What you’re reading is a copy of an email newsletter sent by Stephen Simmons, Owner + Primary Mitigator at Umpire. This is an archive, so some links may be missing or expired.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get these delivered straight to your inbox!
a 3-minute favor for future you
A few minutes now saves major repairs later
Hey - take 3 minutes today and do a favor for future Reader.
I promise you’ll thank yourself as the weather gets colder this winter.
Here’s what to do:
- Shut off the water to your outdoor water spigot. (The shut-off valve is usually in the basement, near where the pipe connects to the exterior wall. If you don’t have one, be sure to put an insulated cover over your outdoor spigot.)
- Go outside and disconnect your garden hose from the water spigot.
- Turn on the spigot to drain any excess water. Then, turn it back off.
That’s it. Three minutes.
Why?
Because when water backs up in your outdoor water spigot and the temperatures drop, the pipe can freeze and expand, causing it to burst.
Now you’ve got peace of mind for the winter season - and all it took was 3 minutes.
Already done that and have time for a little more? 👇
Here are two bonus home protection tips for this time of year (I do these for my own home, too):
- If your crawl space is unconditioned, switch it to winter mode. (That means closing any open vents with an insulated cover and insulating pipes to prevent freezing.)
- If you haven’t cleaned your gutters recently, take a day this week and get all that debris out of there. When debris builds up and moisture hangs around, it can freeze and get heavy, which can be dangerous. (Either it’ll collapse or cause moisture to leak into your ceilings, walls, and foundation - none of which you want!)
Questions about any of this? Give me a call or reply to this email. I respond to every message.
Take care,
Stephen