Every winter on this shoreline produces the same call: a cottage closed in the fall, a cold snap in January, a thaw a few days later, and water running inside a building nobody will visit until spring. Collingwood Plumbers writes this guide so that call happens to somebody else.
There are only two ways to protect a cottage from frozen pipes. Keep it heated and trust the heat, or drain it so there is nothing left to freeze. A chalet in The Blue Mountains used for ski weekends stays heated, so it needs a different plan. A seasonal cottage in Wasaga Beach or along the Meaford shore that closes in October should be drained.
Why draining beats low heat
Low heat manages the risk. It works as long as the furnace runs, the fuel lasts and the power stays on. The lake-effect storms that bring the coldest nights in the snowbelt are also the storms that take the power down. A drained cottage has nothing to freeze, whatever the weather does.
The second reason is the thaw. Ice in a pipe rarely splits it on the cold night. The ice plug traps pressure between itself and a closed tap, the split forms there, and the water runs when the plug thaws. In an empty cottage, that water can run for weeks. Frozen pipe repair is the job that follows, and it is never the cheap part.
The order of a cottage shutdown
The order matters, because each step depends on the one before it.
- Turn off the supply. On town water, close the main shut-off. On a private well, switch the well pump off at its breaker, so it cannot run dry.
- Turn off the water heater. Electric: switch off the breaker. Gas or propane: set it to the vacation or pilot setting, or off, as its manual says. Never drain a tank with the power on; the element burns out in seconds.
- Drain the water heater. Attach a hose to the drain valve, open a hot tap to let air in, and drain it completely.
- Open every tap. Hot and cold, inside and outside, including the shower and the laundry.
- Open the drain points. Every low point in the supply system should have a drain valve. If yours does not, that is worth fixing.
- Blow out the lines. Compressed air through the system pushes out the water a gravity drain leaves behind in dips and flat runs.
- Drain the pressure tank on a well system, and the line to it.
- Antifreeze the traps. Plumbing antifreeze in every sink, tub and shower trap, the floor drains, and the toilet bowls and tanks after flushing them dry.
- Leave the sump pump on. Test it before you leave.
Town water or a private well
The shutdown changes with the supply. A cottage on town water in Collingwood, Thornbury or Wasaga Beach has a main shut-off and usually a curb stop the municipality controls. Some owners ask the town to close the curb stop for the winter; ask your town how it handles that.
A cottage on a private well has a pump, a pressure switch and a pressure tank, and all three hold water. The pump stays in the well, but the line from the well to the house can freeze where it comes in. The well and town water guide explains the parts. Well pump and pressure tank service covers the house side.
When to book it
Book it in October. The first hard frost on this shoreline can arrive before the last weekend visit, and a shutdown booked for the first week of December runs into the weather. The shutdown timing note covers how to choose the date.
Opening the cottage in spring
De-winterizing is the shutdown in reverse, plus a leak check.
- Close every drain point and tap you opened.
- Turn the supply back on slowly, and let air out at the highest tap.
- Fill the water heater before turning it on. Open a hot tap until it runs steadily, then switch on the power or relight the gas.
- Flush the antifreeze out of the traps and toilets.
- Walk every exposed line while the system fills, looking for drips. A split that formed in February shows up now.
- On a well, test the water. Public Health Ontario tests private well water for bacteria at no charge, with bottles from the local health unit.
What a cottage shutdown checklist cannot see
A checklist assumes the plumbing is where you think it is. In an older cottage that has been added onto, supply lines run through crawl spaces, behind panelling and under additions. Some have no drain point at all and hold water every winter. Cottage winterizing starts by finding every run, so next fall the shutdown is a routine and not a guess.