Pecan Valley Plumbing
Get help with Outdoor Faucets & Hose Bibs
Call Pecan Valley Plumbing, have us call you, or describe the issue.
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Call (512) 555-0147Outdoor faucets and hose bibs repaired, replaced with frost-free models, and added where a property needs a new one.
01Outdoor faucets
Each points somewhere different, and a split pipe behind the wall is the one that cannot wait.
A worn washer or stem packing inside the faucet. On an older faucet without a frost-free design, it is also worth checking that the valve is fully closed for the season.
Water left in the pipe froze and expanded, splitting the pipe or the faucet body behind the wall. The crack often only shows once the faucet is turned on again.
A garden, a garage or a new patio without a water supply nearby. Running a line to a new hose bib is a straightforward addition where an interior line is close by.
02In the meantime
This is for a hose bib that is cracked or split and is putting water where it should not be.
Many hose bibs have a small shutoff valve just inside the wall they pass through. Closing it stops water to that faucet alone, without touching the rest of the house.
An older hose bib without its own valve depends on the main shutoff to stop a leak behind it.
Water from a split hose bib can pool against the foundation or run into a crawl space nearby. Keeping the area clear, and noting where the water is going, helps once someone arrives to look at it.
Outdoor Faucets & Hose Bibs
Serving Round Rock, TX.
03Repair or replace
A washer fixes most leaks. A freeze usually calls for more than that.
A faucet that only drips, with a sound body and no history of freezing, often just needs a new washer or stem packing. The fitting stays as it is.
A faucet that has split, or one on an older standard body in a cold climate, is usually replaced with a frost-free model set at the right pitch so it drains between uses.
04Why it happens
An outdoor faucet is the one fixture in a house that sits mostly outside the insulated part of the building. A standard hose bib holds water right up to the spout, so once the temperature drops low enough, that water freezes, expands and splits the pipe or the valve body, often well before the crack is noticed. A frost-free faucet moves the valve back inside the wall and lets the short length of pipe beyond it drain empty after each use, which is why one style keeps failing every winter while the other does not.
05Questions
Its valve sits back inside the wall, in the warmer air of the house, rather than at the spout outside. The water inside the pipe drains out once the faucet is shut, so there is little left to freeze.
Water trapped in the pipe or faucet body freezes and expands with enough force to crack metal. A hose left attached over winter is a common cause, since it can keep the faucet from draining fully.
Many older ones do not, which is one reason a split shows up as a leak inside the house rather than outside. A dedicated interior shutoff for each hose bib is a common upgrade when a faucet is replaced.
Water that cannot be stopped, sewage coming up, no water at all, or a smell of gas: urgent. A drip, a slow drain or a running toilet: worth fixing soon, but not tonight. When in doubt, shut off the water to the fixture and ask.
If water is actively leaking, yes: the fixture’s own valve, or the main if it doesn’t have one. A slow drip can wait, but a bucket under it will not hurt.
Pecan Valley Plumbing
Call Pecan Valley Plumbing, have us call you, or describe the issue.
Prefer to talk?
Call (512) 555-0147