Tanya Klien
Many people are familiar with faucets inside our homes. In the kitchen, in the bathroom, etc. But many of us probably forget that faucets are also located outside. With this in mind, we must protect those faucets as the cold winter season is just nearly approaching. Why is it important to protect your faucet? Well, because most likely with the cold weather it could frost and that means your pipes could burst due to the fact that water expands when it freezes. If you want to winterize your faucet here are some tips that can help protect your outside faucet.
Your going to want to head to your basement and search for the shutoff valve, which is located closest to the outdoor tap. When you find it close it. Simple and easy as that. Then you’re going to want to go back outside, disconnect the hose and store it. Then you will have the outdoor tap for the winter closed and far away from the cold. Now you don’t have to stress and you can enjoy the warmth inside your home or with a nice warm tea beside the fire.
Now if you have a frost-free tap things are even easier for you (which is your lucky day) You will close off the outdoor valve and then disengage your hose and store it. Two simple and easy steps that will save you a nightmare. By disconnecting the hose guarantees that drainage can occur smoothly. If you leave the hose connected this will ensure that your faucet will freeze, which you obviously don’t want to happen.
If you really want to protect your outdoor faucet you might also want to consider insulation. This is the last step to winterize outdoor faucets, which will 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 efficient at keeping most of the cold away from the valve. When covering regular hose bibs that could not be drained extra insulation can be installed inside the hose bib cover to keep it warm and dry throughout the winter. In most situations, nonetheless, the hose bib cover will provide enough insulation, which will keep you worry free.
At the end of the day instilling these steps into your routine, because when the cold winter arrives, it will save you money and a headache. You will save yourself the replacement costs of a burst pipe. Don’t make the common homeowner mistake of allowing your hose to freeze. Exercising extra caution is always a smart thing to do. It is better to be safe than sorry.
