How to winterize pipes

I know this has probably been discussed before but I cannot seem to find it. Can someone post the instructions again? Thank you.

 

I meant the water pipes in the closet in the garage. We have done this each year, but we noticed there are two release valves and don't know which one to bleed. Both?

 

Hopefully the valves have labels on the which tell you what they control, but even if they don't, it's not terribly hard to figure them out. Water pipes can be copper, but mine are PVC, and they are usually only about 1/2" diameter. The shutoff valves for the faucets in the garage and the back yard are in the utility room in the garage of my townhouse. I can look at the pipes and follow them up to the ceiling, and one turns towards the garage and the other heads to the back of the house, so that's how I can tell the difference. You just shut the valve off inside, then go outside and open the faucet and let all the water drain out. I only shut off the one in the back yard because the garage one is insulated well enough that it won't freeze and crack.

 

Hi - thanks for your email! WE did shut off the valve faucets in the garage and back yard in the closet. And we also turned off and moved the sleeves for both spigots in the backyard in the garage. However, the last step is to bleed the water off in the closet. The vavle for that is on the same line (pipe) as the two spigots in the closet. However, there's another release valve on a pipe that runs vertical to the one I just mentioned. It seems to have the main water line shutoff lever on it. In the past, I seem to recall bleeding that one as well, but last nite the water from THAT one just kept coming. Anyway, maybe my memory is foggy and we only need to bleed the one on the faucet line. What do you think? Many thanks.

 

Hi - ok then we did it correctly and the other "bleeder screw valve" that we see on another vertical line (where the main shut off lever is located), should NOT be bled - is that correct? We opened the bleeder screw on the line with the two hose bibs. Thanks so very much for the info - appreciate it!

 

Correct. Leave that one alone.

 

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

 

I'd like to expand on this a bit... at least for my 2 hose bibb shutoffs -- I have a bleeder screw which I always loosened or removed and I thought that was enough, but the pipes still randomly froze.... turns out I had to take the whole bleeder cap off and then remove a small rubber plug (which was barely visible in the darker utility areas) under it and then I could hear the water flowing out... can't believe it took me 7 years to figure this out, but I'm sick of repairing burst PVC pipes and cutting into walls! I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to work this way... I guess usually the rubber stopper will stay inside the bleeder cap, but mine don't.

 

I don't see any rubber stopper per se. And yes, usually water sprays out for a small while and then stops.

 

yeah I wish ours were all copper I didn't get air noises when I twisted the caps which should have been the first sign, but I never followed up on that until we had another pipe burst this past year. I was a spiral crack in the PVC which was about 3' long ... I replaced it from the outside of the house by removing the siding and sheathing and insulating the heck out of it even though it probably doesn't need it unless you forget to turn off the bibb.

Next task: replacing the water heater, that should be fun!

 

We added the expansion tank due to the horror stories we had heard.

 

We have an expansion tank (house built in 96) that failed (leaked) and I replaced that last year, so now I just need to get a torch and a new water heater I guess.

Which reminds me of another thing.... how many of you flush out your water heaters? (Hook up a hose and drain it out) It's supposed to be done yearly I think. I flushed mine out because while filling our bathtubs we gots of little specks of debris. Since I've flushed it we havent had a problem.

 

I know we're supposed to, but so far we haven't.

 

Our was like that this year. Unscrewed the cap, nothing. Took off the little rubber bit: 1/3 of a bucket. Glad I read your post first, no head scratching involved.

Mike

 

It's probably a good time to winterize your hose bibs or to start thinking about doing it.