Connor Warren, AquaTec Plumbing, January 14, 2026, 5 min read
Every winter, our team gets calls from homeowners across Newmarket, Aurora, and the surrounding York Region communities dealing with frozen, and sometimes burst, pipes. Ontario's deep freezes put real stress on plumbing, especially in older homes, garages, and exterior walls where pipes aren't well insulated. The good news: most frozen-pipe emergencies are preventable with a bit of preparation.
Pipes located in unheated spaces are the most vulnerable, think basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, and any line that runs along an exterior wall. If you've ever noticed a section of pipe feels noticeably colder than the rest of your plumbing, that's a good sign it needs extra protection before the temperature drops.
Freeze risk is highest in the north end of our area: seasonal and three-season places along the Lake Simcoe shore in Keswick and around Jackson's Point and Sutton in Georgina, rural homes on wells around East Gwillimbury and the Bradford concessions, and any house with a crawlspace or an unheated garage plumbed for laundry or a hose bib. A pressure tank or well line in an unheated crawlspace, pump house or garage can freeze where a supply line entering a heated basement would not.
In most York Region houses the main shutoff is a quarter-turn ball valve or an older gate valve where the supply pipe comes through the basement wall, next to the meter. Find it now. A ball valve is closed when its lever sits across the pipe; a gate valve has a round handle that closes clockwise. Try it once before winter. A gate valve that has sat open for years can seize, or start weeping at the stem once it moves, and that is better discovered on a quiet afternoon than with water coming through a ceiling.
On a well there is no meter. The shutoff is usually on the line beside the pressure tank, and switching the pump off at its breaker or disconnect switch stops it pushing more water into a split line. In a converted cottage or any house with a crawlspace instead of a basement, follow the supply line from where it comes in, find the valve, and clear a path to it before the cold arrives. Make sure everyone in the house knows where it is, because how fast the water gets shut off decides how much of it ends up on the floor.
A frost-free hose bib has its handle outside, but the valve that actually stops the water sits at the end of a long stem inside the heated wall. When you close it, the water between that valve and the spout drains out, so nothing is left in the cold part of the wall to freeze. That only works with the hose off. A hose left connected holds water in the stem, the stem freezes inside the wall, and the split stays hidden until you turn the tap on in spring. The bib also has to be installed with a slight fall toward the outside, or water sits in the stem even with the hose removed.
Older houses and converted cottages may still have a standard outdoor tap, where the valve is right at the outside wall. That kind needs more work. Find the indoor shutoff on the line that feeds it, usually on the basement ceiling or wall just inside from the tap, and close it. Then open the outside tap and leave it open for the winter so the water in that short run can drain. If the indoor valve has a small drain cap on its side, open it over a bucket to let out the last of the water.
In spring, the first time you use the tap, have someone watch the basement wall or ceiling behind it. A bib that split over the winter can run normally outside while water runs down inside the wall. On copper, a freeze break usually shows as a thin split along the pipe or a bulge that was not there before; on plastic lines, check the fittings as well as the pipe. If you see water inside, close the indoor valve or the main and call us. If you would rather not drain a standard tap every fall, we can replace it with a frost-free outdoor faucet.
Shut off the main water supply right away and open the affected faucet to relieve pressure. Gently warm the pipe with a hairdryer or warm towels, never an open flame, starting from the faucet end and working back toward the blockage. If you can't locate the frozen section, or you notice any bulging, cracking, or water where it shouldn't be, stop and call us. A pipe that's already under pressure can burst the moment it thaws, and that's when a small problem turns into significant water damage.
We isolate the branch, open a faucet downstream so the thaw has somewhere to go, and warm the line from the faucet back toward the frozen section with controlled heat, never a torch. If the line is inside a wall or a crawlspace, we locate the frozen section before opening anything rather than cutting in on a guess. Once water is moving we check the section for leaks, and if it has split we cut out and replace the damaged run in copper or PEX. What moves the cost is access: an exposed basement line is a short visit; a line inside a finished exterior wall or under a cottage floor is not.
If you're dealing with no water flow, a suspected freeze, or, worse, a burst pipe, don't wait it out. Our team is available 24/7 across Keswick, Georgina, Newmarket, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Markham, Vaughan, and the rest of York Region for exactly these situations. If you have a cottage or seasonal property, ask about winterization and spring opening so the lines are drained before the first hard freeze. We will get your water back on, repair or replace the damaged section of pipe, and tell you straight if the water that got out needs a restoration company as well. Pricing is agreed in writing before we start, and our workmanship is guaranteed. Call 289-470-6221 any hour.
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