It’s always a smart move to prepare your outdoor faucets for winter before freezing temperatures arrive. Many outdoor faucets have an indoor safety valve that allows you to drain the water from the outdoor section of pipe, reducing the chance of the pipe bursting when trapped water freezes. Shutting off the water to your outdoor pipe is also handy if you need to replace the faucet or outdoor section of pipe.
Four Tips to Prepare Your Home’s Outdoor Faucets
1. Find the water pipe inside your house that leads to your outside faucet. You may have more than one and they are typically in your basement, garage, or crawl space.
2. Locate the safety shut-off valve. Most valves are either round metal knobs or straight handles.
3. Shut off the water supply to your outside faucet by turning the round knob clockwise until it stops turning. Pull the handle of a lever-style valve a quarter turn to the Off position. If the Off position is not marked on the faucet, pull the handle clockwise until it stops.
4. Go outside and open the exterior spigot until the water stops flowing. This releases water trapped in the pipe, reducing the chance of that pipe freezing.
