How to protect an out door water pipe from freezing and other traumas?

[Ron Cliborn]

I have a piece of pvp pipe just sticking out of the ground with a faucet on the end for water. 2 years back several pipes busted on the property, including this one. Last year I wrapped it in pipe foam and duct tape and it made through the winter. Now as winter is headed our way again, I'd like to make a more permanent solution to this problem. I was thinking of maybe bricking it up and filling it in with conceret. This would also protect the pipe from people tugging on the hose. I am unsure of any other solutions, but if you have any suggestions, please share them with me. I could put some kind of heat tape on it but would only do this as a last resort. I live in Zone 8 ( the zones for buying plants.) Out side of Atlanta,GA. It gets cold in the winter, and we get a few days below freezing, some snow, but not often. However, I'd like the pipe to be able to survive a 20 or 50 year freeze. I also thought if I put bricks and concrete around the pipe I'd like the faucet to be recesses on the top to protect it from the wind and cold. and to make it easier to cover with syrofoam.

But again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ron C

[George]

Install a frost proof hydrant. They are specifically designed for your application.

[tim birr]

Know that some of us paranoid folks in the Great White North install said "frost-proof faucets," but also bundle the faucets up each winter with insulation and caps irregardless of what the makers of said products claim about "frost-proof" abilities. ;>0

[keith]

Drain the pipe. I'm SW of Atlanta and it gets cold enough here to break silcocks, occasionally (of course it doesn't dawn on builders to use frost-free silcocks). A free standing pipe is just asking for trouble. The best solution is to drain the pipe. If there is a shutoff valve in this line, perhaps you can replace it with one with a bleeder port (turn off the valve and open the bleeder to drain the line). If this isn't possible, shut the water off to the pipe and leave the faucet open. This will give some room for the water to expand.

[trader4]

Either use a freeze proof hydrant gizmo, drain it for the winter or put heat tape on it. Wrapping in insulation isn't much protection at all. Consider that insulation just SLOWS the movement of heat. It doesn't stop it. And an inch or so isn't going to offer much protection. Building a brick strutcture around it would offer some protection as well, but considering how much it might help vs the effort, doesn't seem like a good solution to me.

It all depends on how lucky you feel.

[HeyBub]

Bricks, concrete, and the like, don't insulate worth spit: Consider the following R-values:

Brick - 0.80 Poured concrete - 0.08/inch

A 2x4 has an R-value of 4.38 Cement block, 8-inch - 1.11

Can you build a dog house around the spigot?

[clare]

Frost proof hydrant AND blow out the lines.

[keith]

Overkill.

[hrhofmann]

This guy lives near Atlanta, he just needs overnight protection, in daytime it almost always gets above freezing for part of the day. I would blow the water out of the pipe and leave at least one end open, any residual water will expand down the length of the pipe and compress the air that is in the line.

[Ed Pawlowski]

"Ron Cliborn" wrote

Insulation alone will slow the laws of thermodynamics, but it does not repeal them.

No matter what you do with insulation, eventually the heat will be lost and the pipe will freeze. If you want to be 100% sure, you must either drain the water or add heat. Wrap the pipe with heating tape and turn it on when it gets below freezing. A frost prove valve will work as long as the pipe drains where exposed.

[ransley]

I drain the pipes, then you know you are safe.

[FatterDumber& Happier Moe]

To keep the pipe from getting broken when someone is pulling on the hose. I'd drive a metal tee-post fence along side of it and secure the pipe to the post with hose clamps (try not to hit the supply line when doing this). To keep it from freezing? Some kind of barrel or big tube over it all, filled with squashed up old walmart plastic sacks or a bag of cellulose insulation and put a lid on it, maybe a decent looking trash can would work? It might be worth the effort to dig it all up and "stiff arm" it with metal pipe. If you can make it through a couple more years global warming should take over and it won't be a problem the next ice age.

[jamesgangnc]

I'd go ahead and switch to the freeze proof outlet. The ones with the pull handle. The valve is located at the bottom and when you close it that automatically opens a drain in the bottom. Do this once and you will not have to worry about it again. Atlanta occasionally does have cold snaps that last a few days.

[hallerb]

could covert lines to PEX its highly freeze resistant, it freezes but doesnt split. just expands and contracts

[HeyBub]

FatterDumber& Happier Moe"

[The Daring Dufas]