5 Steps to Prep Your Outdoor Plumbing This Fall

The colorful leaves are dropping from the trees, leaving your outdoor chores filled with related tasks, such as raking the yard and clearing the gutters of newly packed debris. While the leaves may have your attention, don’t let them distract you from taking proper care of your outdoor plumbing.

Outdoor Plumbing Systems

When you think of your home’s plumbing, the indoor systems likely come first to mind. After all, without showers, sinks, toilets, washers, hot water tanks, and more, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the modern conveniences a home today affords. Keeping your indoor plumbing systems safe should be a priority, and it all begins outside.

Why? Well, in a word: winter. The plumbing you use isn’t just inside, but instead begins with those pipes that extend to outside your home–think, spigots and irrigation systems. When the cold weather sets in and outdoor temperatures plummet, the water within your pipes can freeze–and that typically starts with those closest to the outside. Water expands when frozen and the pressure inside the pipes increases, which can cause them to crack or burst. The end result can be damage to your home and property.

Outdoor Plumbing Fall Maintenance

You can avoid the likelihood of frozen pipes and other other plumbing-related problems by taking the following measures to address your outdoor plumbing before Mother Nature turns off the heat completely.

1. Remove hoses: Remove all hoses from exterior faucets and drain them of water before storing for the cold seasons.
2. Winterize your irrigation system: Irrigation or sprinkler systems need to be removed of all water in order to prevent them from freezing up during the winter. You can hire a professional to service your system, or take the DIY approach and use a manual, automatic, or blow-out drain method, where the latter employs an air compressor to blow remaining water out of your sprinkler system.
3. Turn off the shutoff valve: Turn off the water to exterior faucets at the shutoff valve. After doing so, go back outside and turn on the faucets to allow any excess water to drain out. Keeping the exterior faucets open, return to the inside shutoff valve and remove the bleeder cap to allow the remaining water in the pipe to drain into a bucket. Once the pipe is free of water, replace the bleeder cap and turn off the exterior faucets.
4. Cap spigots: Once all exterior faucets are closed, cover them with insulation covers.
5. Check for leaks: Inspect the areas around exterior faucets and pipes for cracks or air leaks. Seal off any found to avoid cold air from reaching your pipes and the interior of your home.

Checking these outdoor tasks off of your fall to-do list can help ensure a winter free of home plumbing hazards filled with high repair costs and unnecessary headaches.   

Water Damage Cleanup

When you suffer from damage caused by a burst pipe, leaky dishwasher, flooded basement, or other water loss, saving time could make the difference in hundreds or thousands of dollars in damage. Call us for water damage clean up service and water damage restoration service immediately.

We provide 24/7 emergency water damage services for homes, businesses, and commercial buildings around Madison, Middleton, Sun Prairie, Waunakee, Portage, Milwaukee, Brookfield, WI Dells, Fort Atkinson, Watertown, Oconomowoc, Waukesha, West Allis, and surrounding Dane County Wisconsin areas.