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catlutz · 08-24-2006, 07:01 PM

Hi all. I have a question about the outdoor faucet. I live in a town house and there is one faucet for every third town house which means we have to share the faucet. The other day I attached an extension (hose)to the faucet so access to turning the water on/off would be easier since the air conditioning units are placed right in front of the faucets. The town houses are older I believe they were built in the mid to late 50's. I do most of the watering since some of my neighbors are elderly and unrolling the hose and rolling it back up is difficult for them. After attaching the short hose and the faucet my neighbor gave me a hard time and took the extension off and said that I was an idiot for attaching it. When I asked her why she said that the faucet MUST always be turned off at the house because she was afraid that a major leak could occur if not always turned off at the house. Well that defeats the purpose of using the extension. I understand the water pipes are older but I need to know is she right about a leak or bursting pipe as a result of not turning the water off at the house. I'm not a plummer and would welcome any sound advice from anyone who knows about plumming. Thanks

Square Eye · 08-24-2006, 07:12 PM

Typically, the heat from the sun will help cause the hose to fail, causing a major leak. It isn't a good practice to leave a hose under pressure.

The house water pipes? They don't care if there is a hose attached or not.

pqglen · 08-24-2006, 07:22 PM

It is hard to awnser your question becuase I am not clear on what you did. An extention hose to an outside hose bib does not sound like a problem. Never turning it off could be. The hose could burst and cause a leak from the hose bib that is not turned off. The leak could be stopped by turning off the hose bib. This has nothing to do with the pipes behind the wall. If it is inconveient to turn off the hose bib it should be moved to a more conveinent location. This is very easy to accomplish and sounds like your best solution. Any tradesperson can advise you. If you are living in an area with common area maintenance they might be persuaded to do this as part of there regular maintenance. If not you might want to call a tradesman. I would not want a hose bib in an area with seniors where a simple function of shutting something off was behind an AC unit.Without seeing your location and or a better description that is the best I can do. Have you ever thought about a watering can? Just kidding good luck

pqglen

Square Eye · 08-24-2006, 07:30 PM

OH!
one more golden nugget..

If you leave a hose connected and it freezes.
It could very well burst the faucet.
The hose will swell to match the freezing water, but the faucet will burst.

I don't know how long you guys have before freezing temps make it your way, but you will have problems eventually when you leave a hose connected and turned on.

catlutz · 08-24-2006, 08:38 PM

Thanks for such a quick reply. I think that what my neighbor is complaining about is that she is worried that her inside water pipes could burst/leak inside her home since the faucet is located on her back wall. I wanted to know if that is possible. All I did was purchase a kit that had a 30" hose which I attached to the outside faucet and then at the end of that 30" hose is another faucet that turns on/off just like the one at the house. But if she wants me to turn it off at the house vs the extension turn off well I have defeated the purpose. Thanks guys appreciate your advice.

CraigFL · 08-25-2006, 09:51 AM

When I wanted to do this for mine, I used a high quality clothes washer braided stainless steel covered hose. I actually ended up with just a short piece that I connected to copper pipe run underground to extend the bibb.