Burst Pipe in Dallas: What to Do First

The first ten minutes, step by step

1. Close the main shut-off. Until it's closed, the split keeps pouring water into drywall, insulation and floors. Not sure where it is? See finding the main below.
2. Drain what's left in the pipes. Open the lowest tap in the house, such as a tub spout, then one up high. Air enters at the top and the remaining water leaves through the faucet instead of the break.
3. Turn off the water heater. Switch off the breaker for an electric tank (same dry-ground rule as below); for a gas tank, set the control to Pilot or Off.
4. Cut power to the wet rooms, but only if you can reach the panel standing on dry ground. If the panel is in the wet area or water drips from a light fixture, stay out and get an electrician. Stay out from under a ceiling bulging with water.
5. Photograph everything before you start mopping.
6. Call us, then lift rugs and electronics off the floor and set pans under the drips.

Finding the main in a Dallas home

Dallas Water Utilities is responsible for the meter and everything on the street side of it, so water bubbling up in the street or at the meter itself is the city's to fix; report it through 311. The pipe and valves between the meter and your house are the property owner's responsibility.

The private valve near the house

According to DWU, the private cut-off on most houses sits by an outdoor faucet against the foundation. With an in-ground sprinkler system, it may be beside the irrigation valve nearer the property line. Older homes can have it buried, with a short iron rod shaped like an upside-down L sticking out of the soil as the handle. A lever closes with a quarter turn; a round wheel closes clockwise.

The meter box

DWU puts most residential meters underground in a box near the curb or property line. The lid opens with a meter key or T-bar from a hardware store. Some boxes also hold a customer-side valve on the house side of the meter. Don't touch the city's valve; if you're unsure which is which, or can't find or turn any valve, call 311. DWU answers around the clock and will help shut the water off at the meter.

Pier-and-beam houses

In the older raised homes of Oak Cliff, East Dallas and South Dallas, also look where the supply line comes through the foundation or just inside the crawlspace door. Wheel valves left untouched for decades often stick; if the stem bends or starts weeping, stop and use 311.

Condos and lofts

In downtown and Uptown towers, and in Deep Ellum or Cedars lofts, units usually have their own valves in the water heater closet, under the kitchen sink or behind an access panel. Close yours, then alert the building engineer or front desk, who can isolate the riser and warn the unit below.

Photos and records for the insurance claim

• Take wide shots of each wet room, then close-ups of the split pipe, stained ceiling, warped baseboards and soaked cabinets.
• Write down when you found the water and when it went off.
• Ask the plumber to leave you the removed piece of pipe.
• Keep cleanup receipts, and photograph ruined belongings before tossing them.

Where freeze bursts happen in Dallas houses

During Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, DWU's count of burst pipes its crews had answered passed 1,000 by February 17. In the January 2024 freeze, DWU warned that burst-pipe calls would rise as temperatures climbed above freezing. A frozen crack often leaks only once the ice melts. The usual trouble spots:

• Attics. Where supply lines run through the attic, as they do in many slab homes, a break shows up as a brown stain or sagging ceiling.
• Exterior walls. Kitchen and bath lines on outside walls sit in cold cavities behind closed cabinet doors.
• Crawlspaces. Pier-and-beam houses from the 1920s to the 1950s hang pipe under vented floors, often aging galvanized steel.
• Hose bibs. A hose left connected holds water in the faucet, which can crack inside the wall and stay hidden until spring.

For prevention, see our frozen pipes guide and the freeze prep checklist for Dallas homes.

What our plumber does at your door

• Confirms the supply is off, then traces the break, opening only as much drywall as the fix requires.
• Cuts out the damaged length and joins in new copper, PEX or CPVC, using a proper transition fitting where it meets old galvanized pipe.
• Refills the system slowly and checks it under pressure, since one hard freeze can split a line in several places. Then restarts the water heater.
• Notes weak spots, such as bare attic runs or galvanized pipe worth repiping. A break in the yard line is a water line repair, and if the meter keeps moving afterward, leak detection finds what's left.

All work is done under Texas plumbing license # M-27587. A burst-pipe repair comes with a $0 dispatch fee, and new customers take $50 off; terms are on our coupons page.

Questions after a pipe bursts

Water off? Now call Dallas 24 PLUMBER

With the main closed, call (844) 313-1397. It makes no difference whether the split is in an Oak Cliff crawlspace, a Lakewood attic or an Uptown townhouse wall; we cover the whole city. Other urgent problems are on our emergency plumbing page.

Office hours 8 AM–11 PM daily · 24/7 emergency service