Frozen & Burst Pipe Repair — Plus Full Repiping in Cambridge

Open the nearest tap so pressure can escape as the ice melts, and gently warm the area if you safely can. Do not leave it and hope, because the split usually comes as it thaws. Call us and we will thaw it properly and check that stretch for a crack before it floods.

Usually one burst is one repair. We cut out the damaged length and join in new pipe. If the rest of the plumbing is healthy, that is the end of it. We only raise repiping when we can see the same wear starting elsewhere, and even then the choice is yours.

A single spot repair is often an afternoon. A full house usually runs two to four days, depending on the size of the home, how the pipes were routed, and how much wall we open to reach them. You get a realistic window with the quote, and the water stays on as much as we can manage.

We keep openings as small and neat as the job allows and leave them ready for drywall and paint. Full finishing is not always part of a plumbing call, so we are clear about what we close up versus what a painter handles, and it is spelled out in the quote.

A slow leak drips and stains over days. A burst dumps water fast, drops your pressure, and you can sometimes hear it running in the wall. If a ceiling patch appears in minutes or water keeps coming with the taps off, treat it as a burst, shut the main, and call.

Both are solid, and it depends on the house. PEX is flexible, quicker to run through finished walls, and takes a freeze a little better before it fails. Copper is rigid, proven, and some people simply prefer it. We walk you through the trade-offs for your layout and budget rather than pushing one.

The lines that freeze almost always sit on an outside wall, in the crawlspace, or out to the garage with no insulation. We can insulate those runs, and sometimes reroute a stubborn pipe away from the cold. On the harshest nights, a trickle from a far tap keeps water moving so it cannot sit and freeze.

Mostly how much pipe is involved, where it runs, and how much has to be opened up and closed again. A single burst is a fraction of a full repipe. We price it after we have seen the line, and the number we quote is the number you pay unless something unexpected turns up and we clear it with you first.