Burst & Frozen Pipe Repair

Wisconsin Winters Don’t Mess Around

If you’re reading this with water spraying out of a wall or a frozen line you can’t get to thaw, call us at (262) 229-5632 right now. For everyone else, here’s what you need to know about Wisconsin’s most common winter plumbing emergency.

A frozen pipe is one of the most reliable ways to turn a quick plumbing call into a serious insurance claim. Water expands as it freezes, and when it expands inside a pipe that has nowhere to give, the pipe splits. Often the split doesn’t reveal itself until the line thaws and water comes pouring out somewhere you didn’t know it was running.

Doro Plumbing handles burst pipes and frozen lines across Hartford, West Bend, Slinger, and the surrounding southeast Wisconsin communities every winter. Here’s what we do, and what you should do before we arrive.

Right Now: Stop the Damage

If a pipe has burst:

1. Shut off the main water supply to the house. Most homes have it where the supply line enters the basement, often near the water meter.
2. Open a few faucets to relieve pressure in the system.
3. Turn off electricity to any area where water is pooling near outlets or fixtures.
4. Call us. The faster a plumber gets on site, the smaller the eventual restoration cost.

If a pipe is frozen but hasn’t burst yet:

1. Open the faucet at the end of the frozen run, even just a trickle. Movement helps and gives expansion somewhere to go.
2. Apply gentle heat to the frozen section. Hair dryer, heat lamp, or warm towels work. Never use open flame, propane torch, or anything that could ignite framing.
3. Keep cabinet doors open under sinks on exterior walls so warm room air can reach the pipes.
4. Call us if it doesn’t thaw quickly or if you can’t access the frozen section.

What We Repair

• Burst supply lines in copper, PEX, or galvanized
• Cracked drain lines caused by frost expansion
• Outdoor hose bib failures (frozen frost-free hydrants)
• Cracked water heater tanks from freezing in unheated spaces
• Split toilet supply lines and fill valves
• Damaged fixtures with internal cracking from freeze damage

Wisconsin-Specific Risk Areas

Most of the freeze damage we see falls into a handful of predictable patterns:

Pipes in exterior walls of older Hartford and West Bend homes. The original construction often had insufficient insulation between siding and the supply lines.

Garage walls and ceilings when the garage isn’t heated. Even attached garages can drop well below freezing on the windward side of the house.

Crawl spaces and uninsulated basements, especially older fieldstone foundations common in the area.

Outdoor hose bibs that didn’t get drained and shut off in October. The frost-free style helps but doesn’t help if the supply line itself isn’t pitched correctly.

Vacation properties that get the heat turned down too low or fail at some point during a cold snap. We do a lot of work on lake homes around Pewaukee, Okauchee, and Pike Lake every spring.

Preventing the Next One

After we fix the immediate problem, we’ll talk through what caused it and how to prevent recurrence. Common preventive measures we install or recommend:

• Pipe insulation on at-risk supply runs (especially in basement perimeter areas)
• Heat tape or heat cable on lines in unheated spaces
• Frost-free outdoor hydrants if you don’t have them
• Smart leak detectors that auto-shut the main if water is detected
• Insulating exterior wall cavities during any other work that opens those walls

For vacation and second homes, we offer winterization services in fall and de-winterization in spring, including air-purging the supply lines, draining the water heater, and treating the traps with antifreeze.

Doro Plumbing · (262) 229-5632 · Hartford, WI