How to Winterize Outdoor Faucets and Hose Bibs Before the First Hard Freeze

An outdoor faucet bursts in a specific way: the water trapped in the pipe behind it freezes, expands, and splits the pipe inside the wall, where nobody sees it. Nothing leaks while it is frozen. The flood comes in spring, the first time someone turns the faucet on, when water pours into the wall cavity or the basement ceiling until the interior valve or the main is closed. It is one of the most common winter plumbing claims, and preventing it takes about twenty minutes in the fall.

This guide covers the full procedure for a standard outdoor faucet with an interior shutoff, what to do if there is no interior valve, and the one rule that also applies to frost-free hose bibs, which people wrongly assume take care of themselves. The fall checklist times this to the first hard freeze; the winter guide covers what to do if a pipe freezes anyway.

Before You Start

• A small cup or bowl for the bleeder cap on the interior valve.
• A flashlight, because interior shutoff valves live in basements, crawl spaces, and utility closets.
• An insulated faucet cover for each outdoor faucet (foam dome or fabric sock style).
• A pair of pliers or a wrench, only if a bleeder cap is stiff.
• Somewhere dry to store the hoses.

Step-by-Step

Standard outdoor faucet with an interior shutoff

1. Disconnect every hose. Unscrew the hose from the faucet, along with any splitter, timer, or quick-connect fitting. Drain the hose by walking it out straight and lifting one end, coil it, and store it indoors or in the garage. A hose left attached traps water in the faucet and is the single most common cause of a split spigot, frost-free or not.
2. Find the interior shutoff. Follow the pipe from the outdoor faucet back through the wall. On the inside, usually within a few feet of where it enters, there is a valve on that pipe: a round handle, a lever, or a small oval knob. In a basement it is near the rim joist; in a slab house it may be in a utility closet or under a sink on the same wall. Many houses have one valve per outdoor faucet.
3. Close the interior valve. Turn a round handle clockwise until it stops; turn a lever a quarter turn so it sits across the pipe. Do not force a stuck valve.
4. Open the outdoor faucet. Go outside and open the faucet fully. Water runs out for a moment as the pipe between the valve and the faucet drains, then stops. If it keeps running, the interior valve is not holding; close the main and call a plumber.
5. Drain the bleeder. Back inside, look at the interior valve for a small cap on its side, the bleeder or drain cap. Hold the cup under it and unscrew the cap a turn or two; a little water drains out of the section of pipe between the valve and the wall. When it stops, tighten the cap. Not every valve has one; if yours does not, opening the outdoor faucet drains most of the line on its own.
6. Leave the outdoor faucet slightly open for the winter. Any water that seeps past the interior valve, or condenses in the pipe, then has room to expand or drain instead of splitting the pipe.
7. Put the insulated cover on. Hook the cover's strap over the faucet, pull it snug against the wall, and tighten. It protects the exposed spigot and the wall penetration from wind chill.
8. Repeat for every outdoor faucet, including the one on the far side of the garage that you forget exists.

Frost-free hose bib

A frost-free sillcock has a long stem that puts the actual shutoff valve deep inside the heated wall, and the pipe between the valve and the outside spout drains by gravity every time you close it. It needs no interior valve, but it needs two things: the hose off, and a slight downward slope toward the outside. With a hose attached, the pipe cannot drain, the trapped water freezes, and it bursts exactly like a standard faucet, inside the wall. So disconnect the hose, close the faucet, let it drip out, and put a cover on it. If a frost-free faucet drips from the spout after it is closed, the washer at the inner end is worn, and the water sitting in the stem can freeze; have it repaired before winter.

No interior shutoff, not frost-free

Disconnect the hose, put on the thickest insulated cover you can find, and watch the forecast. In a mild climate that is often enough. In a climate with sustained hard freezes, it is a gamble, and the answer is to have a plumber install a frost-free sillcock or add an interior shutoff before next winter; it is a modest job on an accessible pipe. If you also have an in-ground irrigation system, it needs its own shutoff and a drain or blow-out before the freeze, usually by the irrigation company; the fall checklist covers it.

What Normal Looks Like

Normal is a short gush at the outdoor faucet when you open it after closing the interior valve, then nothing, and a few tablespoons from the bleeder cap. Not normal: water that keeps flowing outside after the interior valve is closed (the valve is not holding), water dripping from the interior valve's stem or packing nut (tighten the packing nut a quarter turn; if it still drips, the valve needs replacing), or a faucet handle that spins without shutting (the stem is stripped). In spring, open the interior valve slowly with the outdoor faucet closed, then go outside, open the faucet, and watch the wall and the basement ceiling for the first minute. A split pipe shows up as a wet spot or a drip inside within seconds of pressurizing; if you see one, close the interior valve and call the plumber. A leak sensor on the floor below the faucet's wall penetration catches the one you miss.

How Often

Every fall before the first hard freeze, and it is worth doing a week early rather than a night late. The maintenance calendar lists it in October alongside the second gutter cleaning. Reverse the process in spring after the last freeze: cover off, interior valve open, outdoor faucet checked for leaks. If you get a rare deep freeze in a normally mild area, doing this the afternoon before the cold arrives is cheap insurance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do frost-free hose bibs need to be winterized?

The hose must come off, and a cover helps, but there is no interior valve to close. A frost-free faucet with a hose attached will burst; without one, and installed with the proper slope, it drains itself every time it is shut.

Should I leave the outdoor faucet open or closed for winter?

Slightly open, after the interior valve is closed and the line is drained. If water seeps past the interior valve or condenses in the pipe, an open faucet lets it drain or gives the ice somewhere to expand instead of splitting the pipe.

Is a faucet cover enough on its own?

For a frost-free faucet with the hose removed, or in a mild climate, usually. For a standard faucet in a hard-freeze climate, no; the cover slows heat loss at the spigot but does nothing for water in the pipe behind it. The interior shutoff and the drain are what prevent the burst.

What if I forgot and the faucet froze?

Do not turn it on to check. Close the interior valve if there is one, or the main if not, and wait for a thaw before opening the faucet with someone watching the inside of the wall and the ceiling below. A pipe that split in the freeze shows itself the moment it thaws under pressure; the winter guide covers thawing and what not to do.

The Bottom Line

Hoses off and stored, interior valve closed, outdoor faucet opened to drain, bleeder cap drained, faucet left slightly open, cover on, and the same for every faucet on the house. Frost-free faucets get the hose off and a cover. No interior valve means a cover now and a plumber before next winter. Twenty minutes in October, and the first warm day in April is not the day you discover a wall full of water.

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