Emergency plumbing demand in Washington swings enormously between summer and winter, and the spike is not gradual — it arrives with the first sustained freeze and it catches the same properties every year.
Where pipes actually freeze
Not usually in the walls of heated rooms. The vulnerable runs are in unheated spaces: crawl spaces, attached garages, exterior walls with inadequate insulation, and anything running through an unconditioned void.
Crawl spaces are the Western Washington constant. A great deal of plumbing here runs beneath the floor in a space that stays cold and damp for months, and that is where the burst pipe calls come from.
What to do before winter
Insulate exposed pipe. Foam sleeves on any run in a crawl space, garage or unheated area. Inexpensive, straightforward, and the single highest-return item on this list.
Disconnect hose bibs. Remove hoses, shut off the interior valve if there is one, and drain the line. A connected hose holds water against the bib and is a common cause of failure.
Blow out irrigation. Before the first hard freeze, not after. Draining is not the same as blowing out, and residual water in the lines is enough to cause damage.
Seal crawl space and garage draughts. Open vents and gaps let cold air move directly across pipes. Sealing obvious draughts materially raises the temperature around them.
Know where the main shut-off is. Everyone should. Find it in October rather than at two in the morning with water coming through a ceiling.
Eastern Washington: this is not optional
Spokane, Yakima and the Tri-Cities get sustained cold rather than brief snaps. Pipes have time to freeze thoroughly, and damage frequently reveals itself on the thaw rather than at the moment of freezing.
That delay is why Eastern Washington burst pipe damage is often worse — water can run for hours before anyone notices, particularly in a vacant or rarely used part of the house.
During a cold snap
Keep the house above freezing even if you are away. Turning heating off entirely to save money during a trip is how vacant properties end up with catastrophic damage.
Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls to let warm air reach the pipes. Where a run is genuinely vulnerable, letting a tap drip slightly keeps water moving, which helps.
If a pipe freezes but has not burst
Open the tap it feeds so water can escape as it thaws and pressure does not build. Warm the area gradually with a hair dryer or space heater — never an open flame.
Work from the tap end backwards toward the frozen section, so meltwater has somewhere to go rather than being trapped between two frozen plugs.
If you cannot locate or reach it, or if it has already burst, shut off the main and call someone.
If it has burst
Shut off the water at the main first. Everything else is pointless while water is still arriving. Then photograph before moving anything, because insurance claims turn on evidence of the original state.
Then call — and say it is active, because that changes how the call is prioritised.
Leaving the house empty
Vacant properties are where freeze damage does the most harm, because nobody notices for days. Either maintain heat, or have the system properly drained. Ask someone to check the property during extended absences in winter.