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Opening and Closing a Cottage: Draining the Plumbing, the Pump and Tank, the Water Heater, RV Antifreeze in the Traps, Lake Lines and the Spring Water Test
Plumbing & Water
Closing the Cottage: Every Drop You Leave Behind Is a Repair Bill in April
Water expands when it freezes, and it does not care whether it is in a pipe, a pump or the toilet bowl. A cottage closed in a hurry on Thanksgiving Monday is how plumbers in cottage country stay busy in May. This page goes through what has to be drained and protected when you close, what to check when you open, the spring water test, and what it costs to have a plumber do it or fix it after.
What Has to Be Empty
Closing a cottage is simple to say and fussy to do: get the water out of everything that can freeze, and protect what you cannot empty. A good cottage plumber works through the same list every fall.
- Power off to the pump and the water heater first. An electric water heater with its elements on and no water in it burns the elements out. A gas water heater is TSSA-regulated equipment; shutting it down and starting it up is for a registered gas contractor, not a how-to page.
- The supply lines, drained from the low points, every tap opened, hot and cold, and any shower valve left open. Lines that sag in a crawlspace hold water where you cannot see it.
- The pressure tank and the pump. A jet pump in the cottage and its tank are drained. A submersible pump in a drilled well normally sits deep in water below frost and stays put; the line from the well to the cottage is what needs thought.
- The water heater tank, drained through its drain valve. Leave the temperature and pressure relief valve alone; it is a safety device and nothing about closing involves defeating it.
- Toilets, tank and bowl, flushed and sponged out.
- Traps, under every sink, tub and shower and in the floor drain, topped with RV antifreeze so they stay sealed against sewer gas and do not freeze.
- Filters, the softener and the UV, drained or bypassed to the maker’s instructions. A cracked filter housing is a cheap part and an annoying one.
RV antifreeze, never automotive. The plumbing antifreeze sold for RVs and cottages is made to go in drinking water systems and traps. Car antifreeze is poison and does not belong anywhere near a drain that ends in your septic bed or a lake.
The Lake Line and the Heat Cable
A cottage on lake water has one more thing to close. The intake line runs from a screen and foot valve out in the lake, up the shore, to the pump. A line that is not drained, or does not drain back to the lake by itself, freezes where it leaves the water and splits. Some cottages pull the line out every fall. Others leave it, laid so it drains back, and pull only the end. The lake water intake page covers how they are set up.
Cottages used in winter often run heat cable along the line, plugged in and on a thermostat. It works until the power goes out, which in rural Ontario it does, usually on the coldest night of the year. When the power goes out the water goes out too, and a heat cable with no power is a piece of wire. The rural power outage page covers what keeps the pump and the cable alive.
Never climb into a dug well or a well pit to drain or check anything. Gases and low oxygen in those spaces kill people every year, including people who only meant to be a minute.
What It Costs
No plumber we found publishes a flat price to open or close a cottage, so we show it as hours times the published hourly rate. Closing an ordinary cottage with a pump, a tank, a water heater and one bathroom is a few hours’ work; opening is about the same, plus whatever the winter broke.
| Item | Range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber, hourly, outside Toronto | $85 to $150 | a national marketplace |
| Call-out or service charge | $150 to $400 | to $500 on holidays; not every plumber charges one |
| Emergency rate | $150 to $300 an hour | after-hours 1.5 to 2 times standard |
| Closing, 3 hours | $255 to $450 | our estimate, 3 x $85 to 3 x $150 |
| Closing, 3 hours plus a call-out | $405 to $850 | our estimate |
| Frozen pipe repair | $250 to $600 | a GTA plumber; an Ottawa plumber $960 to $1,500 |
| Burst pipe repair | $400 to $1,500 | plus drywall and flooring |
| Pressure tank, if it split | $400 to $900 | installed |
| Jet pump, shallow, installed | $800 to $1,800 | deep well jet $1,200 to $2,500 |
October 2026, before HST. Rural rates run 20 to 40 percent below the GTA by one Ontario quote site, but the drive to an island or a long cottage road is time on the bill too.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the plumbers and guides we checked for this page quoted very different prices for the same freeze-up. A GTA plumber said $250 to $600 to repair a frozen pipe; an Ottawa plumber said $960 to $1,500. For the hourly rate, a national marketplace said $95 to $150 in Toronto, a Toronto plumber $110 to $200, and an Ontario quote site said rural rates run 20 to 40 percent below the GTA. The gap is access, the drive, after-hours rates and how much wall comes off. Budget about $450 for a close, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Now the arithmetic that matters. A $450 close against one burst pipe at $400 to $1,500 plus the drywall and the floor under it, and maybe a pressure tank at $400 to $900. It does not take many bad springs to pay for a lot of careful falls.
Opening: Water On, Then Test It
- Close the drains and taps you opened, then turn the water on slowly and walk the cottage, crawlspace included, looking and listening for drips before you put the power to the water heater.
- Fill the water heater completely before power goes on. Run a hot tap until it flows steady. A gas heater gets started by the gas contractor.
- Flush the antifreeze from the traps and lines until the water runs clear.
- Test the water. Test a well at least 3 times a year, including spring and fall and when you open the cottage. Public Health Ontario tests for total coliforms and E. coli for free. The bottle has to reach the lab within 48 hours, and results usually come in 2 to 4 business days. In Simcoe Muskoka, drop-off is Monday to Thursday before 4:30 p.m., with none on Fridays, so do not sample on a Friday of a long weekend.
- If E. coli shows up, do not drink the water. Boil it or bring water in until the well is fixed and two clean tests in a row come back. The well water testing page explains the results and shock chlorination at the level the health unit sheet does.
Lake water is surface water. It always needs treatment, and a clean bacteria test on Saturday is not a safety certificate for August. The UV system page covers the usual setup.
The septic usually needs nothing special for a closed season if it was healthy in the fall. SepticReplacement.ca covers septic systems if yours is giving trouble.
Questions people ask
How do I winterize cottage plumbing?
Power off to the pump and water heater, drain every supply line from the low points, drain the pressure tank, jet pump and water heater, empty the toilets, and put RV antifreeze in every trap. A gas water heater is shut down by a registered gas contractor.
Can I use car antifreeze in my cottage plumbing?
No. Use only RV or plumbing antifreeze made for drinking water systems. Automotive antifreeze is toxic.
How much does a plumber charge to close a cottage?
Nobody publishes a flat price. At $85 to $150 an hour for about 3 hours, our estimate is $255 to $450, or $405 to $850 with a call-out charge, before HST.
Do I have to test the water when I open the cottage?
You should. Test at least 3 times a year, including when you open. Public Health Ontario tests well water for bacteria free; the bottle must reach the lab within 48 hours.
What does a frozen pipe cost to fix?
$250 to $600 from a GTA plumber and $960 to $1,500 from an Ottawa plumber, before HST. A burst pipe is $400 to $1,500 plus drywall and flooring.
Price the water system you are closing
The rural water system calculator puts the well, pump, tank, line and treatment on one sheet, which is handy when the spring brings a quote for a new pump. If you have quotes for cottage plumbing or a pump and tank, the $99 review reads up to three of them and tells you what each one left out.
Sources and further reading
- Public Health Ontario: well water testing: the bacteria test, the 48-hour rule for samples, and how to read the result.
- Simcoe Muskoka health unit: cottage well testing: testing when you open the cottage and through the summer, and where and when to drop off samples.
- Testing and treating private water wells: Ontario on free bacteria testing, private lab chemistry and disinfecting a well and the house plumbing.
