With temperatures expected to dip well into the 20's and stay there this weekend, there are some household chores that can't be put off any longer.

Every year as temperatures drop professionals like Jim Walker of Jet Plumbing and Drain Service get calls from frantic homeowners dealing with burst pipes.

Then, every spring others call when they turn on their outdoor sprinklers and discover damage done months earlier.

Walker says a few easy steps can prevent those emergencies.

There should be, he says, four or five things on your winterizing to-do list.

The first is simple. Disconnect garden hoses from their bibs, the faucets on the outside of your home. The reason has a lot to do with the bib's construction. When you turn off the water it actually closes the valve several inches inward from the faucet. That leaves a lot of water trapped.

"That water is subject to the weather outside. It will freeze and this is the typical result, " he says pointing at a split in a bib taken from a home whose owner failed to take the step.

That pipe emerges from the crawl space under your home. Keeping the temperature under there warmer also helps. That means closing the foundation vents around your home. You've probably left them open to keep things cool during the summer. It's time to close them.

Walker says the other common error is failing to turn off and drain your outdoor watering system. The confusing array of pipes and valves may be intimidating, but the procedure isn't that complicated.

First step, turning off the main valve. It's located in a tube buried upright in the ground. Some installations have a lid, others don't. They all work the same.

You'll need a special tool called a water key, a long rod with a T-handle one one end and a slot on the other. You slip the slot over a corresponding slot on the vale itself. You'll probably hear water draining as you do this.

That done, there's two more steps, opening the drain valve. You'll find it off to one side, below manifold in the inground valve box. Just turn it left, leaving it open.

And finally the Achilles heel of the system, the vacuum breaker. It's the brass valve located at the top of a U-shaped arrangement of pipe.

"It sits high, a least a foot above the highest sprinkler in the system, so it's vulnerabl," says Walker.

Break one and it will cost about $100, just for the part.
It has two valves. Just make sure they are in the open position, parallel to the

That and making sure your swamp cooler is turned off (You haven't used it in a couple of months) and drained should keep your home safe through the cold months ahead.

If you're not confident, you can call a pro like Jim Walker to do the job. He says a plumber will probably charged the minimum rate for an hour's work.

The point is: don't put it off. "You don't want to wait."