Whether you are coming home from vacation, school, work, or an errand, you don't want to come home to find a burst pipe—especially when it's freezing outside. This is why it is important to do everything that you can to protect the interior and exterior of your home from something like this happening. This article is going to focus on winterizing your outdoor plumbing in an effort to prevent them from freezing and bursting this winter season.

Tip #1: Remove Any and All Hoses

If you have any outdoor hoses, there may be a chance that they are holding water in them, potentially near the spigot entrance. If this is the case, it could cause it to expand, break the faucet apart, and even result in flooding problems inside the home. Generally, you will want to remove any hoses outside and ensure that handles are in the off position.

Tip #2: Insulate Spigots

Consider something for just a moment: if you cut a faucet right down the middle, you would be able to see that there is only a small metal valve between your home's plumbing pipes and the frigid winter air. During the wintertime, it is entirely possible for the inner workings of any faucet to become cold enough and freeze, resulting in far serious damage than you could ever imagine. Therefore, it is important that you take the steps to insulate the spigot. This can be done with a Styrofoam dome, which costs a few bucks at a local hardware or home improvement store and can prevent freezing, as well as the buildup of snow and ice.

Tip #3: Locate All Shut-Off Valves

To ensure that there is no way for your plumbing pipes to freeze, the best thing that you can do is to shut off the water supply to the exterior plumbing lines. In order to do this, you need to know the location of your outdoor shut-off valves. If you are unable to locate them or aren't sure if you have located all the valves that operate your outdoor faucets, contact a local plumber to perform this task for you since it is such an important one.

Winterizing your home to protect your plumbing doesn't have to be difficult, but it is something that you will want to do. If you can't do it on your own, contact a professional plumbing replacement company for assistance, as they understand what happens when you don't take preventative measures.