There’s usually a point every fall when winter still feels a little way off. The patio furniture is still outside, the garden hose is still connected, and you tell yourself you’ll get to it next weekend.

Then the forecast suddenly shows a string of freezing nights.

That’s usually the best reminder to give the plumbing around your home a quick once-over. Most fall plumbing prep is pretty simple, and the places that deserve attention are usually the same ones every year: outdoor taps, colder areas of the house, and anything that will sit unused through winter.

Start With the Hose You’ve Been Meaning to Put Away

If there’s still a garden hose connected outside, start there.

Take it off the faucet, empty the water, and store it for the season. Water needs room to drain from an outdoor tap, and a connected hose can leave water sitting where you don’t want it once temperatures fall.

If the faucet has an indoor shutoff valve, close it, then open the outdoor tap to drain the remaining water. Frost-free faucets also need the hose removed to drain properly.

This is also a good time to give the faucet a quick check. It may have been dripping since August. Maybe the handle has become stiff, or the fixture feels a little loose in the wall. Those are easy things to ignore when the weather is warm and much more annoying when you’re standing outside in January trying to deal with them.

Think Back to the Coldest Room in the House

Most homeowners already know which parts of their house get cold.

Maybe it’s the corner of the basement near the foundation. Maybe it’s the utility room beside the garage, a crawl space, or an addition that never seems to warm up quite as well as the rest of the house.

Those are the places worth checking for exposed plumbing.

If a pipe froze there last winter, that’s especially useful information. The house has already shown you the weak spot. A little pipe insulation, sealing a draft, or having the area checked before the next cold snap can help prevent the same problem from happening again.

While you’re downstairs, find the main water shutoff too. Make sure you can reach it and that everyone in the house knows where it is. If the valve looks heavily corroded or feels like it hasn’t moved in twenty years, leave it alone and have a professional check its condition before you need it in an emergency.

Take One Lap Around the Property

You can catch most of the remaining winter prep with one quick walk around the house.

As you go, think about anything that holds or carries water:

• Irrigation systems: Have them winterized before freezing weather.
• Outdoor pumps: Drain equipment that will sit unused.
• Outdoor kitchens or seasonal water lines: Shut down and drain the plumbing for winter.
• Sump discharge: Make sure the line is clear and water can drain away freely.
• Outdoor leaks: Deal with dripping taps or connections while the weather is still cooperative.

Every home is different. One house may have an irrigation system and outdoor kitchen, while the next has neither. The point is simply to notice what’s on your property before it disappears under snow and becomes easy to forget.

Leaving for the Winter Takes a Little More Planning

For most people, winter prep ends with the outdoor plumbing and a check of the colder parts of the house.

A home that will sit empty for weeks or months needs more planning.

If you spend part of the winter somewhere warmer, own a seasonal property, or expect to turn the heat down significantly, water can remain in supply lines, fixtures, appliances, and other parts of the plumbing.

That may call for shutting off the water and draining parts of the system before you leave. The exact process depends on the house and what’s connected to the plumbing, so it’s worth making sure the winterization is complete instead of discovering a missed line when you come back in the spring.

Then Comes That First Really Cold Night

You wake up, walk into the kitchen, turn on the faucet, and barely anything comes out.

That’s often how a frozen pipe first makes itself known.

Try a few other cold-water faucets around the house. If the rest are flowing normally, the problem is probably limited to one area. If several fixtures have lost flow, the issue may be farther back in the plumbing or water supply.

Frozen pipes need gentle, controlled warming. As the ice melts, watch the surrounding area because a pipe can crack while frozen and only start leaking once water begins moving again.

If you see water, shut off the supply and get the damaged section repaired. Pipes inside walls or ceilings can also be hard to locate safely, so professional help can save you unnecessary opening and guesswork.

A Little Fall Prep Can Save a Miserable Winter Morning

Plumbing For Life has helped homeowners in London and the surrounding area since 1997, and a lot of winter plumbing trouble starts with small things that are easy to overlook in the fall.

A hose left connected. An outdoor tap that had been dripping for months. A pipe in the cold corner of the basement that already froze once before.

Taking care of those things while the weather is still comfortable is much easier than dealing with them during a January cold snap.

If you come across an outdoor tap that needs repair, a shutoff valve that has seen better days, or plumbing you’re concerned about heading into winter, contact Plumbing For Life and we can help get it ready before the cold settles in.