Spring is finally here and it’s time to start taking advantage of the warm weather. You’ll need your water hose back on before you can wash your car, give your dog a bath or water your garden.
Hopefully you took all the precautions to winterize your pipes and turned off any outdoor spigots a few months ago. In Virginia, temperatures stay above freezing for most of the winter season but there are still frigid days and snow storms that could freeze your pipes.
Now that temperatures are steadily above freezing, you can turn them back on. If you’re vigilant about watching the weather you may elect to keep your outdoor water on through most of the winter and only shut it off during colder periods.
Regardless of when you choose to turn your water off, once springtime weather is here to stay you can start using your outdoor spigot.
Getting your water flowing again is a simple process, here is what we recommend:
- Tighten the wheel on your outdoor spigot
- Locate your water shutoff valve, it could be on an indoor or outdoor water line
- Indoor lines are typically in the basement, crawl space or utility room
- Turn the water valve on
- Turn your outdoor spigot on
- Monitor for low water pressure
It’s crucial to make sure your water is flowing like normal and there isn’t a leak somewhere inside your home. The best way to monitor this is to have someone inside the home look for issues while someone outside turns the water back on. These leaks are rare, but if they go unchecked, the damage can be very expensive and inconvenient.
If you want to avoid having to shut your water on and off in the future, you can replace your current faucet with a frost-proof spigot. These keep water from sitting inside your pipes and freezing. The faucet cuts off water further inside of the home to keep it insulated and above freezing temperatures. The pipe inside frost-proof faucets is at an angle so any leftover water drips out and does not sit in the spigot and freeze.
An important part to insuring your frost-proof faucet is effective is to make sure your pipes are properly insulated from the cold weather.
If your pipes ever leak or burst, Mike Wilson Plumbing has neighborhood emergency plumbing services for when you need a plumber fast. Don’t wait until an emergency or DIY gone wrong to call a plumber – Mike Wilson Plumbing can provide the routine maintenance, installations and repairs that you need. Contact us today to fulfill your plumbing needs.