How to Prevent Frozen Pipes in a Toronto Winter, explained for North York homes

The short version

Keep heat on everywhere pipes run, drain the outdoor taps in fall, insulate the lines that sit near cold air, and know where your main shut-off valve is. That covers most of it.

Step by step

In the fall

1. Close the inside shutoff for each outdoor tap, then open the tap outside to drain it.
2. Disconnect garden hoses. A hose left on traps water in the tap.
3. Look for pipes along exterior walls, in the garage, under a bay window or in a crawl space.
4. Wrap those runs with foam pipe insulation. It is cheap and slides on.
5. Seal gaps where cold air gets in near the rim joist, around dryer vents and where pipes pass through the wall.
6. Find your main shut-off and test it. See our shut-off valve column.

During a cold snap

• Keep the thermostat steady, including at night
• Swing open any sink cabinet that backs onto a cold outer wall so warm room air reaches the pipes
• Let a cold tap on an exposed wall drip slightly overnight when it gets very cold
• Keep the garage door closed if water lines run through it

If a pipe freezes

No water from one tap while others work usually means a frozen section. Open that tap so melting water can flow. Run a blow dryer slowly along it, or aim a little space heater at it from a few feet back, starting from the tap end. Never use a torch or open flame. If you see a crack, bulge or water, close the main valve before thawing further.

Keep heat on everywhere pipes run, drain the outdoor taps in fall, insulate the lines that sit near cold air, and know where your main shut-off valve is.

From the counter

North York notes

Many North York bungalows and split-levels have a kitchen sink on an outside wall with the supply line running inside that wall. Those lines are the usual ones to freeze when the temperature drops well below minus twenty. Additions built over crawl spaces and bathrooms above unheated garages are the other trouble spots.

Older outdoor taps here are frequently the plain compression type, not frost-free. If yours is, draining it every fall is not optional. Upgrading to a frost-free model makes life easier. See outdoor faucet repair.

Condos are not immune. Units with pipes near balcony doors, or buildings with cold mechanical rooms, can see freezes too, often in a sprinkler line or a pipe near an exterior wall.

When to call

Call a plumber if you cannot find or reach the frozen section, if a pipe has split, if water is coming from a ceiling or wall, or if the same pipe freezes every winter. A repeat freeze points to a pipe that needs rerouting or proper insulation. For water already on the floor, see burst pipe repair and burst pipe first steps.

Questions

Next on the shelf

• Library
• Our Work
• Questions asked at the counter