It’s that time of year again! It’s the middle of November and there is definitely a chill in the air! From here, temperatures are only going to get colder. It’s time to make sure your outdoor faucets are ready for the season ahead. Follow these easy steps to winterize your outdoor faucets.
Disconnect Anything Connected to the Faucets
The first step is to take away anything that maybe connected to your faucets. Whether you have “frost proof” hose bibs or not, it is important that nothing be connected to your faucets for the winter season. If anything is connected, it can still trap even small amounts of water and those small amounts can still damage your pipes if frozen.
Check for Leaks
Next, you will want to make sure there’s no water leaking out. Check all of the faucets and fixtures in your yard to make sure there are no leaks in anything. If any water at all is dripping, no matter how slow, you will want to get it fixed. Even a slow drip can cause problems.
Completely Drain All Faucets and Fixtures
Once you are absolutely certain there are no leaks, you will need to make sure any water that may be lingering gets out. If you have a freeze-proof hose bib, you don’t really need to do anything for this because it is specially designed to keep the water far enough away from the outside that it won’t be able to freeze. For a regular hose bib, you will want to shut off the source of its water and drain it completely.
Insulate and Protect
Lastly, you will want to cover all of your faucets and hose bibs to insulate them from the cold. The easiest way to do this is to install hose bib covers on all of the faucets. These thick foam devices were specially made to protect all of your outdoor fixtures from the freezing cold. You should even cover the freeze-proof ones, because a little extra protection certainly won’t hurt it.
All of Your Plumbing Needs from Master Plumbing
Give Master Plumbing a call at (301) 650-9100 or contact us online to get more information on how our expert plumbers can help you with your dripping faucet (or just about anything else plumbing related!). We have received Angie’s List Super Service Award recognition for plumbing and drain cleaning every year since 2007, in addition to the Best Plumber award from Best of Bethesda. We are fully licensed, bonded, and insured and our service is unparalleled. Give us a call today—you won’t regret it! To see examples of our projects, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.