How to Winterize Outdoor Faucets in Washington

Washington freezes are rare but devastating. Five minutes of fall prep prevents the burst pipe that floods your wall.

Disconnect every hose from every outdoor faucet by mid-October. A connected hose holds water against the spigot, and when that water freezes it expands back into the pipe inside your wall — bursting it without you knowing until the thaw, when water sprays inside the wall.

If you have a separate indoor shutoff for outdoor faucets (common in newer homes — look for a labeled valve in the basement or crawl space), shut it off and then open the outdoor faucet to drain the line. Leave the outdoor faucet open all winter.

If you don't have an indoor shutoff (older Bothell and Kirkland homes), invest $5–10 per faucet in foam faucet covers. They protect against a typical PNW cold snap but won't save you in an unusual hard freeze.

Frost-free sillcocks are the long-term fix — they shut the water off inside the heated wall, not at the spigot itself. About $40 each plus installation, worth doing on any house you'll own more than a few years.