Some valves do not take washers and therefore you cannot repair them. Make sure to grab the hex shaped spot below the packing nut (removing the packing nut won’t get you to the washer you need to replace). Use two wrenches in opposite directions holding on to the body of the valve and the section that you are attempting to remove. Make sure to be careful when attempting to take them apart so that you don’t put too much stress on the solder joints. When repairing the valve be aware that they are factory sealed and are not easy to take apart. To repair this internal shut-off valve you first need to shut the water off to the whole house. If it does then the inline isolation valve should be repaired or replaced. Leave the outside spigot open and check to see if it still drips. Every fall when temperatures drop below freezing a homeowner should shut off and drain the water line going to the outside spigots. Even if it’s a slow leak the line could still fill up and potentially freeze and burst when it gets too cold. If you have a isolation valve inline for the outside spigot it could mean that the valve isn’t shutting off completely. When you have an outside faucet that is dripping it can be caused by a few different issues. Your water line going to your faucet may freeze and burst causing major water damage to your home. However, the ice isn’t the worst of your worries. If you have an ice rink forming beneath your hose spigot you’re going to want to get it looked at. This will allow any water between the shut off valve and the faucet to drip out.ĭuring the winter, it’s a good idea to occasionally check your faucets – if you see frozen drips or icicles, give us a call and we can check out your shut off valve and piping.Frozen pipes in winter aren’t anything new to plumbers in Minnesota. Next, go back outside and open the faucet. It’s a good idea to walk around your home’s perimeter to make sure you’ve got all faucets! Most shut off valves are ball valves – turn the flat handle perpendicular to the pipe, as shown here. It’s likely to be over your head, leading directly outside through the foundation.
Go down into your basement with a flashlight and locate the shut off valve for each faucet.
Since water expands as it freezes, if you don’t turn the shut off valve in the basement off, chances are very good that your pipes will burst and the faucet will not work next spring.įirst, locate each outside faucet – many homes have more than one. Some days the mercury never made it up to zero degrees for the high. Last winter was harsh on these fixtures, with multiple days below zero. We also serviced a number of burst pipes leading to outdoors faucets.
This spring and summer, we replaced a record number of outside lawn faucets. Outside Lawn Faucets Don’t wait until the first snow to take your hose in! Along with tuning up the snowblower, bringing in the lawn furniture and plants, you should be thinking about your plumbing! You probably don’t want to start thinking about it yet, but winter is coming! We’ve already seen some little white flakes drifting down and had a few mornings with a hint of Jack Frost in the air.
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