Hose bib damage, a costly mistake!

As a carpet cleaner we start every day off with 55 gallons of clean soft water in our van to do our scheduled cleaning jobs in and around the Fredericksburg Virginia area. This is plenty of water for most single carpet cleanings we do, but if we have multiple jobs or have a tile & grout cleaning on the schedule we will likely need to replenish our water supply. Tile & grout cleaning uses 10 times the water that carpet cleaning does, the last thing we want to do is over wet a carpet that will take hours or days to dry, a common problem with inexperienced cleaners and a top complaint we hear from our customers that have used other companies. Our first and most preferred method of retrieving water from a customers house is from the outside hose bib, however I’m saddened to find that most hose bibs we come across are damaged from freezing temps.

Over the years I have talked with hundreds of customers about this problem and how to prevent it, which in most cases is extremely easy. For some reason this falls on deaf ears.  Those that have had to have a licensed plumber come to their home for anything, know how much that costs in todays world. $400 t0 $600 is not uncommon for the simplest plumbing repairs, and rightfully so for a qualified professional. That is a lot of cash for something that is so simple to prevent. I’m sure my plumbing friends are not happy with me providing these yearly reminders and preventative tips.

Disconnecting the garden hose from the hose bib is key

There are several ways to winterize a hose bib. Most houses have outdoor shut offs in the utility room, but shutting off the water will not always stop the damage from occurring or even be necessary for a lot of frost free hose bibs found in our area. I encourage everyone to know where their shutoffs are, especially the main one that cuts water off to the whole house. no need to be trying to figure that out in a dire emergency!  At my own house, I rarely shut the water off to the hose bibs as I use it daily to replenish my vans water. Maybe once a year I will shut the valves off in the basement temporarily when temps go near zero out of an abundance of caution, probably not even necessary. The way many frost free hose bibs work is the shut off valve is on a stem that reaches a foot inside the house where the air is warm. When the valve is turned off the last bit of water drains out leaving no water in the freezing temperatures. This only works if the garden hose is disconnected. If the hose is left attached to the hose bib it will hold the water in the bib allowing it to freeze and cause damage, or worse yet flood the basement! Think of when you sit at a restaurant playing with the straw in the water, when you put your finger over the straw and pull it out, physics keeps the water in the straw. The same is true for a hose connected to the hose bib. Even if the water in the house is off, freeze damage will occur. Having the water off will only prevent the water to continue to flow through busted pipes causing flooding that can cause thousands of dollars in water damage. In rare cases frost free hose bibs will fail because of improper installation, the pipe and hose bib must be installed with a slight downward slope allowing the water to easily flow out, as we all know water runs down hill.

 Set a reminder

In Virginia we have the craziest temperature fluctuations. One year it could be 70 degrees in November and we are all out washing our cars. Next November it could be 15 degrees and we are all inside huddled around the fire place, while our hoses, hose bibs, sprinkler systems, fountains, pool pumps etc… are being severely damaged if not attended to prior. People just forget about these things until it’s too late. Most people have cell phones today and it’s super easy to set a reminder for early October to get your winterizing done. Just walk outside and disconnect the garden hose at minimum. If you care enough to save your hoses, spray nozzles, sprinklers and splitters get the water out of them too.

Your welcome! lol

-Pristinepete

In the photos below… The first picture is a hose bib that has cracked and froze, the real damage will occur when this thaws and water starts flowing again. The second picture is one of three frost free hose bibs on my own house. Before I took delivery of this new build last year I went in the basement and put a small level on each one ensuring they were pitched properly during my final walk through. Indecently they were perfect and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the best builders in Fredericksburg, Atlantic Builders!  The 3rd picture shows the three shut off valves for the outside hose bibs, when they are vertical like they are, water is allowed to flow. If turned a quarter to the horizontal position the water would be off. The forth picture shows how physics hold the water in a hose bib causing expensive damage