Winterizing
How Do I Winterize My Outdoor Faucet Before Toronto Winter?
Disconnect the garden hose and drain the outdoor tap before the first hard freeze — a hose left attached traps water that can split the pipe inside your wall. It takes about ten minutes.
The single most important step is disconnecting your garden hose and draining the outdoor tap before the first hard freeze — a hose left attached traps water in the pipe, and when that water freezes and expands it can split the pipe inside your wall. In Toronto that means getting it done by late October or early November, and it takes about ten minutes.
Why does leaving the hose attached cause so much damage?
When a hose stays connected, water can't drain out of the tap and the short section of pipe behind it. That trapped water freezes, expands, and puts pressure on the pipe — and because the split usually happens a foot or two inside the wall rather than at the visible tap, you often don't find out until spring, when you turn the water on and it pours into your basement or wall cavity instead of out the spout. It's one of the more expensive plumbing failures to come from a five-second oversight.
What exactly do I need to do before winter?
Disconnect and drain the garden hose, then store it somewhere it won't freeze. Find the shutoff valve for that outdoor line — in most Toronto homes it's inside the basement, on the pipe leading to where the tap comes through the wall — and close it. Then go back outside, open the outdoor tap fully, and let whatever water is sitting in the line drain out. Leave that tap open for the winter so any remaining moisture has room to expand instead of pushing against a closed valve. If there's a small bleed cap on the indoor shutoff, open it to let the last of the water out of that section.
What if my outdoor tap is a frost-free type?
Frost-free taps have a longer stem that shuts the water off further inside the heated part of the house, which handles most of the problem on its own. But they only work as designed if the hose is disconnected — a hose attached to a frost-free tap blocks the drainage the whole design depends on, and it will still freeze and split. So the hose step applies no matter which type you have. If you're not sure which one you've got, disconnect the hose and drain it anyway; it costs you nothing.
When is the right time to do this in Toronto?
Late October through early November is the usual window, before the first sustained overnight freeze. There's no harm in doing it earlier if you're finished with the garden for the year, and it's better to be a few weeks early than one cold night late. The freeze-thaw cycles that come through the Greater Toronto Area starting in November are especially hard on any pipe holding standing water, and older homes across places like Leaside, the Beaches, and North York often have outdoor lines running through uninsulated wall sections that offer very little protection.
What should I do if I think the pipe already froze or split?
Shut off the water to that line immediately at the indoor valve and don't try to thaw it with an open flame. If you turn on an outdoor tap in spring and no water comes out, or water appears somewhere it shouldn't, that's a split line and it needs a plumber rather than a wait-and-see. A repair to the tap and the short run of pipe behind it usually falls in the $125–275 fixture range, but if the pipe has burst and is actively leaking into the house, that becomes an emergency call at $350–850. Catching it at the shutoff valve first is what keeps it in the cheaper category.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to cover the outdoor tap with an insulated cap? A foam cover adds a bit of protection and costs very little, but it's a supplement, not a substitute — draining the line properly does the real work, and a cover on an undrained tap won't save it.
What about the outdoor tap on a condo balcony or a rental? That's usually the building's responsibility rather than yours, so it's worth asking your property manager whether their fall maintenance covers it before doing anything yourself.
Is there anything else outside worth checking at the same time? While you're out there, clear leaves out of window wells and any exterior drains — blocked drainage in fall is a common contributor to water finding its way into basements once the melt starts.
Ten minutes in the fall is a lot cheaper than a burst pipe in the spring — request a plumber or message us on Facebook. Free for homeowners, care of GetFixHero.
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