Frozen Pipe Repair in Bluffton, SC

How often it freezes

Beaufort sees about 17 days a year at or below 32°F, and Savannah about 21 (1991–2020 averages). That is a few hard freezes a winter, not a month of them.

First move

Find the home’s master water valve before the cold, mark it, and shut it if a pipe bursts.

BJWSA’s freeze advice

Drain and shut off outdoor faucets and irrigation, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, let uninsulated pipes drip slowly, and check the outdoor meter pit lid.

Break at the meter

BJWSA’s 24/7 emergency line: (843) 987-9200. The pipes after the meter are the owner’s.

Permit office

Inside the town limits, the Town of Bluffton at 20 Bridge Street; outside them, Beaufort County building codes.

If a faucet runs a trickle or nothing in a freeze, a pipe is probably frozen but not yet broken. Open the faucet so the water has somewhere to go when it thaws, open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, and warm the room. Don’t use a torch or any open flame on a pipe. If a pipe has already burst, shut the master water valve right away. ALL Plumbing Company says the same for burst pipes: shut off your main water valve first, then call.

Frozen pipe repair is a call to a plumber who answers at night. Dyess Air & Plumbing and Howell-Chase list frozen pipe repair as their own service, and R.S. Andrews, Superior Services and ALL Plumbing Company take emergency plumbing calls around the clock. If the break is on the street side of the meter, call BJWSA’s 24/7 emergency line at (843) 987-9200; the pipes after the meter are yours. See the Bluffton utilities guide for who provides water at your address.

Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority’s freeze advice is to find and mark the home’s master water valve, drain and shut off outdoor faucets and irrigation, open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, let uninsulated pipes drip slowly, and check that the lid on an outdoor meter pit isn’t broken or missing. The pipes that freeze here are the exposed ones: hose bibs, irrigation lines, and pipes in attics, garages and outside walls.

Bluffton winters are mild: Beaufort averages about 17 days a year at or below 32°F, so a hard freeze comes only a few times a winter, and it is easy to be caught out. R.S. Andrews drains and insulates exposed pipes and replaces hose bibs with frost-resistant ones, and Dyess Air & Plumbing and Howell-Chase fix the pipe once it has frozen.

A frozen pipe that hasn’t split is thawed and then insulated or moved. A burst pipe is cut out and replaced, and the water damage comes next: Superior Services lists water and fire remediation as well as emergency plumbing. A pipe often splits where the ice formed and only leaks once it thaws, so a house that looks fine during a freeze can flood the next afternoon. Check the ceilings and walls under any attic or exterior-wall pipe once it warms up.

Replacing a short section of a split pipe is a repair; replacing a longer run or repiping is plumbing work. Inside the town limits, plumbing permits come from the Town of Bluffton’s Growth Management office at 20 Bridge Street, whose minor projects application lists plumbing among its work types and asks for the contractor’s SC LLR license number and Town business license number. Outside the town limits, the permit comes from Beaufort County’s building codes office. Ask the plumber whether your job needs one and whether the quote includes it.

For frozen pipe repair in Okatie, two of the companies here name Okatie as a place they work: R.S. Andrews and ALL Plumbing Company. In a straight line, R.S. Andrews is about 5.4 miles from Okatie Village and ALL Plumbing Company about 7.4. Both answer emergency calls, ALL Plumbing Company with a call-any-time line for burst pipes.

Much of Okatie, including the area around Sun City Hilton Head, sits outside the town limits, so a repipe there usually needs a permit from Beaufort County; ask the plumber to confirm. BJWSA’s office is on Snake Road in Okatie.

Price depends on how much pipe split, how hard it is to reach, and how much water got out. Thawing and insulating one exposed pipe is a small job; a split line inside a wall or ceiling means opening and patching drywall, and a repipe costs most. A call at 2 a.m. may carry an after-hours charge, so ask when you call. Howell-Chase lists no service-call or dispatch fees.

Get a written quote before any work that is not an emergency stop. Check your homeowner’s policy: water damage is usually the larger bill. For other plumbing work, see the best plumbers in Bluffton, gas line repair in Bluffton and water heater repair in Bluffton; on the island, see the best plumbers on Hilton Head.