I've disconnected the garden hoses but should I cover our outdoor spigots? I live in a 3 year old house, if that matters.
Freeze: Should my spigots be covered?
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38 Replies |
Last: 15 yr ago by CSAG96
yes
$10 and 3 mins says yes, although I'm not sure how much difference it makes with our temps.
Yeah, even this damnyankee's covering his up for a freeze as deep as we're facing. Do you have PEX or copper plumbing?
5 minutes worth of work, to save you 2 months of headaches if one freezes and burst.
It just makes good sense.
It just makes good sense.
should we be doing anything else for this freeze? dripping faucets, etc?
Cover or drip spigots. Cover your plants and bring outdoors pets inside.
O ya and make a fire if you can!
O ya and make a fire if you can!
Check the antifreeze in your car's radiator. It's not a big problem here, but if your car stays outside, you do not want the water in the radiator/engine to freeze. Ice expands and can crack your engine block. Make sure you have the proper mixture of antifreeze/water.
Is it best to have multiple faucets drip or is one dripping faucet enough?
Edit: To clarify that I mean faucets inside the house.
[This message has been edited by fiskes (edited 1/6/2010 9:12a).]
Edit: To clarify that I mean faucets inside the house.
[This message has been edited by fiskes (edited 1/6/2010 9:12a).]
Just the one you don't want to freeze.
Don't drip your faucets!
They suggested that back in the early 80's when I was living in Houston and water pressure was extremely low for days.
They suggested that back in the early 80's when I was living in Houston and water pressure was extremely low for days.
If your faucets are on a wall that's covered on the inside by cabinatry, it's not a bad idea to open them so heat can get against the wall as well.
Do not drip! Go buy the foam covers (dolly partons) and you'll be fine.
I get an old towel, cut in half, wrap around spigot and then wrap with packing tape.
I put them on for the first freeze and leave until late February.
Only reason is, I do not want to store the spigot covers for a year. Too much in my garage already lol.
I put them on for the first freeze and leave until late February.
Only reason is, I do not want to store the spigot covers for a year. Too much in my garage already lol.
Towel idea is ok if its temporary and you aren't expecting any moisture along with the low temps. Just be wary if there is any way it might get wet under the tape. Then you have a big frozen block of icey towel wrapped around your faucet...
Koozies can work in a pinch
Informed ag is correct. I should have added that. If it rains you do have to replace them.
Anybody know any stores that have the covers. I've been using towels because every time I go to the store they are sold out/do not have the covers. Home Depot was sold out last night, and Wal-Mart CS didn't have any.
Check with ACE Hardware on Wellborn@Navarro/Cain. If no luck there, try Tractor Supply, Lowe's, or one of the local feed store-type places.
SideshowBob- how do you know if you have the right mixture of antifreeze and water in your car? I have an old hoopty car and need to be sure it doesn't freeze. Is there some way to check? Should I really be concerned about my car?
Thanks! I'll try that tonight, I pass ACE on the way home so I'll stop there then.
Don't most newer construction houses have the anti-frost outdoor faucets? Just disconnect your hose and they're fine.
50/50 MIX OF ANTIFREEE.
If you want to run by Allen Honda we can use the hydrometer and test your antifreeze to see how good it is for you. Takes about 5 minutes and N/C for the check.
If you want to run by Allen Honda we can use the hydrometer and test your antifreeze to see how good it is for you. Takes about 5 minutes and N/C for the check.
can't Think:
Auto stores sell a small device that has plastic floating balls in it that tell you the approximate freezing temperature of your mixture. I like to keep mine between 0 degrees F and -20 deg. F. Just mixing is very inaccurate unless you use the tester. Pure ethelyne glycol(antifreeze) freezes at about -80 deg. F and water is 32 deg. F. The container should give you an idea of the proper mixture(some sell pre-mixed in the container).
Auto stores sell a small device that has plastic floating balls in it that tell you the approximate freezing temperature of your mixture. I like to keep mine between 0 degrees F and -20 deg. F. Just mixing is very inaccurate unless you use the tester. Pure ethelyne glycol(antifreeze) freezes at about -80 deg. F and water is 32 deg. F. The container should give you an idea of the proper mixture(some sell pre-mixed in the container).
If you use the towel trick wrap them in a couple plastic bags as well.
quote:
O ya and make a fire if you can!
Actually, unless you've got one of those blower kits or the power is out, you lose more heat through the flue than you gain from the fire.
quote:
Don't drip your faucets!
They suggested that back in the early 80's when I was living in Houston and water pressure was extremely low for days.
Bollocks. Water pressure was low because they blew something in the city plumbing system, not because people were dripping their faucets.
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Other suggestions for Thu/Fri nights:
-- If you have copper pipes and not PEX, you can put a light fixture with a bare bulb (60w, don't use halogen) up against the copper pipe and it'll keep that section from freezing.
-- If you live in a newer construction house with PEX, go up in your attic and make sure that you don't have a ton of exposed line sitting on the surface of your insulation. Your best bet is to throw self-contained blanket batting over any exposed PEX line for the duration of the freeze and remove it later.
-- Don't forget that your sewer lines and your in-ground city supply line/valve can freeze too if temps dip into the teens. This is why dripping sinks that are on an outside wall is a good idea... keep some water running through that line. Don't forget to drip both hot and cold lines.
Ace Hardware is out of those spigot covers and won't have any until tomorrow.
Thanks so much for the info yall. I've got it taken care of and feel so much better about my car now.
Kroger's has spigot covers, they are cleverly disquised as styrofoam cups.
Get the largest you can find, take two or three and poke a hole throught the bottom, put a rubber band through the hole and slip a toothpick throught it so it does not pull through he cups and put it on the hose bib.
Wrap a little cloth around the hose bib if you want.
[This message has been edited by SV (edited 1/6/2010 2:05p).]
[This message has been edited by SV (edited 1/6/2010 2:06p).]
Get the largest you can find, take two or three and poke a hole throught the bottom, put a rubber band through the hole and slip a toothpick throught it so it does not pull through he cups and put it on the hose bib.
Wrap a little cloth around the hose bib if you want.
[This message has been edited by SV (edited 1/6/2010 2:05p).]
[This message has been edited by SV (edited 1/6/2010 2:06p).]
The place that starts with a G on Villa Maria has them. Or they did.
I have exposed pipes in the attic so I'm shutting the water off at the street for thurs, fri, and sat nights.
Just covered my spigots and exposed sprinkler pipes with old towels, plastic grocery sacks, and duct tape. Now I just have to climb up in the attic and check to see if there are any exposed pipes up there. :-/ I've never worried about that before but since it is going to get cold and stay cold...
I have a spigot under my deck with a hose attached to it. I really don't want to crawl under there, do I really have to?
Bubble wrap and packing tape for faucets. Sheet of bubble wrap in the water meter box covering the meter and piping. All leftovers from Christmas.
Not sure if it's necessary but we always used to also open up the cabinet doors on the sinks inside the house so the warm air can get to the pipes under the sinks.