Cold weather coming this week, get those hose bibs covered...

[RCF]

Front moved through tonight. Went outside and watched transformers light up the sky. South King and North Pierce counties got hit HARD. Over 200 PSE outages and counting. Our winds were only 40+ mph and no snow. Just lots of rain...

My prayers, best wishes, and positive thoughts to those that are experiencing high winds and deep snow with this front.

Keep warm and be safe!

 

[kmudgn]

I live in NH where winters are cold (or at least somewhat cold). Problem of hose bib freezing is negated by the use of a sillcock faucet. This type of faucet has a long interior rod and makes the seal 8-12 inches inside your building. No problem with freezing valve with this type of unit and you don't need any type of faucet cover.

 

[Peyton00]

That is the type I have in my current house.
Living in the Puget Sound area for 50+ yrs, I have never had a pipe issue in any of my homes.

 

[krusty]

I live in NH where winters are cold (or at least somewhat cold). Problem of hose bib freezing is negated by the use of a sillcock faucet. This type of faucet has a long interior rod and makes the seal 8-12 inches inside your building. No problem with freezing valve with this type of unit and you don't need any type of faucet cover.

Indeed! Sillcock faucets work great....as long as a coiled hose is NOT left attached to the faucet. The faucet has to fully drain to prevent frozen water from expanding and rupturing the interior extension part of the valve. I've had to sweat on several replacement sillcock valves for friends who thought they could leave their hoses in place. The leak is generally detected at the foundation and/or interior wall when the valve is opened after a thaw (usually first use in spring)!

And you usually have to cut an access hole on either the interior or exterior wall to replace the valve. Nothing like using a torch in close proximity to wood studs and sheathing...even with a heat shield!

 

[Josh]

as long as a coiled hose is NOT left attached to the faucet.

This. 1000%

 

[kmudgn]

Indeed! Sillcock faucets work great....as long as a coiled hose is NOT left attached to the faucet. The faucet has to fully drain to prevent frozen water from expanding and rupturing the interior extension part of the valve. I've had to sweat on several replacement sillcock valves for friends who thought they could leave their hoses in place. The leak is generally detected at the foundation and/or interior wall when the valve is opened after a thaw (usually first use in spring)!

And you usually have to cut an access hole on either the interior or exterior wall to replace the valve. Nothing like using a torch in close proximity to wood studs and sheathing...even with a heat shield!

You are 100% correct, but you can't fix stupid

 

[Matt B]

 

[SurfnFish]

3" here in Sunriver yesterday, today's total in Sunriver so far

 

[Shawn Seeger]

Almost 6 inches this morning...

 

[Roper]

I live in NH where winters are cold (or at least somewhat cold). Problem of hose bib freezing is negated by the use of a sillcock faucet. This type of faucet has a long interior rod and makes the seal 8-12 inches inside your building. No problem with freezing valve with this type of unit and you don't need any type of faucet cover.

Finding the right washer for them is a bugger though…

 

[Canuck from Kansas]

At 8:00 last night it was 70 degrees and we were in our "safe room" (our middle bathroom) with the pups due to a tornado warning - having lived in Kansas all those years and having seen first hand the destruction from a tornado, we take these incredibly seriously. Thankfully, no tornado was to be had and the warning only lasted about 15 minutes.

cheers

 

[krusty]

Finding the right washer for them is a bugger though…

You'd think a couple of gaskets for a simple long stem valve rod would be a simple thing, but no.....

Plumbing parts (in particular faucets) are a goddamn nightmare. For many years most larger cities had specialist providers (usually retired plumbers) who had shops dedicated solely to faucet parts.

Spokane had 'Bill the Fauceteer' (an absolute faucet maestro)....now long gone. Try getting knowledgeable help at a big box store.

Faucets sound like a mundane item...until you need parts.

Were I to have a house built these days I'd have the contractor install accessible sillcock ports and threaded copper fittings so I could easily just replace the whole thing if necessary.

You can generally count on a contractor to install the cheapest crap they can get away with...the ol' 'tail-light' guarantee (it's guaranteed until you can't see his taillights anymore).

There...I feel better now that I've had my daily 'grumpy old man' moment.

 

[SurfnFish]

You'd think a couple of gaskets for a simple long stem valve rod would be a simple thing, but no.....

Plumbing parts (in particular faucets) are a goddamn nightmare. For many years most larger cities had specialist providers (usually retired plumbers) who had shops dedicated solely to faucet parts.

Spokane had 'Bill the Fauceteer' (an absolute faucet maestro)....long gone now. Try getting knowledgeable help at a big box store.

Faucets sound like a mundane item...until you need parts.

Were I to have a house built these days I'd have the contractor install accessible sillcock ports and threaded copper fittings so I could easily just replace the whole thing if necessary.

You can generally count on a contractor to install the cheapest crap they can get away with...the ol' 'tail-light' guarantee (it's guaranteed until you can't see his taillights anymore).

There...I feel better now that I've had my daily 'grumpy old man' moment.

same..couldn't find parts on the original frost free so had to hire a plumber to make the under floor crawl and sweat in a new one... $200 all in

and even with frost free bibs, should cover them during winter.

 

[Roper]

The faucet in front was dripping. So I pulled it apart and the washer was pretty beat. Lowe’s had a replacement that was close. I get home and the new washer is larger than the cup it sits in. I hand to cobble a shaft to hold it, chuck it in my drill press and take a sanding block to it. What a PITA…

 

[BigSky_ 2]

View attachment 98733
and even with frost free bibs, should cover them during winter.
View attachment 98734

Agreed, foam covers for added insurance. Got down to -35 deg (not wind chill) last winter with wind. 12" frost-free bib caulked, foamed, with rim joist and stem wall spray foamed for when it gets really cold.

 

[Wade Rivers]

Yes, this is my life.

I cannot get two of my three dogs to come in, even when it’s dumping. Usually the older one likes to step in a fresh pile and track it across the deck and into the house when he does decide to come in. The other, fresh off the muddy belly hole he’s usually digging will track in muddy footprints. Notice the baby gate in the upper left hand corner of the pic. Me gating off last summers belly hole after filling it in and planting grass.

Impossible to get upset at this happy merled prick though.

View attachment 98567

Don't they usually lick their own?

 

[_WW_]

Those of you with RVs might want to think about putting a heater in it until Monday. I know that I've drained everything, (including the outdoor shower) but heat is cheap insurance.

I'm so happy I have a wood stove. I'm going to hunker down and tie flies...for four days!

 

[Stonedfish]

I noticed lots of hoses still connected to outside faucets while on my daily walk today.
Not many bibs to be seen.
SF

 

[albula]

This morning when I checked the weather prognostication for the peninsula it called for 10-14 inches of snow in the next 4 days. Now it says a light dusting mixed with rain tomorrow and then sunny and clear for the next 3 days. The one constant, however, was low temps in the teens. Hope they are a little off on that too.

 

[krusty]

Supposed to be -6 here in Spokane Saturday night...and that's not chill factor.

Usually hit a few stretches of cold like that every winter.

Worst I remember was a static -25 in the winter of '68. Couldn't bury my grandmother for a few weeks. Ground like concrete.

I'm starting to sound like one of those old guys sitting around a pot-bellied stove at the general store.

"How about passin' around that jar of pickled eggs. A swig of shine wouldn't hurt either."