Calgary Plumber Tips: Winterizing Outdoor Plumbing and Faucets

Winter is coming.

The time to get your outdoor sprinklers, faucets, water lines that you find in your attic or exterior walls is now in the fall when temperatures are usually warm.

Calgary’s fierce freeze/thaw cycle during our winter and chinooks is harsh on all fixtures causing  minor damage to become major with just one bad day.

Here are 5 easy steps every Calgary homeowner can take to winterize their home plumbing.

For more complicated outdoor fixtures such as embedded pipes, water lines and buried sprinkler systems, use a professional to save on possible costly damages.

• Locate and disconnect all hoses attached to exterior faucets. If your home has a main valve for outdoor water supply, shut it off. Then revisit all outdoor water faucets and turn them on to bleed and drain the remaining water from the pipes. Once the water ceases, ensure the faucets are turned off.
• Examine all faucets and house-entering pipes for cracks, splits, openings or any other gaps in the exterior or interior walls. Fill in with an expanding foam spray-sealant, caulk or a fissure-filling epoxy or adhesive.
• Wrap all outdoor faucets. Some hardware, supply and home improvement stores carry “hose bibs” made for outdoor faucet winterizing. These covers are inexpensive and are designed to withstand the fiercest winters.
• If your house does not have an outdoor water-shutoff valve, insulate all outdoor pipes. Pipe insulation, or “sleeves”, can be found at most hardware and home improvement stores, and insulating pipe is less DIY-friendly. Measure the diameter of the pipes needing insulation and make sure to ask the advice of professionals. Indoor pipes situated anywhere that gets little heat, or are close to or set flush with cold, uninsulated or outdoor-shielding walls may also need insulation.
• Drain your sprinkler system. Always read your sprinkler system’s instruction manual. Depending on your technical know-how and the complexity of your sprinklers, you may want to engage the services of a professional. If that is the case, your solution is to call the experts at Lone Star Plumbing and Heating.

If you are looking for someone to ensure your outdoor water fixtures, sprinklers, and water lines are ready for winter, call the Calgary plumbing experts at Lone Star Plumbing and Heating today at 403.295.3028