Water supply to outdoor tap leaks - easy fix for dummies?

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Gen

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Hi everyone,

I am back as you were kind enough to advise with some HVAC issues at our former rental house. We have since bought our own house in the suburbs, a single home built around 1986-1987. It is in decent shape except for a few minor issues, including the following:

There is a leak somewhere (between the valve and the tap) in the water supply to the outdoor tap on the side of the house (where you would plug in your hose), as we discovered a few months after moving in, the first time we tried to water the garden and ended up with a flooded basement instead... We had checked the valve was closed and this line drained before winter, but it may have been already broken then (we bought the house in November).

I have attached a few pictures, the basement is finished so this is encased in a false ceiling and accessed via a trapdoor. There is about one meter of copper pipe between the valve and the outdoor tap, and it bends around in a rather creative way to avoid the beams that support the main floor. It comes out of the valve, bends down then right (first picture), straight for about a two feet then bends up then horizontal (pictures 3 to 5), and presumably then goes through the wall and to the tap, I can not see or reach that part without taking down the false ceiling and part of the wall.

I am guessing the first step would be to try to locate the leak by turning the water back on, and checking for drips.

I am looking for an easy fix that can be done by two very "non-handy" people. Neither of us is comfortable soldering, and there is a gas supply line a few inches away (picture 2), so the idea of sparks makes me a bit nervous. Is there a way to put in two compression connectors and a flexible hose in the middle instead or would that be a terrible idea? Any other suggestions?

I am not opposed to calling a professional but I have found it rather difficult to find someone reliable and willing to take on small jobs such as these.

Any advice welcome!

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Last edited:
Tou could run pex pipe and join it to copper with a sharkbite connector
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RiqhtvgrH8[/ame]
 
Thank you nealtw, that sounds within our abilities (lol). Are there any drawbacks to using these types of connectors or pex tubing for this application?
 
Probably not, but if the tubing is flexible enough I don't think it will be an issue. Sounds like a project for this week-end! I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.
 

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