First, stop the water
Main shut-off, clockwise, all the way. Then open the lowest tap in the house to drain the standing pressure out of the system before anyone works on it.
What material do you have
The material drives the decision more than the leak does.
Copper. Long-lived. Pinhole leaks usually mean water chemistry or high velocity; if you get one, expect more.
PEX. Modern, flexible, freeze-tolerant. Failures are usually at fittings rather than in the run.
CPVC. Common in Texas. Becomes brittle with age and UV exposure; a repair on brittle pipe often creates the next leak.
Galvanised steel. Pre-1960s. Corrodes from the inside, which shows up as falling pressure long before it leaks. Repairing a section of galvanised is generally throwing money at a system that needs replacing.
Polybutylene. Grey plastic, installed roughly 1978–1995. Known failure history. If you have it, plan a repipe rather than a repair schedule.
Repair or repipe
Repair a single failure in sound pipe of a material with life left in it.
Repipe when the failures are recurring, the material is at end of life, or the access cost dominates. If a plumber has to open six walls to reach one joint, opening them once for a full repipe is the cheaper answer over any reasonable horizon.
Preventing the freeze
- Insulate every line in the attic and in exterior walls
- Disconnect hosepipes before the first freeze
- Know where your shut-off is, before you need it at 2am
- On a hard freeze, let one tap trickle and open cupboard doors under sinks on exterior walls
Common questions
Can I use a repair clamp permanently?
No. A clamp is a way to stop the water so you can sleep; it is not a repair. The pipe that failed once at that point is generally about to fail near it.
When does repiping beat repeated repairs?
When you have had three or more leaks in the same system, when the material is known to be at end of life, or when a repair would require opening most of the same walls a repipe would.
What causes pipes to burst in Texas?
Freezing, mostly - uninsulated lines in attics and exterior walls, which Texas construction has plenty of. Water expands as it freezes, the pipe splits, and you find out when it thaws and the split starts flowing.