How to Winterize Outdoor Faucets

When to do it

In Brampton, get this done around Halloween or the first week of November, before the nights start dipping hard below freezing.

Step by step

1. Remove hoses and any splitters or timers. Drain and store them.
2. Trace each hose bib inside to its valve, normally overhead in the basement just behind the exterior wall, and turn it fully closed.
3. Open the outside tap to drain water from the line.
4. Open the small drain cap on the inside valve if there is one, catching water in a cup.
5. Keep the exterior spout open through the cold months so trapped water has room to expand.

Frost-free sillcocks

A frost-free tap shuts water off well inside the wall, but it still freezes if a hose is attached because water cannot drain. Remove hoses every time. If yours has no inside valve, consider having one added.

In spring

Shut the spout outside, reopen its basement valve, then run the hose bib while a helper looks at the inside wall. Water inside means the tap split. See outdoor faucet repair.

Irrigation and garden lines

Lawn sprinkler systems need their own shutdown: close the supply valve inside, then drain or blow out the lines according to the system maker's instructions. Garden hose reels and rain barrel taps should be emptied and stored too, since ice can crack their fittings as easily as a faucet body.

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