FAQ
My pipes froze: what do I do?
Shut the main water valve first — at the meter on the main, at the pressure tank on a well — then the water heater’s breaker or gas valve, then open a low faucet and call a plumber who answers at night. A frozen line that has not burst thaws for about $100 flat; a burst repairs for $200–3,000, about $500, with an emergency call-out of $100–300, travel of $50–300 and after-hours rates of time-and-a-half to triple; the water damage runs $1,000–4,000 more. Until the plumber comes, open the cabinet doors under the sinks so warm air reaches the pipes, keep the heat on, and do not turn the water back on to see what happens. Then find what let it freeze — the open shutoff, the uninsulated run, the set-back thermostat — before the next cold night.
Last updated · Reviewed by Wainscott Plumbing Co.
In order
- Shut the main. On Suffolk County Water Authority mains, the valve is where the line enters the house, near the meter; on a well, at the pressure tank. Close it. If you cannot find it, the well pump’s breaker or the meter pit is the fallback.
- Take the water heater off. Its breaker if electric, its gas valve if gas or propane, its power switch if it hangs from the boiler. A tank that keeps heating with no water in it is the second emergency, and a dry element or burner is a dead one.
- Open a low faucet to relieve the pressure and drain what will drain.
- Call. The Hamptons companies with 24-hour lines say so on their sites; one was running a $0 diagnostic promotion in late summer 2026. Tell them main off, heater off, and where the water is.
- Warm the house, not the pipe. Keep the heat on, open the cabinet doors under the sinks so warm air reaches the plumbing, and leave the thawing to the plumber, who does it for about $100 flat when the line has not burst.
- Do not turn the water back on to test. A frozen line that has split shows itself when the ice melts, not before.
What it will cost (2026, national)
| Item | Range |
|---|---|
| Thawing a frozen line | about $100 flat |
| Burst pipe repair | $200–3,000; about $500; labor nearly 80% |
| With labor, per linear foot | $150–250 |
| Main line / sewer line | $150–2,000 (about $1,080) / $1,300–4,700 (about $2,250) |
| Emergency call-out / travel | $100–300 / $50–300 |
| After hours | time-and-a-half to triple; flat $300–400 or more |
| Water damage remediation | $1,000–4,000; drywall $250–750 |
No Long Island plumber publishes a rate; these are one national guide’s ranges.
The claim
One insured home in sixty files a water-damage or freezing claim each year. Photograph everything before the cleanup, keep the plumber’s invoice, and expect the insurer to ask whether the house was kept at 55°F or drained; that is the reasonable-care condition most policies carry, and a 2024 New York case turned on it.
Afterwards
A frozen pipe is a symptom. The plumbers we send you to fix the pipe and then say what let it freeze — an outdoor shower whose shutoff was never closed, a crawl-space run with no insulation, a thermostat set back too far, a boiler that quit in an outage with no alarm — and the winterization page on this site is the other half of the answer.
Services
Related services
Emergency Plumbing & Burst Pipes
What a burst pipe costs to fix ($200–3,000, about $500 typical), what the emergency call adds, the first ten minutes before the plumber arrives, and why one home in sixty files a water-damage claim every year.
Winterization & House Reopening
Drain it or heat it: the 55°F rule insurers apply, what a winterization includes, the $580 shutoff and the $25 alarm, the temperatures the pipes will see, and the spring reopening.
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