Finish winterizing: have you disconnected your garden hose?
Most of us in the Chicago area may have looked out our windows today and saw the first snow flurries of the season. It was a pretty sight to see the fluffy flurries fluttering through the air… and an even prettier sight to see that they weren’t really sticking to the ground…
With the temperatures dropping and snow in the air, it’s a good time to finish some last-minute winterizing around your house in regards to pipes and drains. It’s important to keep water out of exterior pipe systems that won’t be used in the winter because trapped water can freeze and expand, causing cracks and breaks and even bursting pipes.
After using the garden hose all summer, it’s easy to overlook it when the temperature drops and to leave it connected to an outdoor faucet or spigot. Don’t do this! Make sure you disconnect any garden hoses and tighten the faucet to be sure the water is turned off for the winter. If you leave a garden hose attached, a small amount of water can stay lodged in the pipe by the spigot and will quickly freeze. This ice can damage your faucet and pipe: so prevent a costly repair by disconnecting that hose today!