Incoming Cold Snap – Time to Winterize?

The end of October is already ushering in winter temperatures, with overnight lows forecasted to fall at or below freezing for several evenings this week. To combat freezing temperatures, preemptively winterizing external plumbing can help avoid frozen pipes.

Hose bibs are the most universal outdoor plumbing element and can be winterized by disconnecting hoses, turning off water supply to the individual hose bibs, and draining the remaining water in the pipes by running the faucets until the water flow ceases. Insulation sleeves can also be placed over the hose bibs to provide additional protection.

Sprinkler systems also require winterization. Conceptually, this is a similar process to the hose bibs, as the first step is to shut off the water supply to the irrigation system and drain and water left over in the pipes. It’s also worth noting what sort of automatic controls the sprinkler system has set up so you can temporarily disable them while the sprinklers are winterized.

If you’re leaving your home vacant for an extended period of time during the winter, it’s important in that instance to perform winterization on interior plumbing by shutting off water to the home, emptying out existing water in the pipes, and adding antifreeze to any water that is unable to be fully drained, e.g in a toilet bowl/tank.

We hope these tips help avoid any burst or frozen pipes as we move into the holidays!