Do Pipes Freeze in Murrieta? What to Protect Before a Cold Snap

How do you tell if a pipe cracked?

A frozen pipe often looks fine until it thaws. Check exposed pipes once the sun is up. Look for water spraying or dripping at the backflow valve, hose bibs and pool equipment. Indoors, look for wet drywall on outside walls or water in the garage. Then do a meter test: with all water off, the leak dial on your meter should not move.

• Water dripping from the backflow preventer body or test cocks
• Low pressure at one faucet or the whole house
• A wet spot on an outside wall or the garage floor
• Pool pump that will not prime or water around the equipment
• A meter that keeps moving with everything off

Our water meter leak test walks through the check step by step.

What if the leak is hidden?

If the meter moves but you cannot see water, the leak may be in a wall, in a buried yard line or under the slab. Acoustic tools and thermal cameras find it without cutting open walls at random. Water leak detection in Murrieta usually costs about $200 to $550, and slab leak detection about $250 to $650.

Homes in the hills, like Los Alamos Hills and the higher parts of Bear Creek, tend to get colder nights than the valley. If you live there, plan ahead each December.