Need A Plumber? What Should You Do When Your Outdoor Plumbing Fixtures Leak? | San Antonio, TX
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When it’s time to enjoy the outdoors, don’t let leaky faucets and hose bibb dampen your spirits. A leaking bibb may not seem to be a big issue initially. Do you know it can waste up to 30,000 gallons of water every month, depending on the size of the leak? That’s a lot of water going down the drain and causing your water bills to spike.
Plus, the water puddles in your backyard can cause damage to your house’s foundation and lead to termite growth. In both these cases, you will end up paying more down the line.
So, call a plumber right away when you notice a leaky bibb or faucet in your backyard.
What Can Cause Leakage in Outdoor Hose Bibb?
Usually, the outdoor spigots or faucets suffer damages due to time or malfunctioning parts. Your bibb may have a loosely packed nut or worn-out washers in its assembly. Sometimes, leakages may occur due to the pipes supplying water to the bibb.
The winters in San Antonio, TX, aren’t freezing usually. Still, you should shut off your pipes and drain them properly before the winters to avoid damages caused by frozen water inside them. Or better yet, call a plumbing service to inspect the entire outdoor plumbing system in your house to prevent such occurrences.
How to Check for Leaking Outdoor Hose Bibb?
If you notice damp spots in your lawn or find water puddles under the spigots, it’s time to play detective and find its root cause. You have to examine the hose as there may be some leakages on its body. If the leak is in the bibb connecting the hose to the faucet, check the connection closely. You may also take the following steps in this direction.
- Open the indoor valve if it was closed before winter. Look at the signs of leakages along your basement walls and ceiling or around the pipe. Typically, a leaky hose bibb causes more damage to your interiors. So, check the drywall damage as well.
- Turn on the outdoor faucet and check the walls under the hose bibb for any leakages. Sometimes, you may notice weep holes in your walls. In this case, you need to call a plumber and replace the bibb immediately.
- If the water leaks from the outdoor faucet’s handle, it may be due to a damaged washer inside the bibb. Here again, it may need replacement by an expert plumbing professional.
What to Do About Leaky Hose Bibb?
Before inspecting or repairing an outdoor plumbing system, it is essential to turn off the main water line. You may try to tighten the bibb connection, but it may lead to spraying if you do not exert the right pressure. If you somehow warp the bibb, the leaks will become worse.
Additionally, outdoor systems are usually expensive. Hence, do not handle them unless you are sure about fixing the leaks yourself. The safest route is to call a plumber to inspect and deal with the problem.
How to Inspect Other Outdoor Water Leaks
Though leaky hose bibs are the commonest plumbing issue marrying your house’s exteriors, it’s not the only problem you may face. Sometimes, water pipes running through your yard may have leaky spots at fittings or around your shutoff valve.
Underground leakages are common in San Antonio, TX, homes having buried irrigation systems. When leakages happen in the pipes between the backflow prevention device and the irrigation valve box, you need to call a plumbing professional immediately.
A malfunctioning valve can also result in leakages in your outdoor plumbing systems. They may go undetected for longer periods unless you receive an unexpectedly high water bill. The causes may be an old piping system, defective pipes, improper pipe installations, or weather damages. You can look for some obvious signs to take corrective measures before it’s too late. Follow these steps.
Examine the Water Meter
The first step is to check if your water meter stays running even after you shut off every faucet inside the house and in the yard. Turn off the main water line and look at the meter closely. If the dial is still moving, there may be an outdoor leakage somewhere in the pipes running between the meter and valve. Take the water meter reading and don’t turn on the faucets for an hour. Now, take another reading and if you find any differences between these two, call a plumber to detect the outdoor leakage right away.
Look for Wet Spots in the Yard
An underground water leak results in wet areas that are soggy around your backyard. Sometimes, you may notice mossy, moldy, and green patches in the grass. These may be due to a water leakage underneath. Potholes and sinkholes are also possible signs of outdoor water leakage. In any of these cases, don’t delay calling a plumber for better inspection. They have the right tools like video cameras to find hidden leaks.
Look Inside Your Home
Outdoor water leakages may also leave visible signs inside your home. Check if the water from your inside taps has dirt or rust in it. If you notice an unexpectedly low water pressure or flow volume, contact a plumber for proper inspection. Apart from these, a leaning structure and uneven flooring are other alarming signs to look for.
Notice Any Noises
Unusual noises in your water pipe may also be due to leaky outdoor fixtures or pipes. If you hear any babbling or splashing sound when water spray hits the soil cavity in your garden, it’s time to take action and call an expert plumbing service. Clinking noises caused by debris inside the water pipes also indicate severe damage to the underground plumbing lines.
For any of these conditions, you need an emergency plumber to rectify the issue.
Contact an Experienced Local Plumber to Deal with Leaky Outdoor Fixtures
Whenever you notice any leakages in your outdoor plumbing system, call bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of San Antonio – San Antonio, TX, without delays. Our experienced plumber will visit your home to inspect the cause of the leak and recommend the right solution accordingly. Book an appointment on 210-876-1629 today.
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