3 Simple Steps to Avoid up to $10,000 in Damages from a Frozen Spigot

11/11/2019 (Permalink)

A few small actions can save you thousands

As the winter months approach across America everyone is getting ready to warm themselves up. But there’s a common problem that we see in Vienna, WV and other surrounding areas; home owners are forgetting three simple steps to stop their spigot freezing over in winter. When spring comes around and they attempt to use their hose for the garden they are horrified to notice flooding and water damage in their home.

Frozen spigots can be the cause of thousands of dollars in damage to a home. We have seen a home in St. Mary’s, WV even experience $10,000 worth of water damage as a result of flooding and water damage. This was a very easily avoidable cost. By following these very simple (and often forgotten) steps to winterise your spigot, you can avoid an awful surprise in Spring.

The 3 Steps to Avoid a Frozen Faucet During Winter

1. Disconnect Your Hose: Do this step in Fall. If you’re reading this after, do it now! This is important because when a hose is connected it holds a small amount of water. This water, when freezing, expands to the thickness of the hose and ultimately blocks it. When this happens the hose can leak or burst. The real damage comes from the backing up of the water when the tap is turned on. This break can even happen in winter. When this happens it is common that the family does not notice the problem until Spring! Weeks to months later. Which means that any water damage has become much, much worse. Yes, this means more money for remediation. So please, do not forget to disconnect your hose.
2. Use an Outdoor Faucet Cover: This is the next step and a lesser thought of one. Disconnecting your hose is one thing, but does not make your spigot winterised just yet. Most hardware stores supply outdoor faucet covers and are relatively inexpensive. A small step to take, a large headache avoided.
3. Install a Frost-Free Faucet: This is the more permanent solution of the three and a highly recommended one. As the name suggests, this is a faucet designed to survive in freezing conditions. HOWEVER: it is still very important that you disconnect your hose during the Fall. While the frost-free faucets are a great solution, they are not 100% fail-safe. The water trapped in the hose can still be at risk of freezing, expanding and ultimately damaging the faucet, or creating further water damage.

We hope that this has helped and will save you money.

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Thank you from the team at SERVPRO of Wood, Ritchie & Pleasants Counties.