Plumbing Question

Cherokeekid88

Cherokeekid88

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Location
High Point, NC
So this morning my wife was rensing off her floor mats using the outside hose. She came in and told me hardly any water was coming out and I told her her that I could hear what sounding like water running through the wall in our living room right where the water hose is outside.it also looks like there is water coming from underneath the siding on the side of the house,it's not a lot at all, but still there. Sound like a busted pipe or something? I know absolutely nothing about plumbing
 
All you need to know:


Hot's on the left.
Cold's on the right.
@hit runs down hill.

Turn off all water and check the meter to see if it is turning. If it is, you obviously have a leak. If you can't fix yourself (sweating pipes if copper) then the only choice is to call a plumber.
 
It's weird. When you turn the faucet on outside, you can hear the water running from inside, but when you turn the faucet off, you don't hear anything. Still trying to figure out how to turn the water off to the house. Only been here about 3 months so I'm still figuring stuff out. I do see what looks like a water meter out back..it's got about 5-6 dials on it with some metal piping all the way around the box...guessing that's it...can I turn the water off from there?
 
Is your house plumbed with copper or pex (plastic tube)?

Either way you can buy the stuff to fix it for what a plumber would cost you, and have the skills and tools for next time.

It is easy either way -- probably someone here is close by and can show you how.


It
 
Busted hose bib right inside the wall. Quit using the hose unless you want to spend a lot more money. Call a plumber.
And quit leaving the hose attached in below freezing weather.
 
kaiser715 said:
Is your house plumbed with copper or pex (plastic tube)?

Either way you can buy the stuff to fix it for what a plumber would cost you, and have the skills and tools for next time.

It is easy either way -- probably someone here is close by and can show you how.
I am not really sure. The house was built in 88.



It
Click to expand...
 
Repairing a copper fitting inside a wall like that is very much not a novice first time plumbing task. I'm all about people fixing their ownshit, but not in this case. It sounds like it cracked on the hose side of the valve and only leaks when the hose is turned on, I've seen it happen before. I would still get it replaced before it ruins the wall and floor and starts a mold colony.
 
My wife called her grandpa. He knows about stuff like this and said that if you can't hear the water running when the hose is turned off, it should be fine for now. I think I'm gonna look into it a little more, but I'm hoping it can at least wait till after Christmas.....
 
this happened to me about a month ago. your hose bib is busted on the outside side of the bib. it should be fine for a few days if you dont use you hose. BUT if it gets freezing weather it could cause it to fail more and really lead to a bigger problem. once you get it fixed go to lowes and buy a hose bib cover that insulates it and it shouldnt happen again.
 
DISCONNECT the hose from the hose bib. The water freezing in the hose and faucet extension are the cause, the hose bib aka "sill cock" is about a foot long, the knob and hose fitting are what you see, the actual valve that shuts the water off is about 12" inside the wall/foundation sill.

You ( or previous resident ) left hose connected, the water in hose and pipe froze ( all it takes is once ) and the pipe between the spout and the valve has ruptured.

You'll probably have to replace the whole assembly, fun if you're on a crawl space it gets tight, more fun on slab, as no you have to open a wall.

Google "sill cock" and you'll see what I'm talking about. These are called "frost free" as the valve is inside a warmer area, but it doesn't work if the hose is left connected.

I I learned the hard way, had to replace both of mine after the first winter of home ownership ( I think it's a rite of passage )
 
Or make sure you drain your hose after every use. I never leave pressure in my hose. Even when we are not talking about plumbing :D
 
o_O:rolleyes: There's always gotta be that one guy...... :flipoff2:
 
I 've never seen a water meter with more than one dial in a single residential set up. Unless your on a manifold feeding more houses or apartment complexes you should have one meter (dial with a needle and a numerical meter likes Miles on a car). What your describing sound like a gas meter!!

A water meter is normally out toward the highway or curb, in a buried metal or concrete distribution box with a lid on it flush with ground level. It should not be exposed to the out side air for the same reason your pipe burst.
 
he should also know where the shut off is AT the meter ( before and after ) and if they are accessible AND where the shut off is INSIDE the house ( look in a closet, or in crawl space ) ours is inside closet in a bedroom ( who the fuck thought that was a good idea ? )

Now is a good time to make sure it works EASLIY, probably a good time to replace washing machine hoses as well ( get the braided stainless hoses, it's worth the extra cost, MUCH cheaper than a flooded house ) also go thru EVERY faucet shut off under the kitchen sink, bathroom sink and toilet tank valve and make sure you can work them all ( replace the flappers in the toilet tank too, they're cheap, and they'll leak and you'll never know until your yard becomes a swamp or your water bill gets unusually high ) . if you're gonna do some plumbing, you may as well make the most of the time and money spent ( having to keep calling some one back is a pain if you can't do it yourself ) and good preventive maintenance.

Welcome to home ownership ! it gets more fun from here !

You get to look in the mirror to bitch at the landlord now !
 
A hotel in greensboro has them all over the place. They have fan coil units all over the building and the hot and chill water valves are slowy aging out and dying. When the units were put in there was no thought for service so we found the gator bites (lowes brand)could be used with out having to cut out sections of sheet rock. The water temp on chill water is 42* and the hot water is 180* and the first one was installed over 5 years ago and never heard of one leaking. Piping is copper.

I tried some cheaper plastic ones with pex piping at my house and they seem to want to drip sometimes depending on temp. Idk if its the fittings or the pex but id stay away from those.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
 
Are you sure you have a water meter? Do you have city/county water or a well?
 
rodney eppes said:
Glad you brought that up. Helped a friend change a water heater last weekend,& that is what he used! I had never seen them, + it fits copper, or pek!:bounce2:
Click to expand...

Yup we use them at work alot.

Just make sure you get a nice straighten clean cut on the pipe, push it all the way in and done.
 
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