To keep an outdoor faucet from freezing, disconnect the garden hose, close the indoor shut-off valve for that faucet, then open the outside faucet to let the line drain, and cover it with an insulated faucet cover. Do it before the first hard freeze, usually by mid-November in Chicopee. If yours already split inside the wall, call (413) 603-1274.
The fall checklist
- Disconnect every hose. A connected hose traps water that freezes and backs pressure into the faucet. This is the number one cause of split frost-free faucets.
- Find the indoor shut-off. Usually in the basement on the pipe heading to the outside faucet. Not sure what you are looking at? See how to find your shut-off valves.
- Close it.
- Open the outside faucet and leave it open over winter so the short section of pipe can drain.
- Open the small drain cap on the indoor valve, if it has one, to let the last water out.
- Add an insulated cover over the outside faucet.
If you have a frost-free faucet
A frost-free sillcock has a long stem that closes the valve inside the heated house. It works only if the hose is disconnected and the faucet slopes slightly down toward the outside so it drains. Leave the hose on and it freezes anyway.
If you have no indoor shut-off
Many older Chicopee homes do not. The line runs straight from the main to the outside faucet. Without a shut-off, the faucet stays full of water all winter. We can add a shut-off or install a frost-free faucet. See outdoor faucet and sillcock burst repair.
How to tell it already split
Turn the faucet on in spring with a hose attached and look inside the basement at the wall where the pipe goes out. Water there, or weak flow outside, means it split over winter.
Why a leaking outdoor faucet floods the basement
An outdoor faucet line runs from inside the basement out through the foundation or rim joist. When it freezes and splits, the split is usually inside the wall or just inside the basement, not outside where you can see it. The next time someone opens the outdoor faucet, often in spring, water pours into the wall or onto the basement floor instead of the hose. If water ever appears on the basement floor below an outdoor faucet after you use it, close the inside shut-off and call.
Covers help a little
Foam faucet covers slow heat loss from the faucet itself and are worth a few dollars. They do not protect a line that was not drained, and they do nothing if a hose is still attached. Draining the line and disconnecting the hose matter far more. See outdoor faucet burst repair.
Not sure which inside valve feeds the outdoor faucet? Follow the pipe from the faucet's wall back into the basement. The valve is usually within a few feet of where it passes through.
Questions
Do faucet covers alone work?
They help, but they do not stop a line full of water from freezing in a deep cold snap. Shut-off and drain is the real protection.
When should I turn outside faucets back on?
After the last hard freeze, usually in April in Chicopee.
Outdoor faucet already leaking? Call now
Call (413) 603-1274 now. Locally owned in Chicopee. See pipe freeze protection.