jbinnall24 October 11, 2012Home Inspection Winter Tips #1.
As a certified home inspector performing home inspections in Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Waverly, Waterloo, Iowa city, and all points in between, I get the opportunity to see a lot of things that go wrong during the winter months, so I have decided to start a home inspection winter tips blog.
A non frost proof faucet
This week’s tip is to disconnect your garden hose! This will eliminate the potential for a burst pipe, provided you have frost proof exterior faucets. In most home inspections I perform, the home will have a frost proof exterior faucet. Some homes still have exterior faucets that are not frost proof which can be seen in the picture to the right. These should have an accessible valve on the interior of the home which needs to be turned off and the hydrant manually drained in order to prevent the pipe from bursting over the winter months.
A frost proof faucet holds the water to the interior of the home preventing freezing
A frost proof faucet works by having the supply valve recessed back in the pipe so that the water is actually held or released from inside the home. This keeps the water held in the pipe warm during the cold winter months and prevents freezing and subsequent bursting of the pipes. When the valve is shut off the remaining water in the pipe drains out and freezing is avoided. There is one caveat though, that is the faucet must be properly installed with some amount of fall towards the exterior. During the course of a home inspection I will note this if needed in the home inspection report and call it out for repair.
Now that you have an idea of how your exterior faucet works, you can see the importance of disconnecting the garden hose during the winter months. This allows the faucet to drain and prevents burst pipes which can cause thousands of dollars in damage to your home.
Please share this post as a reminder to your friends, family and coworkers. And, if you know someone who is considering buying or selling a home or commercial business, I would appreciate your referral.