Frost-Proof Faucets

A Lot Cheaper than a Frozen Pipe!

One of water's most important physical properties is surprisingly unusual: unlike most other substances, when water freezes it expands instead of contracts. Life scientists tell us that this unusual property is absolutely essential to life as we know it; without this difference Earth's oceans would be little more than somewhat salty frozen treats. Your plumber may not admit it, but this property is also essential to the payments on his yacht. If a pipe around your house has ever frozen and burst, you know what the guy with the plumber's crack means. It ain't a pretty sight (you decide which "it" I mean).

Frozen Faucets are a Hassle

An outdoor faucet, also known as a hose bib or sillcock, is likely to be the weakest link in your plumbing when the temperature drops too far below freezing. It’s not just exposed to frigid air, it's also close to the ground where the temperature is lowest. Houses that don’t have hose shutoffs with drains for the outdoor faucets (very common for houses on slabs) are often in danger of freezing along that run of pipe. A wise preemptive step for a homeowner is to install a frost-proof hydrant. With their long valves, even a faucet that must be left operating for outdoor water supply during the coldest days of winter remains protected from freezing. That’s because, when the faucet is turned off, all the water stays within the house instead of in a pipe that's out and exposed to the cold.

Pipe Heaters

Prevent Frozen Waterfalls on Those Cold Winter Nights with a Wrap-On Pipe Heating Cable

Houstonians, where I grew up folks pretty much rejoiced if a January overnight low only dropped to 20° Fahrenheit, so your "nasty cold snaps" seem laughably warm to me. I kid you not, in seven years I've never worn my second-warmest coat here, much less my warmest - and the best gloves are still somewhere in storage, too. However, I realize that not only are the human beings around here unable to endure sub-freezing temperature, local houses haven't been designed for such temperatures either. So we are prepared: for example, we bought some of those 99¢ foam covers for our outdoor faucets and picked up some foam pipe wraps.

The Problem: Exposed Pipes

One inexplicable local plumbing practice - don't me why, given Houston has a hard freeze every few years - is to pipe to near the edge of the slab with PVC, then finish bringing water to the house through an exposed copper supply pipe. Yep, naked metal pipe outside the house; a veritable full-employment plan for local plumbers if there ever was one. I've outsmarted them, though, because I own a Wrap-On Pipe Heating Cable I'd bought several years ago for our Great (formerly) White Elephant on the Edge of the Prairie. No problems: even after several nights of low-twenties temperatures, we'll be fine -- though our plants probably won't.