Winterize Your Home: Prep your hose bib
Hose bibs. Most homes and condominiums are equipped with at least one. From washing your car on a warm summer day, to hosing off the deck one last time before the snow comes, we all make use of the hose bib without putting much thought into it; therein lies the problem come winter.
The anatomy of a hose bib is quite simple, unless your home happens to be equipped with a frost-free hose bib – but we’ll touch on that in a minute. The hose bib is equipped with three principal components:
A) The valve (or handle), B) The spout, C) The supply line.
Respectively, the operation of these three components comes with a flip of the wrist and the water is on or off, but trouble lurks inside the valve and hose when ambient temperatures are sub-zero. Water remains and collects inside the valve body at any given time, and this water becomes a menace when it freezes. When water freezes, it expands at a staggering 9% by volume, which can result in a fractured in-wall valve connection.
Steps to prepare your hose bib for winter
Take these necessary precautions when winterizing your home:
#1: Shut off the main water supply to your hose bib. The main supply is typically located inside the home.
#2: Remove attachments to the hose bib. Take off any hoses or attachments to prevent frost damage as frost can crawl up the hose or attachment and make its way into the valve.
#3: Drain the water. Open the handle to your hose bib, let all the water drain out completely, then close it.
Remember to leave the main water supply line in the closed position until the threat of frost is no longer.
Consider a frost-free hose bib
Another safeguard against splitting pipes, is to install a frost-free hose bib; albeit more costly, it far outweighs the cost of repairing in-wall leaks. The frost-free hose bib operates in the same fashion as a regular hose bib, however it has additional and modified components.
The added component is the anti-siphon valve which prevents a vacuum from forming inside the valve, preventing water from getting trapped and having “outside” water crawl up the supply line. The modified component is the valve that reaches deeper into the supply line. The depth of this valve ensures water from the supply line is kept farther back into the building where temperatures are elevated, thus avoiding frost to form.
In closing, whether home ownership is an individual or shared responsibility, remember the old saying… “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
