Loose hose bib

[Matt]

I have a hose bib in my garage that simply appears out of a hole in the drywall. It has a 45 degree turn connector and a vacuum breaker attached, and then the garden hose. The valve is always open, as it is regulated at the exiting end of the hose. Once in a while water leaks from the valve itself - typically when toilets are flushed or the washing machine is running in the house. I took the vacuum breaker and 45 out of the equation and it seems to be a tight connection now. The gasket on the breaker looks to be a bit worn. Other issue is that the valve simply comes out of a 1" hole in the drywall. I haven't looked behind, but the valve is very loose - like I can move it probably 1" or more in every direction (in/out/up/down/ left/right), and then it is only restrained by the size of the drywall hole. Should I just replace the entire valve with an anti-siphon valve (i have soldered before, but it is NOT my profession), should I just buy a new vacuum breaker with new gasket and spackle the hole around the valve to make it a little tighter, or should i find some other mechanical means of securing the valve to the drywall. I hate that every time I turn that valve on or off it moves in and out of the wall, or left/right/up/down and puts stress on the water pipe behind the drywall. Sorry to be long winded, but thanks.

[jamesgangnc]

Are you sure the existing valve is not an anti-syphon? Because it sounds like one. Anti-syphon will leak water if the pressure in the house system drops for any reason and the valve is on. Like flushing a toilet. That is to prevent water re-entering the house system from the hose. It doesn't close anything, it simply vents the excess pressure at the valve.

[Bob F]

Secure the valve so it doesn't move.

[Red Garnett]

After you do that, turn off the valve. If you're controlling the water using the hose on a permanent basis, the hose will fail. It's not designed to do that. You'll have a big mess and waste/be billed for a huge amount of water, especially if it blows while you and the family are at Disney World for a week...

[Matt]

I don't know if the hose bib itself is anti-siphon or not, but I am guessing it is not since there was a vacuum breaker attachment screwed onto it, which is where the hose connects to. I didn't know that the anti-siphon or vacuum breaker vented excess pressure - I thought it was just a simple one-way valve that prevented backflow if the house pressure dropped. Makes perfect sense if that's the case.

[fftt]

Matt-

Started this reply a few hours ago but got called away..... so some of this is repeat.

If the "leak", as you call it, was intermittent and occurred at the time of pressure fluctuations caused other water usages....the "leak" appears to be "normal" vacuum breaker operation.

I'm guess everything is just working fine. Where I used to work we had major water pressure. When a house nozzle was shutoff abruptly the vacuum breaker would "give a little spray" when the water hammer spiked the pressure.

The plumbing is supposed to be secured to the framing.

But at this point it depends on home much work you want to do & how you want the result to look. Spackling the hole to secure the hose bib is quick & easy but probably wont last long.

Cutting away a section of drywall, securing the pipes to the framing & redoing the drywall will give you the most secure and best looking result but .... a lot of work for a garage.

Or take a piece of plywood (like 3/8 or 1/2) , drill a hole a saw blade's thickness bigger in diameter than the pipe. Cut the plywood in half and install around the pipe. Use some latext caulk in the hole to glue the pipe in place (in & out) ......alllow time to cure before distrubing the pipe. Not as pretty as the drywall rework but a lot faster. Paint paint plywood to match & maybe bevel the edges to give it a more finished look.

cheer Bob

[Tom Horne]

Matt When the pressure in the houses plumbing drops; such as when a toilet is flushed; the pressure trapped in the hose is the greater then that of the houses plumbing. To prevent back flow and especially siphoning the back flow preventer opens to the atmosphere on it's outlet side when the check valve closes. This causes a brief spurt of water from the preventer.

-- Tom Horne

[norminn]

I can't address the specific plumbing issues, other than that I would want the pipe to be stable and not moving. I would open the wall enough to accomplish that. Afterward, an access panel is easy to make, as I made for a panel in our guest bedroom that is for access to the bathroom fistures next to the bedroom. I bought a cheap picture frame large enough to span the opening - plain, no frills. Filled the frame with a piece of drywall, primed and painted both, and then screwed the frame to the studs with nice brass screws and little round thingies that go around the head of the screw. Looks decent, easy and quick to open up for inspection or plumbing work. I like to check the plumbing when we have termite inspections.