How to winterize an outdoor shower with no shutoff valve
Without dedicated shutoff valves, you cannot drain outdoor fixtures before freezing temperatures. Because the pipes are usually hidden behind finished walls or drywalled ceilings, gaining access forces you to either rip open the drywall or shut off the water completely at the main meter.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to winterize an outdoor shower with no shutoff valve
- 1Cutting open the wall from the opposite side to install a shutoff valve and covering the hole with a spring-loaded access panel or a painting.Did this help you?
- 2Calling the original plumber to retroactively install a valve under the home warranty.Did this help you?
- 3Turning off the main water supply for the entire house.Did this help you?
- 4Opening the lowest faucet in the house to drain the pipes.Did this help you?
- 5Running the appliance's water dispenser until the line is empty.Did this help you?
- 6Keeping buckets and towels ready to catch the remaining water in the line.Did this help you?
- 7Installing a local shutoff valve immediately after getting the line open.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have an outdoor shower and my house and I’m looking for how to winterize it before temperatures get to freezing. There’s no water shutoffs that are dedicated to it either.”source ↗
“There’s no way to access the pipes unless I rip open the wall. It’s a finished room on the the opposite side of the wall”source ↗
“I had to do this recently for a plumbing repair in my bathroom: opened up the wall from the other side, did the repair, then installed an access panel when closing the wall back up.”source ↗
“I have a house built in 1977 that has no inside shutoff valve so shutoff at the meter.”source ↗
“Nah, the sink's on an island, the sink and fridge come out of their own holes in the floor, the basement ceiling is drywalled too”source ↗
“Mine is up in my basement ceiling. And against code where I live :) <shrug> I didn't put it there.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 14Old water shut off valve won't turn off
- 12How to blow out water lines and winterize an empty house
- 4How to fix a sink drain without removing the P-trap
- 4How to turn off main water valve at the street safely
- 14Can I blow out my own irrigation system?
- 18Why do freezeless outdoor faucets still freeze and burst?