Protect Your Plumbing In Freezing Texas Temps With DIY Faucet Covers

With the recent winter weather and sub-freezing temperatures we've been experiencing, it didn't take long for pipes to start freezing up and causing some serious problems. When I went to four of our local big box stores, they had run out of the styrofoam faucet covers to that help protect our plumbing.

I knew for sure I would be in serious trouble if I did not get those outside faucets covered right away. I had to step outside the box and remember some of my old 'Boy Scout life hacks' to get things done.

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I remembered back to my youth when one of my scoutmasters taught us an old trick in covering our faucets using old 2-liter plastic soda or juice bottles. It was not hard to find a nearly empty apple cider drink bottle sitting in my fridge. After chugging the remaining cider, I rinsed it the bottle, cut the bottom off, and began gathering the other needed supplies to make the 'Soda Bottle Faucet Cover'.

I gathered a couple of old tube socks that were missing their mates, some dental floss (I like to use dental floss because it's got a protective type of wax coating on it and when it freezes it won't break), and a couple of plastic shopping bags to water-proof the socks.

Finally, the most important part was the electrical tape. It works like a dream, especially in cold weather. It holds the socks and plastic bags together and keeps them from coming unraveled. Once the faucet is wrapped in socks and plastic, I tie the dental floss around the faucet and then pull the other end out through the neck of the bottle and use the bottle cap to close and hold the bottle and floss in place. That way a pet or wild critter can't knock it off.

In place of socks, you can also use cut-up towels, old t-shirts, or other rags to wrap around the faucet or pipes. Finally, when you find nothing else you could head down to the local Whataburger and have a jumbo cup of sweet tea, and when you're done with it you've got your next faucet cover thanks to an idea from my friend Aaron Savage. I hope this helps. Stay warm.