Why does an inspector look at piping where it passes through a garage or unheated space?

Water expands when it freezes, and a closed pipe cannot accommodate that expansion, so the pipe splits. The damage often goes unnoticed at the moment of freezing because the ice plugs the split; the flooding begins on the thaw, which is why frozen-pipe damage is typically discovered as a large loss rather than a small leak. Piping in garages, crawl spaces, unheated basements, attics and exterior walls is exposed to that risk, and the inspector reports runs in those locations along with whether they are insulated, whether the space has any heat, and whether hose bibs are frost-proof or have accessible interior shutoffs. It is a preventable failure with an inexpensive remedy, which is precisely the kind of finding a report should surface before the first cold snap rather than after.

Piping in unheated spaces is exposed to freezing, and water expanding as it freezes splits the pipe. The flooding usually follows on the thaw, which is why the risk is worth reporting before it occurs.

Water piping in unheated spaces — garages, crawl spaces, attics, exterior walls — is subject to freezing. Protection includes insulation, heat tracing, routing within the thermal envelope, and frost-proof hose bibs with proper drainage.

Ice Splits It, the Thaw Floods It. The failure happens in the cold; the damage arrives when it warms up.

Check hose bibs specifically — a standard bib with a hose still attached cannot drain and is among the most common freeze failures.

• •Overlooking piping in garages and crawl spaces because it is out of the way
• •Missing hose bibs that cannot drain
• •Assuming plastic piping is immune to freezing