Frozen Pipe Water Damage in Somerville, MA

Frozen pipe water damage is the classic Somerville winter loss. Triple-deckers were built with kitchens and bathrooms stacked at the back of the house, often against exterior walls with little or no insulation, and many have enclosed back porches with plumbing running through them. When a cold snap drops temperatures into single digits, those pipes freeze, the ice expands and the pipe splits.

Why the leak starts on the thaw

A frozen pipe rarely leaks while it is frozen. The split shows up when the ice melts and pressure returns, often hours later, sometimes while nobody is home. By then water may have run inside the wall and through the ceiling below. That is why the first step is closing the main before thawing.

• Pipes under sinks on exterior walls freeze first.
• Unheated back stairwells and porches expose supply lines to outdoor air.
• Vacant or lightly heated units, and heat turned down at night, raise the risk.

Drying a cold exterior wall

Exterior walls are cold, and cold materials dry slowly. The drying team maps moisture with thermal imaging and pinless meters, opens small access points where needed, and pushes warm, dry air into the cavity with air movers and LGR dehumidifiers. Daily readings compare the wet framing with a dry reference, and the equipment stays until they match. If water reached the unit below, both units dry together; see burst pipe water damage.

Preventing the next freeze

Keep heat at a steady temperature on cold nights, open cabinet doors on exterior walls, and let a faucet drip during deep cold. Insulating pipes in porches and stairwells helps most. The Ready.gov winter weather page and the National Weather Service cold safety page have more. The frozen pipe risk check rates your own setup.