Who to Call for Frozen Pipes: The 60-Second Answer
Can a plumber help with frozen pipes? Absolutely: locating, thawing, and repairing them is routine winter work, so for ice inside your own plumbing you call a licensed plumber. But who to call for frozen pipes changes once the problem sits outside your walls. Who do you call for frozen pipes when the whole street is dry, or when you smell gas mid-thaw? Different numbers entirely, and dialing the wrong one costs hours you may not have.
Skip straight to the plumber? (800) 555-0173. NorthBriar connects you with licensed, insured local pros, free, any hour of freeze season.
Match What You See to the Right Call
| Your situation | Who to call | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A faucet is dead, nothing leaking | Plumber | Ice plug in your own plumbing; a private-side problem |
| Pipe burst, water flowing | Main valve first, then plumber | Shut off water and any power near the leak before dialing; a restoration company comes after if rooms flooded |
| Whole street has no water | Water utility | Frozen or broken main on the utility side: their crew, their cost |
| Meter pit or curb stop frozen | Water utility | The meter usually belongs to the utility; many thaw it at no charge |
| Gas smell while heating pipes | 911 + gas utility, from outside | Leave the building first. No switches, no flames, no phones indoors |
| Sewage backing up as things thaw | Plumber | Frozen drain or sewer line; treat standing sewage as a biohazard |
When to Call a Plumber for Frozen Pipes
Should I call a plumber for frozen pipes now, or wait out the thaw? The claims data leans hard toward now: per the Insurance Information Institute, water damage and freezing generate 1.61 claims per 100 insured homes every year, roughly one household in sixty, and homes that waited too long are heavily overrepresented in that number. Call now if:
- Frozen for days, or even one full day. The plug grows and pressure builds the entire time; day two is more dangerous than day one, not less.
- The ice sits inside a wall, a ceiling cavity, or under the slab, beyond the reach of any heat you can apply yourself.
- Nothing flows anywhere in the house, so the problem may be your main service line.
- The same line froze and burst before. Repeat freezes find the old weak spot.
Need a licensed plumber right now?
Call (800) 555-0173Free call, connects to a licensed local plumberLicensed plumbing partners in your area- Licensed and insured partner network
- 24/7 call routing
- Free call, no obligation
- You approve the price with the plumber directly
Should You Run Water While You Wait?
Yes. Crack the affected faucet and keep it that way. Lines burst from trapped pressure rather than from ice itself, and even a thin stream vents that pressure while giving the remaining water some freeze resistance. And if you're wondering whether ice alone can stop water completely: it can. A full plug seals the line as tight as any valve, which is why "no water at all" is a normal freeze symptom, not proof of something worse.
What the Call Will Cost
A straightforward thaw visit, nothing burst, typically runs $100-$200 (Angi's 2025-2026 figures), climbing toward $500 when the plug hides somewhere hard to reach. Repairs after a split are a different budget; see our frozen pipe repair cost breakdown for the full ranges and what drives them.
Fair warning on timing: partner plumbers answer 24/7 in winter, but a hard regional freeze fills every dispatch board in town. Response windows are honest hours, not magic minutes, which is one more reason the early call wins.
While You Wait for the Plumber
Put the wait to work:
- Keep the faucet open (see above; it's doing more than it looks).
- Warm whatever section you can reach, gently: a hair dryer, a heating pad wrapped around the pipe, or a space heater kept well back. Our thawing guide shows where to aim and what order to work in. No torches, no open flame, ever.
- Clear the area near the suspect run: move boxes, electronics, anything you'd hate to see wet.
- Confirm your main shutoff turns freely. If the pipe lets go mid-thaw: shut the main, kill power to anything wet at the breaker, then open the lowest faucet so the system drains away from the break.
The full sequence, from diagnosis to prevention, lives in frozen pipes: what to do. And when you're ready for a pro, here's what a frozen-pipes plumber will actually do when they arrive, or just call (800) 555-0173.