All I can say is, I must be living right.

Every Fall, I shut off the water to our exterior hose bibs. Today it is so nice, I thought I would wash the car at home rather than taking it to the drive thru car wash.

I went to turn the hose bib off and noticed it was already shut. Hmmmmm, that is strange, since I thought I had turned it off in the Fall, after shutting it off in the basement and draining it.

Apparently I did not turn this one off at all.

We had some really cold weather (below zero) this year.

How on earth could this not have split the line to the hose bib?


Do you shut off the water to your hose bibs and drain the line in the Fall?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P-220,

Sometimes it takes repeated freezings to crack things. Anything in the system that can relieve the pressure of expansion can prevent cracking, such as air in the system or pipes that can flex. For every pipe that cracks, there are likely several that almost do.

I have frost-proof sillcocks. They are about 12 or 16 inches long. The handle and spout is outdoors, but the actual valve and seat is inside the basement which rarely (if ever, never checked) drops below 50° due to the furnace and exposed hot water heat plumbing.

The sillcock is mounted at an angle, so when I turn the faucet off outside, the water drains out and there's no water on the cold side of the valve.

I've been told that copper can freeze once. It will stretch, the second time all the stretch is gone and it will crack.

My experiences seem to bear that out. If you trace your pipe back does it have an outlet for the pressure? The water isn't trapped between two valves? Since it would start freezing at one end and not in the middle it could explain.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I have frost-proof sillcocks. They are about 12 or 16 inches long. The handle and spout is outdoors, but the actual valve and seat is inside the basement which rarely (if ever, never checked) drops below 50° due to the furnace and exposed hot water heat plumbing.

The sillcock is mounted at an angle, so when I turn the faucet off outside, the water drains out and there's no water on the cold side of the valve.

^^ THIS ^^

The OP is in Hamilton County, OH, according to his profile so he most likely has the frost proof sillcock. I've lived in Alaska, Alberta, and multiple states in the Upper Midwest and think the OP's winterization practices are great so I'd recommend continuing them since shit happens (e.g. heat goes out).

I just put the little foam boxes over them....but I live in the Portland, OR metro area so our winters are mild...and wet.