Winterizing Exterior Faucets (aka Hose Bibs)

This task is very important: the pipes connected to exterior faucets will freeze in the winter if their water supply is not shut off and the water in the pipes is not drained.  If they freeze, there will be flooding in the garage and/or the breezeway suite storage area. 

There are five hose bibs with six shutoff valves, but it’s easiest to think of it as four distinct plumbing lines/circuits.  Each plumbing line/circuit is described below.

Winterizing a plumbing line involves two or sometimes three steps:

1. Turn off the shutoff valve
2. Open the faucet to allow water to drain
3. If applicable, drain any remaining water in the line.  (This is only necessary in one of the plumbing lines.)

Apartment/ADU Deck and Upper Garage

There are two faucets on this line.  One is on the apartment/accessory dwelling unit deck; the other is below it outside the upper garage:

Apartment / ADU Deck	Outside Upper Garage

This plumbing line has two shutoff knobs and two drain valves.  The first shutoff valve is underneath the utility sink in the lower garage:

The first drain valve is located at the bottom of the faucet outside the upper garage.  Here’s a close-up photo:

After opening both faucets (this one and the one on the apartment/ADU deck), simply press the white stem and let the water drain out until it stops or slows to a trickle.  (Remember to open the faucet on the apartment/ADU deck; if you don’t, it won’t drain.)

The second shutoff valve and drain valve is in the lower garage above the workbench, on the right side of the garage.  It’s covered by a white spring-loaded plate:

When you remove the plate (it’s easy to remove, but don’t just pull on it; stand on the workbench and pull the plate out about 3/4” to see how it’s attached; the mechanism is fairly obvious) you’ll see the second shutoff and drain valves:

Shutoff Valve and Drain Valve – Off Position	Shutoff Valve – On Position

This shutoff and drain valve is arguably redundant; most of the freezing risk is eliminated by the first shutoff and drain valves.  These valves were installed after the pipes froze one winter, but I am pretty sure I had neglected to drain the water after shutting off the valve (the one in the outside faucet).  Note that if you open this drain valve you’ll need a bucket or some other container to collect the drain water.

Main (Lower) Garage

This line has one shutoff valve and one faucet.

The faucet is located between the garage door and the house entrance:

The shutoff valve is located to the right of the house entrance in the ceiling:

Deck Shower/Faucet

This line has one faucet and two shutoff valves (one for hot water, one for cold water).  The faucet is located directly underneath the outdoor shower – it’s not the one closest to the door:

The shutoff valve is located in the locker room, in the room with the toilet.  There are two access panels in that room, one on the east wall (closest to the lake) and one above the toilet.  The shutoff valve for the faucet is the blue one located on the east wall:

It may not be strictly necessary to shut off this faucet because it’s on an inside wall.  The faucet closest to the door is left on year-round.  However, it can’t hurt.

Dock

The fresh-water faucet on the dock is located about a third of the distance down the dock on the south side (on the right as you face the lake).  There are actually two faucets:

The one on the right is used to drain the water from the irrigation system.  (The above photo was taken in mid May 2009; these faucets are not underwater in the summer.)

The shutoff valve is located above the toilet in the locker room, behind the access panel.  The blue valve controls the dock faucet; the orange one is the main water shutoff for the house (not counting the apartment/ADU, which has its own, and which actually controls this one):

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