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sjsusig1982
Apr 1, 2004, 09:17 PM
The hose bib in front of my house has no pressure. When I open the valve a few tablespoons of water trickle out, then nothing. I can find no evidence of leaking/broken pipe.

I can't wash my car and the neighbors are starting to complain!
??

labman
Apr 1, 2004, 11:02 PM
Most of the outside hose bibs are the frost proof type. The handle is outside, but the valve is inside. Recognize them by the handle being straight up and down. There should be a packing nut behind it. Shut the water off to it. That may mean shutting the water off to the whole house at the meter or pump. Unscrew the nut and open the faucet. You should then be able to pull the handle. Nut, and a long rod out. The rod should have a faucet washer on the end. Look for something broken, corroded or missing. If you spot a problem, go to the best hardware store you know of and see if you can find the part you need.

Also, if you can get at the inside of it, see if you can unscrew it from the line. Then you can get a good look at it and perhaps go buy a new one. Perhaps before you start, got to the hardware store and look at new ones. That will help you understand what you have.

If it doesn't unscrew, you may need to unsolder it or cut the line and splice in a new short line and hose bib.

Has it ever worked since you have lived there? The non frost proof ones usually had a shut off just inside and you needed to shut them off in the fall and open the hose bib. You then turned it back on in the spring. Could be as easy as finding the shutoff and turning it on.

Your neighbors must be short on things to complain about.