As we move into the cooler weather, the leaves start to fall and the temps start to drop. Quite often, one thing that is overlooked is preparing the outdoor faucets for the winter. When water freezes, it expands and can split through pipes, which can cause thousands of dollars of damage from water-soaked walls, ceilings and floors to even worse outcomes. It just makes sense to take some time to prevent this from happening.
While there are specialty outdoor faucets that are marketed as “freeze-proof,” there is no guarantee that these faucets will not freeze in the coldest weather. While these types of faucets are the best and most popular outdoor faucets to have, it’s still wise to prepare them for winter.
No matter the outdoor spigot type, freeze-proof or not, it is very important to remove any hoses, splitters or other fitting that is screwed onto the faucet, before winter sets in. Not doing so will make it much more likely that the faucet will freeze. This is a task where the timing can be critical, as well as problematic if you continue to utilize your outdoor water until the very point that the freezing weather begins. It’s a much better idea to anticipate the first freeze by disconnecting hoses early. Even one night of freezing weather can cause a break in the pipes.
The next step is to shut off the upstream water supply valve inside the house, and open up the faucet on the outside to drain any residual water. It’s important to keep the faucet open to allow every bit of the water to escape, and eventually the water should stop. If it does not stop and continues to drip, then that means the inside shut-off valve is faulty and needs to be replaced.
An outdoor faucet protector, which is a foam faucet cover available at hardware and home stores, offers an additional layer of protection to freeze-proof your faucet and pipes. You can also buy foam insulation to cover any exposed plumbing that’s connected to the outdoor faucet, as an extra precaution.
These few simple steps can save you some headaches when the temperatures drop below freezing. It can also make things a lot easier in the spring when you go to turn the outdoor faucets back on.
