Cold weather hose bibs should be winterized due to the upcoming freeze warning we have in place for tonight and this weekend!

We appear to have skipped right over Fall and dropped into Winter, with temperatures hitting near 70 last week, and dropping to 24 degrees tonight!

What do you have to do to winterize your hose bib?

  1. Remove any hose attached to the spigot. Even if you have “frost free” spigots, you will still want to remove the hose! Hooked up hoses can freeze connections because of trapped water in the lines.
  2. Check for leaks. Leaks can cause water to continue to run – and freeze!
  3. Drain the bib. If you have this ability (not all inside shut off valves are accessible,) turn off the water to the pipe and then turn the spigot on to drain what is left in the pipe.
  4. Cover the spigot. If you have a frost free hose bib, this is not absolutely necessary, but there are interior parts to the spigot and pipe that could still freeze. If you drain all the water out in step 3, this also isn’t necessarily a requirement, but again, it is a good idea. If you couldn’t drain the water in step 3, you should make sure to have extra insulation here. Hose bib covers, after a quick search on both Amazon and Lowe’s appear to be $6-10.

A few minutes and a few dollars can help save you from a bad headache with a pipe burst.

Stay warm, Baltimore!