Ottawa winters are some of the coldest out there! With temperatures often going lower than -20°C in January and February (or worse), it’s no wonder that so many Ottawa homeowners come home to frozen pipes, flooded basements, and water damage. If you’re not careful, this can happen to you, too!
The hose bib – such a small device sticking out of your garage or outdoor walls; there’s not much to think about when you attach a garden hose to “the thingy in the wall” to turn on your sprinkler system throughout the warmer months. But come the colder months if left unattended these bibs can cause a host of issues for your home and cost you money you could have saved.
Folks who live in cold climates like Oshawa will tell you that spring is probably the most favorite time of year. Most of the snow is finally melted, the temperatures outside warmed up and the roads are not full of salt and sand. Spring is a fantastic time to do a little look over of your house and having a look-see at your plumbing should be part of your spring cleaning list.
Ahhhhh…spring and summer in Hamilton is a beautiful time of the year – the birds are chirping, the leaves are growing on the trees and the flowers and the plants are starting to bud. Everybody in Hamilton is thinking about filling up their pool and getting that pool water to change from murky green and back to blue again. Pressure washing the driveway, soaping up the car, washing and rinsing the windows… all those wonderful summer home activities! What do they all have in common?
Here in Ottawa we experience very harsh winters. Add to that the often quick thaws and instant “spring-in-a-day” weather and you have a recipe for garden faucets that freeze, thaw and crack, leading to leaking outdoor faucets, cracked pipes, damaged hose bibs and an all around damaged hose faucet. If your garden faucets (or hose bibs as those in the business call them) are not maintained, they can easily have to be replaced long before their ideal lifespan of 20 years.
