With winter weather and consistent below freezing temperatures on their way in Minnesota its important to take some preparations. Over the coming weeks I will post about some of the important preparations to make, and today it will be exterior faucets. There are many different theories on the best approach to take when winterizing exterior faucets, but in my opinion unless you have a handy frost free hose bib on the exterior of the home its quite simple.
First, make sure that you have disconnected all hoses, and extensions, or additional valves from the faucet to allow water to escape the faucet.
Second, find your shutoff valve for each exterior faucet, or if you live in a newer home which has a seperate meter and one shutoff valve for all exterior faucets, turn them to the shutoff position.
Third, go back to the exterior of the home and open each faucet, and leave open for a short while to ensure all water/moisture has had the chance to escape.
Lastly, once you have left the faucet open for a short while close the valve entirely if it is a frost free hose bib. If it is not a frost free hose bib leave the valve slightly open. This is the part most debated in the winterizing process but as most plumbers or contractors farmiliar with this process will tell you, it is important to leave the valve slightly open to allow pressure to escape and prevent the potential for a pipe busting. Simple and effective, but most important is to ensure you have completed this task well before consistent freezing temperatures.
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