How to Prevent Outdoor Faucets from Freezing

Outdoor faucets, also known as hose bibbs, can be damaged by freezing temperatures. A hose bibb that freezes and breaks can be expensive to replace, especially if the exterior of the house is brick.

To protect hose bibbs from freezing, either:

• • Cut the off water to the spigots and drain the pipes.
  • Install freeze-resistant or frost-proof hose bibb spigots.
  • Install insulated faucet covers from The Duck Brand.
• Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• Repair Leaking Outdoor Faucet Hose Bibb(video)
• How to Prevent Frozen Pipes(article)
• Insulating Water Pipes to Prevent Freezing(video)
• Prevent Pipes from Freezing and Thaw Frozen Pipes(article)
• How to Protect Your Home During Extreme Cold Weather(article)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Danny Lipford: Now when it’s really cold outside and those winter winds are blowing, freeze damage can occur to your outside hose bibb. Now, if damage occurs to a hose bibb, like this—particularly on a masonry wall—it may require bricks to be removed, the plumber to come out and repair the damage, and then bricks to be reinstalled. That can cost a lot of money.

Now I’ve seen homeowners use a lot of methods over the years to prevent this type of damage, including wrapping newspapers around the hose bibb, wrapping old towels around it, even using garbage bags. All of those methods will work some, but there are some more modern ways of taking care of it.

One that I like is a hose bibb cover that’s an insulated cover that’s available at most home centers. And what it basically consists of is foam on the inside with gasket material. And then this little hook that what you do here is you hook it around the stem of the hose bibb.

And you position this right in place, you clip it closed like that, then you tighten this up. And it will hold the insulated cover right against the wall nice and tight and will prevent this hose bibb from having a problem this winter.