a Port Richey condominium would not fully stop the water, and our plumber had to kink the supply hose to hold back the water long enough to complete a water heater replacement.

We replace these valves regularly. This August a home on a well off Creek Drive in New Port Richey had no main shutoff at all, and installing one totaled $412.50. This February, replacing the shutoff on the main water service at a home off Cotswald Way in New Port Richey, along with a hose bib, totaled $1,100. On February 3 in Brooksville, a fitting behind a water heater partially separated while the tenants waited for the property manager to approve the repair. Our plumber demonstrated how to shut the water off at the meter and left a small adjustable wrench so the tenants could operate it themselves until the approval arrived.

If a pipe breaks, shut the water off first and mop second. If the leak is on the hot side, also turn off the breaker for an electric water heater, because a tank that drains with the power on can burn out its elements. Open a faucet at the lowest point of the house to drain the lines. Photograph the leak and the damage before anything is moved, since an insurance claim proceeds faster with documentation. This October a renter off Otter Creek Drive in New Port Richey closed the main valve as soon as the kitchen flooded, and our plumbers located an unglued fitting behind the stove and repaired it the same day.

Here is when you should not spend money with us. A hose bib that froze and thawed without leaking needs nothing. A pipe that froze but did not split usually thaws once the sun rises. Warming it gently with a hair dryer is acceptable, and an open flame never is. If you locate your main valve and it operates smoothly, you are finished. Call when a valve will not close, when you cannot find a shutoff at all, or when a thawed pipe starts to drip.

Farrell Plumbing replaces main shutoffs, hose bibs, and incoming water lines in Hudson, Port Richey, New Port Richey, Holiday, Trinity, Spring Hill, Brooksville, and Palm Harbor. Farrell Plumbing holds Florida license CFC1430362.