Bursting pipes = water damage. Water damage = expensive when not properly and promptly taken care of. Follow ServiceMaster of Rochester’s 7 steps for how to store your hose, and avoid water damage from ice, cracked hoses, and pipes, oh my!
7 Steps to Correctly Store Your Hose for Winter
- Turn it off
Shut off the water to the outdoor faucet. Usually, there are separate shutoff valves inside homes that are dedicated to exterior faucets. Once the valve has been turned off, turn on the outdoor faucet so that any remaining water in the wipes can run out through the hose.
- No kinks
Remember when it was fun to put kinks in the garden hose? And then you’d quickly release it when someone tried to figure out why it wasn’t working, greeting them with a tidal wave of awesome? Well, kinks in the winter can cause all kinds of shenanigans. Any water that is trapped by a kink in a hose can cause holes and extra wear in the hose’s lining when it freezes.
- Squeeze it and remove it
If you have a spray nozzle attached to your garden hose, squeeze the handle to expel any leftover water inside the garden hose
. Remove hose attachments such as spray nozzles and sprinkler heads. Drain these items before storing them for winter.
- Disconnect and cover
Completely disconnect your outdoor hose from the exterior faucet to prevent the hose from freezing to the spigot. If you happen to have more than one hose hooked together, separate them before storing them. Once you have disconnected your outdoor hoses, install an exterior, insulated faucet jacket. This will protect the spigot and will prevent pressurized ice from forming in the lines running into the home.
- Drain
When you drain the hose, you have to COMPLETELY drain the hose. Even after disconnecting it from the spigot, there is likely still water in the middle of the hose. Start by elevating the end of the hose that you disconnected and walk the length of the hose. As you walk, tip the hose sections, allowing the water to drain. When you reach the end, keep the mouth of the hose tipped until the water stops dripping completely.
- Coil
Winding the hose into a continuous circular shape will help prevent the hose from bending or kinking while it is stored during the winter. Make sure the hose is dry and preferably warm. It’s much easier to make a smooth coil when the hose is warm.
To coil:
- Start with one end and bend the section of the hose into a loop that is about 3 feet in diameter (across).
- While still holding the hose, reach a couple of feet down the length of the hose to form another loop identical to the first.
- Stack the second loop on top of the first one.
- Continue to make and stack loops down the length of the hose until the whole hose is coiled.
- Finish by screwing the two ends of the hose together. (This prevents unraveling of the loops and keeps critters out of the hose).
- Store
Keep your hose from cracking or freezing by storing it in a warm location (but not in direct sunlight). If your garage or shed does reach freezing temps, consider storing your hose in the basement during the winter. Store your garden hose using a method that prevents your hose from being kinked. Some common storage mechanisms include:
- Hose hanger: Has a large, curved surface that supports the hose without creating kinks. Avoid hanging them on nails as these disperse the weight of the hose unevenly and cause extra stress on the hose.
- Hose pot/bucket: A practical and more visually attractive way to safely coil and store a hose.
- Hose reel: Wind up the hose and you’re ready to go!
BUT WHAT IF…
Sometimes the unforeseeable happens. Inevitably, a disaster sneaks up on us and we have to be able to act quickly to resolve it. You may have followed the above steps perfectly to store your hoses for winter, only to be surprised by the bursting of a nearby water main. This is disastrous any time of year, as the water can quickly find a way into your home and cause severe water damage to your personal belongings. This is where we come in. ServiceMaster of Rochester provides complete water damage restoration, unlike any other companies in the Stewartville, MN, area. Our services include:
- Immediate response 24/7
- Water extraction
- Dehumidification and moisture monitoring
- Mold removal and remediation
- Deodorization and sanitization
- Photo Documentation
- Temporary Power and Climate Control
- Reconstruction and restoration services
We hope you never have to experience that kind of an emergency. However, if you do experience water damage due to a pipe bursting, flooding, sewer backup, sump pump fail, or another unfortunate event, we want to let you know that we have your back. Use our emergency hotline 24/7 to speak to a live person and ensure that repairs are completed quickly. Contact ServiceMaster of Rochester today to learn more about our water damage restoration and other emergency services.
