Little-Known Problems With Spigots

5/2/2019 (Permalink)

How can a outside water spigot that is designed to be "frost-free" freeze during the winter?

SERVPRO of Coeur d' Alene has served many customers who did not know that a little outdoor water spigot can cause so much damage in the interior of their home.  SERVPRO of Coeur d' Alene has responded to many "frost-free" water spigot failures.

To make matters worse a homeowner rarely discovers the broken water spigot until they wash their car for the first time in the spring.  Some have set-up their water spigot attached sprinklers to run in mid-spring and then leave the home for a few hours.  They often arrive home to find that there is a foot of water in their basement. 

If installed properly and the homeowner removes the hose from the water spigot there is little chance that the water spigot will fail.  While most homeowners remove the hose from the water spigot for the winter season most do not know how a "frost-free" water spigot is to be installed or maintained.

The "frost-free" water spigot is designed to have a long valve stem so that the water spigot valve is typically located in an inconspicuous location in the home.  This keeps the water spigot valve from freezing.

There are some climates that will allow the placement of the water spigot valve in the crawl space of the home.  Remember!  During the winter months the homes crawl space will be close to the outside temperature.  This was the case in the Coeur d' Alene area during last winter.

A plumber can determine if your water spigots need to be updated.  This will be relatively inexpensive compared to after the fact water mitigation costs that can reach the $10,000.00 range.

Please remember that if your water spigots were improperly installed it could impact your insurance claim for the water loss.