Nothing ruins a winter morning quite like turning on the faucet and getting nothing but a sputter, or worse, finding water pouring through your ceiling. When temperatures plunge, the water inside your pipes can freeze and expand, putting enough pressure on them to crack or even burst. The result is water damage, a hefty repair bill and a big headache. The good news is that frozen pipes are largely preventable, and most of the fixes are cheap, quick and easy enough to handle yourself.

To find out how to keep the water flowing all winter, I spoke to two plumbing experts about how frozen pipes happen, what you can do to protect yours before the next cold snap and how to handle the situation if your pipes do freeze.

What causes pipes to freeze?

Pipes freeze when the water inside them gets cold enough to turn to ice — and some parts of your plumbing are far more vulnerable than others.…