hose-bibs Archives - Charles Buell Consulting LLC

January 21, 2016 by Charles Buell

Why is my wall hissing at me?

Lots of inspectors check outside faucets to see if they work. You know what I mean—they turn the water on and see if any water comes out of the faucet. They will also check to see if it is loose, not attached to the home properly—and many other issues depending on how old it is.

For example they will report on whether it is a frost-free type faucet or not. They will report if it has an anti-siphon device or not.

They might even recommend upgrading older types of faucets that do not have these features.

However, perhaps the most important thing the inspector will do is to test the outside faucets on the home under back-pressure. This can be done by attaching a pressure gauge like the one in the picture to the left. This is not just to check the water pressure–although that is good information to obtain as well.

By putting the gauge on the valve and then turning the water on, the inspector can learn whether there are leaks around the valve stem and other components of the valve.

More importantly however, if it is a frost-free type faucet like the one in the picture above, this test gives the inspector the opportunity to see if there are leaks inside the home as well. Frost-free type faucets are especially prone to leaking under back pressure because people leave hoses on in the winter nullifying the frost-free aspect of the valve. Water stays in the valve and results in the valve freezing and bursting. With the water running without a pressure gauge there might not be enough pressure for a small leak to reveal itself and the noise of the running water would drown out any possible “hissing” that might give a leak away.

If you look carefully at the picture above you should be able to see a little drip mark on the wall below where the pipe goes into the wall. In this next picture, the drip is apparent.

Of course the valve itself should be properly attached to the home but that is just one of the many defects that might get reported on by the inspector.

Some inspectors only check one faucet under back pressure to determine the water pressure and then don’t test the others around the outside of the home. All outside faucets should be checked under back-pressure to obtain the best information about the valve’s condition.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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January 29, 2015 by Charles Buell

Frost free and not frost free all at the same time!

Most parts of the country are well into the throes of winter, and hopefully everyone has already taken care of their outside hose faucets to protect them from freezing. It is still a good time to talk about frost-free outside faucets–or hose bibs–or sill-cocks–or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods.

This is a good time to talk about them because there is one particular defect that you may not be aware of related to frost-free type faucets.

Working on plumbing pipes when it is 10 below zero is no fun (ahhhh the flip side of hot & humid–gotta love it–is it any wonder there are so many bars and churches in New England?) but it beats working on them after they have broken and flooded your home.

A frost-free faucet works by having the part that actually shuts off the water way inside the wall where it is (theoretically) always warmer. The piece of pipe that connects the shut-off to the handle at the outside is supposed to be installed at a little angle so that it can drain out when you shut the water off. If you look at any frost-free type faucet the handle is always going to be perpendicular to the wall because it is attached to a long rod that runs through the pipe to the shut-off that is inside wall.

These things actually work very well.

Unfortunately many people are either clueless or they think the faucets are “frost-free” by some kind of magic. Leaving a hose on them during the winter essentially makes them a non-frost-free type faucets as water stays in the pipe all the way out through the hose–typically. This fact is apparently lost on most people given the number of hoses that I do not reconnect between September and March.

Another way to make one of these faucets non-functional is for the valve to be installed so that it can’t drain. I have taken the previous picture and drawn lines to show how this valve actually points upward at the outside at almost the angle it should be pointing downward–clearly trapping water against the valve deep inside the wall.

To test your frost-free type faucets, just turn them on and then turn them off. If some amount of water continues to come out after you shut it off–there is a good chance it is draining. You can also look at the valve from the side and see if the body of the valve points down–as in the red dotted line of the picture below.

If it looks like the picture above—have it fixed.

The faucets come with a little triangular shim that the installer can use to assist in keeping them sloped properly.

Of course, like anything—one can get a little carried away.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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December 21, 2013 by Charles Buell

Don’t get hosed–its cold outside!

If you live in a part of the country where the temperature dips below freezing, you should not leave your hoses connected to outside faucets. It is December now–if your hoses are still connected outside it may already be too late.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR HOSES ARE?

Whether these are “Frost-free” type faucets or old style faucets that have interior shut-offs to drain the outside faucet, the hoses should be removed. Water that remains in the hose can defeat the purpose of both types of faucets.

Many homes have frost-free hose faucets. These faucets actually have a long tube that runs to the interior space and the handle of the faucet has a long stem that runs inside the tube and shuts the water off inside the house—-making the valve less likely to freeze. When the valve is shut off the tube drains —-unless there is a hose on it out (at least it should if it is sloped the correct way). Leaving the hose in place will defeat this function of the faucet.

If you have an older home without frost-free type faucets there “should” be interior shut-offs so that the outside valves can drain the pipes. Not operating this interior shut-off clearly leaves the valve vulnerable to freezing regardless of whether there is a hose on it or not.

Some people like to put insulating foam caps over these valves and keep their fingers crossed. These caps should not be necessary on frost-free type faucets. I have seen these caps actually fill up with ice from VERY minor leaking of the valve and then this ice backs up into the tube where it can damage the valve. This can happen with either type of valve.

As a Seattle Home Inspector when I find hoses in place from October 1st until April 1st, I do not re-install the hoses after I test the valves for water pressure. It will vary around the country, depending on how cold it gets, as to when you should leave your hoses disconnected in cold weather. In Minnesota never leaving them in place might be a good idea–just kidding.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

If you enjoyed this post, and would like to get notices of new posts to my blog, please subscribe via email in the little box to the right. I promise NO spamming of your email