Frozen Pipes in a Korean Winter

Where it freezes — the shortlist

Pipes freeze where they are exposed, wind-blown, or holding still water: outdoor spigots, washing-machine taps on unheated balconies, water meter boxes, and any run along an exterior wall. In houses, the line crossing the yard and the boiler-room feed join the list. Villas built decades ago often route pipes in ways that made sense before insulation standards did.

Prevention is cheap: foam insulation wrapped over pipes AND valve bodies, and meter boxes stuffed with padding inside a plastic bag — wet padding freezes into an ice pack, which is worse than nothing.

The trickle trick, and safe thawing

On nights forecast below about -10°C, leave the vulnerable tap running at a pencil-lead trickle. Moving water resists freezing, and the water bill for one cold night is a rounding error next to a burst-pipe repair. Leaving town? Shut the main valve and open taps to drain the lines.

Already frozen? Warm towels and a hair dryer on low, working from the tap back toward the frozen section, is the safe ceiling. Torches and heat guns crack pipes and start fires — a distressing share of winter house fires here begin as thawing attempts. If nothing flows after patient warming, the ice is inside a wall or underground: that is equipment territory, and forcing it makes it worse.

After the thaw

Freezing expands joints. Once water flows again, check every connection along that run for weeping — a slow drip inside a wall does quiet damage for weeks before it shows. If a section froze this year, it will freeze next year: worth fixing the exposure once instead of re-fighting it every January.