Foam covers, a few towels, an hour outside on a Saturday. That is most of what protects a Texas house from a freeze, and all of it has to happen before the forecast changes.
Two things this page deliberately does not cover. What to do once a pipe has already frozen or burst is on pipes froze or burst. Where your shutoff valve is, and how to work it, is on where the water shutoff is in a Texas house. Find that valve before you do anything else on this list.
The Texas Department of Insurance says a policy might not pay for frozen-pipe damage if you did not take steps to protect the pipes. That makes this list a record, not just a chore.
TDI’s wording, from its winter storm tips page last updated 29 April 2025: “Home and renters policies might not pay for damages caused by frozen pipes if you didn’t take steps to protect your pipes, such as keeping the heater on in your house.”
TDI’s hedge, and how the coverage actually works, belong to pipes froze or burst, which owns that ground. What the sentence means for this list is narrower: the hour you spend outside is also the record of what you did.
Disconnect and drain every hose, cover every outdoor faucet and any above-ground backflow preventer, and shut down the sprinkler system before the first hard night.
This is the cheaper half of the list, and the half that gets forgotten.
Hoses come off first. New Braunfels Utilities: “Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses, and insulate outdoor faucets and exposed pipes using foam covers or temporary materials.” Temple says the same and adds where they go: “Remove garden hoses from faucets and store.”
Then cover what is left. Temple is specific about the gear: “Insulate outdoor faucets with a Styrofoam cover (sold in stores) or a towel.” Texas Water Company extends the same instruction past the faucets: “Cover outdoor faucets, spigots, and backflow preventers with insulating foam covers or insulated bags.”
The backflow preventer has a catch worth knowing. Temple tells residents to “Insulate backflow preventers and valves if they are above ground” and then adds the part that is easy to get wrong: “Be sure not to block the air vents and drain outlets on backflow preventers.”
Irrigation gets shut down, not just covered. Texas Water Company: “Shut down and drain sprinkler and irrigation systems before freezing temperatures arrive.” TDI puts it on its own list too: “Drain and turn off your lawn sprinkler system.” Temple adds the component people leave exposed: “The main shut-off valve for your irrigation system needs to be protected against freezing.”
And the openings into the house. Temple: “Cover any vents around the foundation of your home.” Texas Water Company adds the general version: “Seal air leaks around plumbing with caulk, and weatherstrip doors, windows, and wall openings.”
Insulate the pipes running through unheated space, open the cabinets on exterior walls, and leave the heat on.
Texas utilities are consistent about which pipes they tell customers to insulate, and the list starts outside the heated envelope. Austin Water: “Insulate pipes in unheated or drafty areas such as attics or garages.” TDI’s first preparation item names the same spaces: “Wrap outdoor and indoor pipes in unheated areas (like a clothes washer in your garage).” TDI adds the appliance most people forget: “Turn off the water to your clothes washer if it’s in an unheated garage.”
Texas Water Company gives the material and an honest caveat about improvising: “Insulate exposed pipes with foam insulation. Towels or blankets may be used temporarily, but keep them dry and covered with plastic.”
Open the cabinets. TDI: “Open cabinets under sinks to let your house’s heat warm the pipes.” NBU and Texas Water Company say the same, and Temple narrows it usefully to the ones that matter: “Open cabinet doors under sinks or pipes that are adjacent to outside walls.”
Set the thermostat and leave it. NBU publishes the numbers: “Keep your thermostat set to at least 55 degrees, or closer to 68 degrees if you’re home.” NBU’s 55 is a minimum, with 68 reserved for when you are home.
A drip is not about warmth. It leaves the expanding ice somewhere to push, and four Texas sources give four different answers on how much.
New Braunfels Utilities gives the mechanism, which is the part worth understanding: “When water freezes, it expands and creates pressure inside pipes. Allowing faucets to drip slightly during extended freezing conditions helps relieve that pressure and reduces the risk of pipes bursting.”
Now the spread, each in its source’s own words:
Three Texas utilities and the state agency, four answers, and none of them shows its work. They agree on the direction and not the amount. One detail is worth lifting out because only TDI’s wording carries it: both taps, cold and hot. We are reporting the disagreement rather than resolving it, because nobody we read published a tested figure, and an average of four unsourced answers is still unsourced.
SAWS states the underlying risk plainly in its page text: “ice can form in plumbing exposed to frigid air,” and over time that can burst a pipe.
Water off, heat on. Both halves, or you have made it worse.
TDI’s instruction is one sentence, and it is the single preparation item pipes froze or burst keeps as well, because it doubles as the insurance condition above: “If you leave your house before a freeze, turn off the water at the shutoff valve and leave your heat on.” That page covers why each half matters.
Texas Water Company adds the step that makes the shutoff actually useful: after closing the valve, “Open faucets to drain remaining water from pipes.” An empty pipe cannot burst. It also suggests considering turning the water off at the meter, and Temple’s advice for an empty house is to “keep your home heating system on low.”
One caution on the meter. It is your utility’s equipment, not yours, and whether you may operate it is a city-by-city question: where the water shutoff is in a Texas house covers which valve is which and what Bedford’s ordinance says. Use your own customer-side valve if you have one.
Two things are missing here on purpose.
No Texas public source we read publishes a temperature at which residential pipes freeze, or how long it takes. It would depend on wind, insulation, where the pipe runs and how long the cold holds. If someone gives you a precise number as though it were settled, ask where it came from.
We also name no products. Temple says a Styrofoam cover sold in stores, or a towel. That is as specific as a public source got, and it is specific enough.
What none of this removes is the plumber. If a pipe does go, or if you find one you cannot reach to insulate, that is a licensed trade in Texas and the credential is easy to check: how to verify a Texas plumber’s license. For what the work costs, see what a plumber charges in Texas.
More: everything we cover on plumbing emergencies.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, each published by the body that sets, measures or administers the thing it describes. We record the document’s own date and the date we read it, because published pages change without notice.
| Source | Document date | We read it |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Department of Insurance — Winter storms: Tips for preparing your house and pipes | page states Last updated 4/29/2025 | 2026-09-22 |
| City of Temple — Winter Weather Tips (Public Works, Utility Services) | undated city page | 2026-09-23 |
| Texas Water Company — Winterize Plumbing | undated utility page | 2026-09-23 |
| New Braunfels Utilities — Freezing Temperatures: How to Prepare Your Home | undated utility page | 2026-09-22 |
| Austin Water — Cold Weather Tips | undated city page; references Winter Storm Uri, February 2021 | 2026-09-22 |
| San Antonio Water System — Be Ready (freeze preparation hub) | page last modified 21 January 2026 | 2026-09-22 |
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