[hkthomas]

We've got sub zero temperatures here for a few days. I have always been great about disconnecting the hose, but came across an article that said I should leave the water in the faucet in dripping position. Now I'm worried because for sure, ice has formed and the handled is frozen in this position. I hope I got good information on the internet - it was from State Farm!

[oneexception]

The reason this works is that flowing water does not allow the formation of ice crystals until it reaches a much lower temperature. As long as it keeps dripping, there is much less of a chance of the pipe itself freezing and or bursting.

[massplumber2008]

HKThomas...

I don't think that information was for outside faucets like you have here, OK? I believe that advice was meant for faucets in a home where pipes are on outside walls... stuff like that.

In your case, with an outside faucet you should have a shutoff inside the building for this outside faucet? If so, the shutoff should also have a cap on it (see image below). Here, you shut the water off at the shutoff, open the cap and open the outside faucet and that should drain the piping enough that water freezing should not be an issue for you. In the spring you reinstall the cap and turn water back on.

If you don't have a shutoff with cap you should get one installed so you can properly winterize the outside faucet from now on, OK?

Check for the shutoff with the drain cap... let me know how you make out.

Mark

[ballengerb1]

You would need to tell us more about your graden spigot. Many today are frostproof and they do require you to disconnect your hose so the spigot can drain. The actual stem seat is about a foot inside the house and will not freeze if allowed to drain.