We’re often warned about leaving outdoor faucets on in the winter, but what really can happen if they get left on?
While there’s a chance that nothing could happen if you leave your taps on, given the chilling nature of Canada’s winters odds are you could end up with issues caused by the exposed end of the tap freezing. When this happens, it can cause issues with far more than just the exposed end – the freezing can spread through the pipe and into your house, causing the interior pipes to expand and burst. This also isn’t just damaging to the pipes either – the leak can cause major water damage to your house which can lead to mold and other issues that will need professional drain repair.
Often times people will simply just shut off water at the outdoor faucet, and then remove and drain their hose if it was still attached. While this is certainly better than just turning off the water at the end of the hose, it’s definitely not enough to ensure that you won’t have pipe freezing issues with your outdoor faucets.
To make sure that your faucets are properly shut off for the winter you’ll need to actually shut off the water supply to the faucet from inside your house. All outdoor faucets should have an internal shut off that is accessible. All you have to do is locate that shut off and turn the water off there. This will ensure that there is no water exposed to the freezing weather outside and prevent any damage from happening to your plumbing.