Burst pipe: what to do first

Shut the water off first. That’s the one step that matters more than any other when a pipe bursts, because every minute the water keeps running, more of it spreads into places you’ll be drying out for days.

Do this first: shut off, then assess

Find your main shutoff, usually near the water meter or where the line enters the house, and close it. If the burst is isolated to one fixture, like a washing machine hookup, its local shutoff valve may be enough on its own. Once the flow has stopped, cut power to any outlet or fixture near standing water before you walk through the area.

Open a faucet to relieve pressure

After the main is off, open the lowest faucet in the house to let the remaining water in the lines drain out. This relieves pressure in the system and keeps a small amount of standing water from turning into a bigger mess as pipes continue to thaw.

Document before you touch anything else

Take photos of the burst pipe, the standing water, and anything it touched, before you start moving furniture or mopping up. Insurers and adjusters want to see the damage as it happened, not after it’s been cleaned up.

Start drying fast

Wet drywall, insulation, and flooring need air movement and dehumidification started as soon as the water’s under control, the same way any other water loss does. Waiting even a day or two to start drying gives the situation more time to get worse.

Why this happens in Texas homes specifically

Texas homes are built for heat, not cold, which is part of why a hard freeze here does more damage than the same temperature would somewhere used to it. Pipes that run through an attic or an exterior wall, common in slab-on-grade construction, sit closer to outside temperatures than a pipe buried in conditioned space. When Winter Storm Uri hit in February 2021, the statewide freeze drove one of the largest waves of burst-pipe insurance claims in Texas history, and attic and exterior-wall runs like these were a big part of why.

PEX handles cold better than older rigid copper because it flexes slightly instead of cracking outright, which is one reason newer Katy-area construction tends to fare better in a hard freeze than the copper-slab era homes in Old Katy and Kelliwood. It still isn’t freeze-proof, particularly at fittings and tight bends.

Preventing the next one

Insulating any exposed pipe runs in the attic or along exterior walls is the single most effective step before a freeze warning. Letting a faucet drip slowly on those same lines during a hard freeze keeps water moving and makes it harder for ice to build the pressure that cracks a pipe. Both are cheap habits compared to what a burst costs afterward.

Freezes in this part of Texas are forecast days in advance, which means prevention is almost always an option if you act on the warning instead of waiting to see what happens. Our burst pipe water damage page goes step by step through what comes after the shutoff. If you’re not sure what happens on the insurance side, our homeowners insurance and water damage guide has the fuller picture. For the broader first-hour-to-first-week sequence beyond pipes specifically, what to do after water damage is the page to read next.