We have outdoor faucets that you
have to be careful with in the winter. They have recessed valves that are
supposed to be protected from the cold because they are inside the house, but
as a precaution, you’re supposed to shut off the water source and then drain
the exterior faucet. In years past, I didn’t know this, and left it on. What
happens is on really cold days, the water freezes, makes it way into the
interior of the pipes, and if it reaches the faucet valve, can compromise the
seal and cause a leak. This happened to both of our exterior faucets.
Last summer, JH came over and
helped me replace both of them. He has a propane torch and could solder them,
what a guy. He told me how to prepare the pipes for winter, which I diligently
did, but it involves opening a drain plug and letting the excess water drain
out. Then you’re good to go for the winter. Well, this spring, I turned the
water back on, and it started spraying all over the place, leaving big puddles
on the basement floor. Not good.
I looked at the pipes, and as far
as I could tell, it looked like a crack in the pipes because the water was
spraying out in a thin stream. I figured a soldered joint had cracked, so I
shut off the valve and called JH. He came over and after carefully looking at
the pipe, deduced that it was coming from the drain plug. He took it off,
noticed it was missing its gasket, and then found the gasket (which is about
the size of a lentil) on the floor. He put it back in, tightened the plug, and
voila, we were back in business.
I felt a little (a lot?) stupid, I
could have taken more time to figure out what was wrong, but instead jumped the
gun and panicked. On a bright note, the fix was easy, and I got to re-connect
with JH and his magic bag of tools. I also thought he could come over again and
help out with the barn, since JH has completely bailed out on us. This could
work out, after all, but we’ll see.
Until then, thanks for reading.
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