Why Should I Disconnect My Hose During Winter? As the UK winter settles in and the first frost hits the windscreen, most of us remember to turn up the heating and bleed the radiators. However, one of the most common causes of a flooded kitchen or utility room in the spring is a mistake made months earlier: leaving the garden hose attached.
Even if you have a “frost-free” outdoor tap, leaving that hosepipe connected is a recipe for disaster. At Mr24HourPlumber, we see the aftermath of this every year. Here is why you need to disconnect it today.
The “Frost-Free” Myth
Many modern homes are fitted with frost-proof outdoor taps. These are designed with a long internal valve that sits inside the warm insulation of your house, rather than right at the brickwork.
- How they work: When you turn the tap off, the water drains out of the pipe, leaving the “cold” section empty so it can’t freeze and burst.
- The Problem: If you leave a hosepipe attached—especially one with a spray nozzle at the end—the water cannot drain out. It stays trapped inside the tap body and the hose. When that trapped water freezes, it expands, splitting the internal pipework of your “frost-free” tap.
Why the Damage is Often Hidden
The most dangerous part of a winter pipe burst is that you might not know it’s happened until months later.
- The Freeze: The water inside the tap expands and cracks the pipe inside your wall.
- The Wait: Because the ice acts as a plug, nothing leaks while it’s frozen. Even when it thaws, if the tap is “off,” you might not see a drip.
- The Flood: The moment you head out in the spring to water your plants and turn that tap on, the water doesn’t just go through the hose, it pours out of the internal crack directly into your wall cavity, under your floorboards, or behind your kitchen units.
3 Steps to Winterise Your Outdoor Plumbing
To avoid a call to an emergency plumber in the middle of a thaw, follow this simple checklist:
- Disconnect Everything: Remove hoses, splitters, and timers from the outdoor tap.
- Drain the Hose: Stretch the hose out on a slope to get all the water out before storing it in the shed or garage. This prevents the hose itself from cracking.
- Cover the Tap: For extra protection, especially on older non-frost-proof taps, fit an insulated “tap jacket.” They cost a few pounds and offer a vital layer of thermal protection.
Pro Tip: If your outdoor tap has an internal isolation valve (usually found under the kitchen sink), turn it off and then open the outdoor tap to let any residual water drain out completely.
