What did the February 2021 freeze mean for Lewisville crews?
From Sunday 14 to Sunday 21 February 2021, Lewisville Fire Department and city crews responded to 973 broken-pipe calls. The city waived plumbing and electrical permit fees for storm repairs, but still required permits and inspections. The count shows how many lines let go in a single week.
That figure comes from the city's own accounts, and it covers the calls its fire department and crews handled. Calls to plumbers and restoration companies would not show up in it. It counts one agency's week, which makes it a floor on the real total.
The fee waiver is the other half of the record. Contractors registered through the city's permit site and noted that a repair was storm related. Ask the building department how any future program works before you rely on it.
Why do frozen pipes leak after the thaw instead of during the freeze?
Ice blocks a crack while it is frozen, and water runs through the split only once it melts. Water also expands as it freezes, which splits the pipe wall. A house can look fine during a cold night and flood during the warm afternoon, often while no one is watching.
A pipe that sat quiet through the freeze can start running when the thaw comes, and a house with no one home gives it hours or days to do damage. The cold can also split more than one line, so a first leak does not mean the search is over.
That makes the first warm day the time to walk the house, not the last cold one. Look in the attic and garage, check the meter and listen at the walls before you leave for work.
What if the house sat empty through a cold stretch?
A vacant house can leak for days, and that long-running water usually soaks more materials and sometimes changes category from clean to gray or worse. Holiday travel is a common time for this. Call as soon as you find it, and expect a larger moisture map and a longer drying period.
The risk is that no one is there to hear a running line. A neighbor who notices a wet driveway, or a water bill alert, may be the first sign. If you plan to be away in winter, ask a neighbor to check the house.
After a long leak, the insulation in an attic can be soaked through and the ceiling below may fail. Stay out from under a sagging ceiling and let the crew open it from a safe position.
How do you prevent frozen pipes in a Lewisville house?
Insulate exposed lines, remove and store hoses, cover outdoor spigots, and open cabinet doors on exterior walls during a hard freeze. Let a faucet drip when the forecast calls for it, and know where your main valve is. None of this guarantees a pipe will survive, but it helps.
The National Weather Service Fort Worth issues freeze warnings, which is a reasonable prompt to prepare. Check irrigation backflow assemblies and cover them before a warning, not after one.
Leaving the heat on and set to a normal temperature in a house you are leaving for a few days is usually cheaper than a repair. A plumber can tell you which lines in your house are most exposed.
