Winter comes along and apparently tries to destroy our water lines every year. The best way to minimize the damage from cold weather on household plumbing is to do a little preventive winterizing. A good starting point is to winterize your hose bib. These few steps will take a small amount of time but they could save you a lot of money and inconvenience.

 

Disconnect – First things first, no matter what kind of hose bibs you have, freeze proof or not, it is very important to remove hoses, splitters or connections from the spigot during the winter. Not removing hoses or any other connections from the hose bib can trap water and can therefore surely cause the fixture to freeze.

Inspect – The next step to winterize your hose bib is leak detection and repair. Check all hose bibs for leaks and drips. If you do find any leaks or drips repair or replace the fixture before the temperature drops to freezing. Water dripping, no matter how slowly, can block up and freeze in the pipe or fixture.

Drain – Getting as much water out of the pipes is essential for your hose bib. The best way to do this is to shut off that line if possible and drain it down. If you cannot isolate the water supply to hose bib to shut it off be sure to use extra insulation in the next step.

Protect – The last step to winterize outdoor faucets is to protect them with insulation. An easy way to do this is to install a hose bib cover on each outdoor fixture including frost free hose bibs. Hose bib covers are square or dome shaped to fit right over outdoor faucets. They are made of thick foam so they are quite effective at keeping most of the cold away from the valve.