Central Arkansas doesn't freeze the way Minnesota freezes, and that's exactly the problem. Our houses aren't built for it, our pipes run through crawl spaces and unheated garages, and we get maybe two or three real hard freezes a winter. When one shows up — the kind that shuts down Little Rock for two days — a lot of pipes let go all at once, and every plumber from Sherwood to Conway is booked solid.
Short answer
Before a hard freeze: know where your main water shutoff is, let a trickle run on lines against exterior walls, open cabinet doors under sinks, disconnect hoses, and keep the heat on even in rooms you don't use. If a pipe bursts, shut the water off first, then photograph everything, then call your agent or carrier. Sudden water damage from a burst pipe is often covered — damage from a house left unheated, or a slow leak nobody dealt with, frequently is not.
Find your shutoff valve before you need it
If you do one thing after reading this, do this one. Go find your main water shutoff right now, in the daylight, and make sure you can actually turn it. Most folks around here have it at the meter near the street or on the exterior wall.
The difference between a burst pipe that ruins a bathroom and one that ruins a house is usually about fifteen minutes of water. You do not want to be learning where the valve is by flashlight, in the cold, with water coming through the ceiling.
The day before a hard freeze
- Disconnect garden hoses and cover the outdoor spigots. A hose left connected traps water right at the wall.
- Let a slow trickle run from faucets on lines that run along exterior walls — moving water is much harder to freeze.
- Open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks so household heat can get to the pipes.
- Keep the heat on in every room, including the ones you've closed off. An older house in Park Hill or Levy with pipes in a crawl space has no margin for a cold room.
- If you have a crawl space, close the vents and check for gaps where wind gets in.
- Bring in or drain anything with water in it — pressure washers, sprayers, the RV, the boat.
- If you're leaving town, don't set the thermostat to 50 and hope. Leave it at a normal temperature and have somebody check the house.
If a pipe bursts
- Shut the water off at the main. Everything else can wait.
- Cut power to the affected area at the breaker if water is anywhere near outlets, fixtures, or the panel — but don't stand in water to do it.
- Photograph and video everything before you start cleaning up. Wide shots of each room, close-ups of the pipe, the ceiling, the flooring, the walls, and anything damaged.
- Stop the damage from spreading if you can do it safely — towels, a wet vac, moving furniture, getting air moving.
- Call your agent or carrier and ask what they need before you tear anything out or sign a contract with a restoration company.
- Keep receipts for anything you buy or pay for along the way.
Be careful about signing anything a restoration crew hands you while your floor is underwater. Some of those agreements assign your claim benefits to the contractor. Read it, or call us and read it to us, before you sign.
What the policy will likely ask about
Coverage always depends on your specific policy, its endorsements and exclusions, your deductible, and the facts of the loss as the carrier reviews it. That said, here's the shape of the questions that usually come up with freeze losses:
- Was it sudden and accidental? A pipe that bursts is a different animal from a slow drip under the sink that's been going for six months.
- Was the house being heated? Many policies deal differently with freeze damage in a home that was left unheated or vacant. If you're going to be gone, this matters.
- Is it the water damage or the pipe itself? Policies often handle the resulting damage differently than the cost of fixing the failed pipe.
- What's your deductible? Worth looking up before you decide whether to file.
- Is there any mold or long-term seepage involved? That's typically treated separately, and often limited.
We'd rather you call and ask than guess at any of these.
The part nobody does until after
Take a home inventory. Walk the house with your phone, record every room, open the closets and cabinets, and put the video somewhere that isn't in the house. The Arkansas Insurance Department publishes a free inventory checklist if you'd rather work from a form.
It takes twenty minutes and it's worth an enormous amount if you ever have to list out what was in a room that isn't there anymore.
When to call us
Call us before winter if you've finished a basement, added a bathroom, put in new flooring, bought something expensive, or started renting the place out — all of those change what a water loss would look like. And call us after a freeze even if you're not sure you want to file. We'll help you think it through with your deductible in front of you.
Sources
This article is general information to help you think it through — it isn't a coverage determination, legal advice, or a promise of insurance availability, price, or payment. Coverage depends on the policy, endorsements, exclusions, deductibles, the facts of the loss, and carrier review. Talk with a licensed insurance professional about your own situation.