Why the timing is what it is
September and October are mild here — comfortable to work in, and long before anything is urgent. That is exactly the point.
Our freezes are short, sharp and abrupt. They arrive after a run of pleasant weather, often with little warning, and they are the reason a region with mild winters loses more pipe than places that are properly cold. Houses here were not built defensively: supply lines run through vented attics, uninsulated exterior walls and open crawl spaces, because for 319 mornings a year that is entirely sensible.
The other reason to do it now is availability. When a freeze warning goes out, every plumber in the county books up in an afternoon. Anything you want done by a professional — a water heater on its last legs, a shutoff valve that will not turn — wants doing while there is still a choice of dates.
Outside, and this is the highest-value part
Hose bibs with hoses still attached are the single most common freeze burst there is. Water trapped in the hose cannot drain, so it freezes back into the bib and splits it — frequently inside the wall, where you find out at thaw.
- Disconnect, drain and store every hose. Five minutes, and the best-value item on this page.
- Fit insulated covers on every hose bib. A few dollars each.
- Shut off and drain the irrigation system, and insulate the backflow assembly — it sits above ground, full of water, completely exposed, and freeze damage is the most common reason it fails its annual test.
- Clear gutters and downspouts so water discharges away from the foundation rather than pooling against it. Our clay swells when it gets wet, and that movement is what pulls buried pipe joints apart.
- Check the grade around the house slopes away from it.
Worth knowing
If you only do one thing on this entire list, disconnect the hoses. It costs nothing, takes five minutes, and prevents the most common freeze failure in the area.
Inside
Insulate exposed pipe in the attic, garage and crawl space. Foam sleeves are inexpensive; pay attention to elbows and joints, which is where gaps get left and where the cold gets in.
Seal draughts where pipes pass through exterior walls. A surprising share of freeze damage comes down to a gap around a pipe penetration blowing cold air straight onto it.
Find your main shutoff and turn it. Not just locate — operate it. Valves seize from disuse, and discovering that at 2am with water coming through a ceiling is the worst version of this. Do the same for the stops behind toilets and under sinks.
Check under every sink with a torch. You are looking for the slow drip that has been quietly going for months, and for the white mineral crust that marks one that evaporates between visits.
The water heater, before it gets harder work
Incoming water arrives 20-30°F colder in winter, so the heater has to add far more heat for the same result. A unit that has quietly lost capacity to sediment copes fine in September and runs out in January.
Flush it, or have it flushed. On our hard water, sediment on the tank floor insulates the burner and costs both efficiency and usable capacity.
Test the T&P relief valve — lift the lever briefly and let it snap back. Water should discharge and stop cleanly. If nothing comes out or it will not reseat, that needs attention.
Check the temperature at a tap with a thermometer. 120°F suits most homes.
Look underneath for rust streaks or mineral trails. Those are the earliest physical warning a tank gives.
If it is a tankless unit, this is the time for its annual flush. If the heater is already past twelve years and showing signs, deciding in October beats deciding on the coldest night of the year.
Drains, before the guests arrive
The holidays put more load on a kitchen drain in two days than the rest of the year manages in a month — more cooking, more grease, more people.
If a drain is already slow, deal with it now. A partially restricted line under normal use becomes a blocked one under holiday use, and the timing is never coincidental.
Check whether more than one fixture is affected. One slow drain is that fixture; several together is the main line, and that is worth resolving before the house is full.
And a reminder for the season: no grease down the sink, no matter how much of it there is or how hot the water is running.