How to Prevent a Basement Leak by Winterizing Your Hose Bibb or Exterior Spigot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 3, 2010 -- Most Americans refer to a hose bibb or sillcock device as an “exterior faucet” or “spigot.” It is simply a valve that controls your home’s water supply to a garden hose. Given that these faucets are on the exterior of the home, freeze prevention is critical to avoid bursting pipes in freezing climates.

Several designs for “frost-free” hose bibbs and sillcocks have been around for many years. These units significantly reduce the risk of a pipe failure from freezing. But they aren’t flawless and therefore require the same winterization as a standard hose bibb.

For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll assume that your home has a frost free sillcock, as this is common with most homes built today. Should your home have an older style hose bibb, the same procedure applies for winterization—albeit more crucial since these simple exterior faucets have no frost protection at all.

You may wonder, “why must I winterize my hose bibb if it is designed to protect my pipes from freezing?” Excellent question. To answer it, we must take a moment to understand how a frost free sillcock works and where they are prone to failure.

Unlike a standard hose bibb, where the actual water shutoff valve is located near the handle, a frost free sillcock incorporates a valve approximately 10-12” toward the inside pipe of the water supply line. The idea is that the valve will be contained sufficiently toward the interior wall of the building such that it won’t freeze. Therefore, when you turn the handle of the sillcock, instead of turning the water shutoff valve directly, you turn a shaft that runs inside the water supply pipe back inside the length of the sillcock to the shutoff valve.

If a sillcock is properly installed with a slight slope downward it will ensure all water remaining in that sillcock will drain from the unit, assuming there isn’t a hose attached to it. The concept here is to never allow water to remain in the device—hence prevent freezing, subsequent pressure buildup, and pipe ruptures.

Unfortunately, however, two common problems occur that make these frost-free hose bibs anything but fail safe.
The first is homeowner neglect. Some homeowners tend to leave a hose with sprayer attached to the hose bibb with the supply left on. While this is certainly convenient for the warm months, if left unattended during a hard freeze, severe damage can occur.

How to Winterize a Spigot - Hose Bibb or Sillcock

The procedure to winterize your hose bibb or sillcock is extremely simple.

1. Remove any hose or water device from the hose bibb or sillcock
2. Close your water shutoff valves for each hose bibb or sillcock. (Don’t have any shutoff valves? Get them installed! They are an inexpensive insurance policy to avoid major problems later.)
3. Open the hose bib to allow any remaining water to drain.
4. Close the hose bib.

For more information, visit www.MasterMyList.com

Hose Bib     hose bibb     spigot