Protect Your Outdoor Spigots this Winter.

No one can deny that winter is a harsh and unforgiving visitor to suburban Chicagoland. Farther away from the lake it tends to be even worse. If you forgot or just neglected to put away your hoses for the winter, the results could be disastrous! Tom’s Plumbing of Elgin a professional plumber in far west suburban Chicagoland wants to help you avoid that.

Here are some tips before winter hits with a vengeance –

1.  Disconnect ALL garden hoses.

2.  Use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes.

3.  Wrap exposed pipes with heat tape.

4.  Leave a slight trickle running through the pipes.

Still, disaster could strike your home this winter in far west suburban Chicagoland. When winter causes problems around your home always remember the name…Tom’s Plumbing of Elgin. Remember Tom’s Plumbing 12 months a year for any and all plumbing emergencies. For the full story, visit tomsplumbingservice.com.  

Hose Bibbs and Their Derivations.

A hose bibb by any other name…Almost every home in the Northwest suburbs has one.  Sillcock, spigot, outdoor faucet, hydrant or hose bibb are all different names for the same thing.  This time of year in Chicagoland and for the upcoming months these faucets fail due to improper maintenance and poor installation.

Here is a quick tutorial.  The frost proof sillcock operation is like most other faucets with one big difference, the faucet is much longer to protect the valve from the freezing cold we will be experiencing.  The frost-free faucet has 4 main parts, the handle, the stem which is connected to the handle, the body and spout where the stem is inside of, and the valve seat.

Here at Tom’s Plumbing Inc. we use Woodford Brass freezeless faucets with vacuum breakers.  They are equipped with a patented resetting relief valve that prevents the faucet tube from bursting in extreme cold.  Call us today for an evaluation of your needs.  We are Tom’s Plumbing Inc. serving Elgin and the surrounding area at (847) 697-6444.