Every fall, thousands of seasonal cottages around Barrie, Orillia, and Lake Simcoe get buttoned up for winter — and every spring, a few of them greet their owners with burst pipes and flooded floors. Properly winterizing your cottage plumbing is a weekend job that prevents the single most common (and most expensive) off-season disaster.
Why Cottage Plumbing Is So Vulnerable
Unlike your house in Barrie, a seasonal cottage sits unheated through months of deep cold. Any water left in the lines will freeze, expand, and split pipes, fittings, valves, and fixtures. It doesn't take a record cold snap — a few nights well below freezing with no heat is enough. And because nobody's there to catch it, a burst pipe can run undetected until spring, when the thaw turns it into a flood.
The Shutdown Checklist
Work through this in order — each step builds on the last:
- Shut off the water at the source. Turn off the well pump (flip the breaker) or close the main valve from a municipal supply. This is the single most important step.
- Drain the pressure tank and water heater. Open the drain valves and let them empty completely. For the water heater, shut off its power or gas first, then drain.
- Open every faucet, inside and out. Hot and cold, upstairs and down, plus outdoor hose bibs. Leave them open — this lets the lines drain by gravity and gives any remaining water room to expand.
- Flush toilets and drain the tanks. Hold the handle down to empty the tank, then sponge or siphon the remaining water from the bowl. A cracked toilet tank or bowl is an expensive spring surprise.
- Drain appliances. Dishwasher, washing machine, ice maker lines — anything with a water connection needs draining per the manufacturer's instructions. Don't forget the water filter housings.
- Add antifreeze to the traps. Pour non-toxic RV/marine antifreeze (the pink stuff — never automotive antifreeze) into every drain trap: sinks, tubs, showers, floor drains, and the toilet bowls. This keeps the remaining water in the traps from freezing and cracking the fixture.
- Protect the pump and pressure system. If your cottage has a jet pump, drain it according to the manual. Consider having the well system professionally blown out with compressed air for a thorough clearing of the lines.
What About Cottages You Visit All Winter?
If you use the cottage on winter weekends, a full shutdown doesn't make sense — but you still need a plan. Keep the heat set no lower than around 13°C (55°F) while you're away, have someone check the property after extreme cold snaps, and know exactly where the main shut-off is in case a pipe lets go while you're there. A Wi-Fi temperature sensor that alerts your phone if the cottage drops near freezing is cheap insurance.
The Spring Reopening
Reopening deserves the same care in reverse: close all the faucets you left open, restore power to the pump and water heater (make sure the heater tank is full before turning it on — firing an empty tank burns out the element), pressurize the system slowly, and walk the whole cottage checking every fixture, joint, and trap for leaks before you call it done. Finding a weeping fitting in May beats finding a flooded cottage in June.
An hour of prevention in October is worth a lot more than a week of repairs in April.
Closing up the cottage this fall — or dealing with the aftermath of a winter that got in? Call Concepts Plumbing at (705) 715-1513 for a free estimate anywhere in Barrie and Simcoe County. We're open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
