Frost burst hose bib internally I think?

[DuneSlider]

I needed to fill a bucket up and hooked my hose up to my outdoor hose bib. I turned the water on and there seemed to be a lack of pressure, I then noticed water pouring out of the joint between my stucco and foundation. I then went inside to find a lot of water coming out from behind the drywall in the basement.

We had an early snow storm and I think my hose may have been hooked up still at that point. I am guessing I have a burst in "freeze free" hose bib. There is duct, and drywall, hiding the plumbing from the basement side. My plumbing is pex. Is this something I can repair without tearing out the drywall and duct work?

I am almost done taping so if I need to start tearing out duct work and drywall I would prefer to do it now not later. I am a tile contractor and pretty capable but no plumber. Should I tackle this myself or call a pro plumber?

Thanks for the help,
Bryan

 

[Cass]

The whole hose bib needs to be replaced from the inside and outside. If it is plumbed in PEX you may need a fitting or 2, a ring splitter, some PEX, a PEX crimper, and a new hose bib...weather or not you can do it I don't know but you will have to access it from the inside at some point behind the drywall... You may want to call someone who has all the tools and you can take care of all the inside drywall/duct work...good luck..

 

[Sponsor]

 

[DuneSlider]

That's what I was afraid of! I figured it was going to need to be accessed from inside.

This is going to require a lot of duct removal to gain access. Glad I caught this now and not in the spring when the basement would have been done.

Thanks for the help, time to do some demo.

 

[Redwood]

When you finish your basement you probably want to provide some form of access to this as if it happened once.... You can bet it will happen again.

 

[DuneSlider]

Well, I got the duct work all out. I had to pull about three feet of the main trunk and a small portion of two other runs to get to the problem. No chance I could leave an access. If it happens again I will have to just tear it all out again. I will be more diligent about removing the hose. I actually think the main problem was the sprayer was left on the hose and there must have been pressure in the line. In twenty years I have never had this happen, if I can make it another twenty I will be good.

Should be all fixed up tonight. I opted for the sharkbite fittings. I only need one to make the fix.

 

[SteveW]

Even if you don't have a sprayer or other attachment on the end of the hose, the fact that the hose is attached prevents water from properly draining from many frostfree hose bibs.

You were lucky up to now.

 

[DuneSlider]

Actually, I usually am better about removing the hose. We had an early frost/snow storm and I neglected to check one of the hoses. Maybe I have been lucky but I still can't see how I could leave an access. I will make sure on the next house the plumber and HVAC guys don't cover each others work up.

 

[Redwood]

In that case you might want to think about moving it to a different location.
One were access is not as bad.

 

[DuneSlider]

Well, not much option there either. This is the only possible location on the front of the house. In order to clear duct work it would have to be moved to the side of the house and the only available areas are over windows, which probably isn't a good idea.

I guess I have to cross my fingers and hope it doesn't happen again.

I could just bag this faucet and put a hose in the garage, I really only use this hose to wash the cars.

 

[Gardner]

possibly crazy idea

I don't know about your situation, but I once soldered a longish chunk of copper tube onto my frost-free tap, then inserted the whole thing through the wall from outside. Back on the inside, the tube reached the point in the ceiling where I could work on it. I think I needed two feet or so, but it could have been 6 feet or more, if needed.

 

[Cass]

This is the hose bib you want to install...


http://www.woodfordmfg.com/Woodford/Wall_Faucet_Pages/model-19.htm

It has a pressure reducing valve inside to prevent bursting...

 

[NPMSTR]

The Woodford 19 is a nice valve, but it's design allows it to backflow into the potable water system when it freezes. I don't think backflow into potable water is acceptable at any time.

Better options are the Woodford 27 and the Prier C-434, both drain with the hose attached.

 

[BurleyMike]

What brand/model do you guys reccommend for hydrants? The previous owners bent the crap out of the hydrant in my pasture when they installed a automatic cattle waterer. The cattle waterer is shot and I would rather just install another hydrant.

 

[Cass]

The Woodford 19 is a nice valve, but it's design allows it to backflow into the potable water system when it freezes. I don't think backflow into potable water is acceptable at any time.

Better options are the Woodford 27 and the Prier C-434, both drain with the hose attached.

While you are technically correct...The Woodford 27 will give you a very good shower if it is under pressure while turning it off...I don't know if the Prier-C434 does the same...I personally wouldn't worry about about the small minute amount of water that would back spurt / flow to prevent bursting on the 19...after all many PRVs installed on residences do the exact same thing...Like I said I personaly wouldn't call it back flowing...

 

[NPMSTR]

Hi Cass,

We can agree to disagree about backflow.

The Woodford 27 and the Prier C-434 both have double check vacuum breakers to prevent the "showering" The Woodford 25 will give you a shower, but the 27 shouldn't.

 

[Cass]

Just wondering what you think about the backflow into the city mains on PRVs....

 

[NPMSTR]

I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about, if you mean backflow through the PRV on a home into the city main, I'd say it happens, but the potential for polluted water is much greater coming through a wall hydrant than coming from already inside the structure into the city main.