Every January we get the same phone call. Someone walks out to the patio, looks at the fountain they forgot about in November, and finds a crack running right down the side of their favorite urn.
It's a gut punch. And it's almost always avoidable.
Garden fountains are some of the easiest water features to own. They are also the ones people forget about when the weather turns, because there are no fish to worry about and no pond to net. So let's talk about what actually happens to a fountain in a Pennsylvania winter, and what you should do about it this month.
Why fountains crack in the first place
Water gets bigger when it freezes. About nine percent bigger.
That doesn't sound like much until it's happening inside something rigid. Water that sits in a bowl, soaks into a porous surface, or hides in a low spot in the plumbing will expand when it freezes, and it will push on whatever is holding it. Then it thaws. Then it freezes again. Around here we can get that cycle dozens of times between December and March, and every round works a tiny crack a little wider.
So the enemy isn't really "cold." It's water left where it can't get out.
Which fountains are most at risk?
Not all fountains are created equal when it comes to winter. Roughly from most vulnerable to least:
Glazed ceramic urns and pots. Beautiful, and the most likely to crack. Glaze can hide hairline flaws, and water that gets into the clay body has nowhere to go.
Tiered and bowl fountains made of cast stone or concrete. Those bowls are designed to hold water, which is exactly the problem in January. Cast materials are also porous, so even an "empty" bowl can hold moisture in the material itself.
Fountains that sit over a buried basin. This is the style we install most: an urn, a stack of stone, or a basalt column sitting on gravel, with the water reservoir hidden underground. The buried basin itself handles winter fine. What needs attention is everything above ground.
Natural stone, like basalt columns and boulders. Tough as nails. Still, the pump and plumbing inside them don't care how tough the rock is.
If you have an antique or a one-of-a-kind piece, put it at the top of the list no matter what it's made of.
What to do this month
Here's the short version of what our crew does when we close a fountain for the season. If you're handy, you can do most of it yourself.
- Unplug it. Sounds obvious. You'd be surprised.
- Get the water out of everything above ground. Drain the urn or bowls completely. Sponge out what won't drain. Tip smaller pots on their sides if you can do it safely.
- Pull the pump. Clean off the gunk, check the cord, and store it somewhere it won't freeze. Many submersible pumps are happier stored in a bucket of water in the basement or garage, because it keeps the seals from drying out. Check what your pump's maker recommends.
- Clear the lines. Any water sitting in tubing above the frost line can freeze and split it. Blow it out or let it drain.
- Keep rain and snow out. This is the step people skip. An urn you drained in November can be half full of rainwater by Christmas. Cover it, cap the opening, or turn smaller pieces upside down.
- Leave the buried basin alone. If your fountain sits over an underground reservoir, the basin can keep its water. It's below most of the freeze, and an empty basin can actually shift or float with groundwater.
Lights can usually stay put. Most modern LED fixtures handle the cold without complaint.
When should you do it?
Before the hard freezes settle in. In the Philadelphia area, that usually means sometime in November, and the earlier side is safer if your fountain is in a low, shady spot where cold air pools. A couple of light frosts won't hurt anything. A week of nights in the low 20s with a full bowl is a different story.
If you're reading this and it's already mid-winter, don't panic. Go drain it on the next mild day. A fountain that has made it this far without cracking is worth saving now.
Can't I just leave it running?
Sometimes. Some fountains that sit over a buried basin can run through the winter, and there's something pretty magical about water moving through ice and snow.
But it takes babysitting. Ice builds up on the stone and starts redirecting the water, and splash that lands outside the gravel bed never makes it back to the basin. The water level drops, the pump runs dry, and now you're shopping for a new pump in February. We walk through how we make that call for waterfalls in should you run your waterfall all winter, and the same thinking applies to fountains.
Our general rule? If you won't be checking on it at least every few days, shut it down.
And a glazed ceramic urn should never be running through a hard freeze. Not worth the risk.
Spring comes faster than you think
When the weather breaks, reopening is mostly the reverse: reset the pump, reconnect the lines, top off the basin, and give everything a good rinse before you turn it on. It's also the best time to catch a slow leak or a tired pump before the season gets going.
If you'd rather not deal with any of it, this is exactly what our seasonal maintenance visits are for. One of our customers put it better than we could:
"Always a fantastic job on opening and closing my complex antique fountain every year. Great customer service, answer all my questions, go the extra mile, always on time and professional."
John M., Google review
We close and open fountains all over Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties, from simple single urns in Doylestown to big courtyard pieces on the Main Line. If you're thinking about adding one, our fountain design and installation page shows what we build, and this post explains why a fountain is about the lowest-effort way to get the sound of water in your yard.
Want us to handle your fountain this year? Start a Conversation or call 215-880-6811. Sooner is better. The cold doesn't wait.