Outside faucets shut off valve

pistolkell

last year I did not take the hose off one of the faucets and I had to replace the vacuum breaker assembly because the faucet was leaking from the top. Other than turning off the shut off valves for those faucets do I have to shut off the water to the whole house and let the water drain out of the plumbing lines so that there is no water sitting by the outside faucets or that is not needed? I just don't want any problems from those faucets from the cold winter months.

joecaption

Just not leaving the hose on should do it. It shuts off way under the house and any water in the line should drain out if it was installed right.
When you buy one there's a tapered piece of plastic included with the valve.
It's suppost to be used so when the valve gets attached to the side of the house it holds the pipe at a slight angle so water will self drain.
I also always add a Gater Bite ball valve under the house on the supply side of the valve so if it needs to be changed I can shut it off right there and slide the valve out.
No soldering, no having to unthread it.

VIPlumber

Is the only shut off for the hoses the same one as the whole house, or do you have one somewhere inside just for the hoses? If one just for the hoses, then shut-off inside the house and leave the spigot open all winter. Any water inside will drain out and you shouldn't have a problem. If the only shut-off is the main/whole house valve, then consider installing one a few feet inside from the hose bibs. And as Joe said pull the hoses off and bring inside for the winter. I just did mine this past weekend as the temps are starting to go into the single digits over night and I don't want to be caught off guard.

jschaben

Good idea bringing the hoses in for the winter. I have got storage problems though so my alternative solution is to blow the hoses out with shop air right around the first hard frost.

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beenthere

Moved to plumbing forum.

AllanJ

For ordinary (not "frostproof") outdoor spigots there should be (but not always is) a shutoff valve for winter use just inside.

It should not be too difficult to stretch out and then empty the water from garden hoses manually. Then the hoses can be left outdoors all winter.

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