Hose Bibs: What Are They?
With summer fast approaching, you have probably started gardening and landscaping. A hose bib (also known as a spigot/outdoor water faucet) is the small tap located on an outer wall of your home that facilitates your access to water in your backyard.
What are hose bibs used for?
It functions as an attachment to your garden hose giving you easy access to water outdoors. It allows you to enjoy the comfort of running water outside of your home with ease and total convenience.
Hose bibs leaking
But you might be disappointed when you realize your garden hose bib is leaking. Leaky hose bibs waste a large amount of water for being such a small leak. Over time, a leaking hose bib can cause water damage to your foundation, which will turn into a much larger and more expensive repair.
Here are some tips to repairing a leaky hose bib:
- Always turn off the water supply line for the bib you are repairing.
- Try to tighten the packing nut as your first attempt to fix the leak.
- Replace the washers in your hose bib if tightening the packing nut doesn't work first.
- Use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove any of the old packing material inside the valve - this is usually more common in older bibs. Newer hose bibs will have rubber o-rings.
Did you also know that your hose bib has the ability to contaminate the drinking water in your home and city? You may want to call a plumber to get advice to repair or replace that leaky hose bib!
For help with your solutions to any plumbing problems, contact the experts at Bubby’s Plumbing today.