Submitted by USA Plumbing on
Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) June 01, 2012 -- Some plumbing jobs you just want to do in the summer; Mr. Rooter refers to this as, preventive maintenance. “A drip from an outdoor faucet could result in broken pipes,” according to Bob Beall, president of Mr. Rooter Plumbing in Beaver, Cranberry, Sharon, Pittsburgh, Washington and Westmoreland Pennsylvania. In Youngstown Ohio, as well as the Southeastern region in Pennsylvania, according to the most referred plumber, it gets very cold during the winter months which leads to many emergency calls that are addressed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Replacing the washer in an outdoor freeze-proof faucet is repaired differently. According to Beall, “The difference is taking apart one of these devices, specially built to prevent freezing in sub-zero weather. “The packing nut and stem require several extra steps to disassemble.”
Drips are a common problem with these faucets because their design leads many people to turn the faucet off too hard, causing unnecessary wear on the stem washer. According to Mr. Rooter, “the faucet is installed at a slight tilt toward the outside wall, so that when the handle is turned off, the small amount of water remaining in the faucet body continues to run out of the spout until the body is completely empty.”
According to Beall, this draining action makes the faucet freeze-proof, of course, but instead of waiting a minute for the trickle to stop, homeowners unfamiliar with the mechanism often try to turn off the faucet harder and thus wear out the washer.
Tip # 1 Inside A Freeze-proof Faucet: All parts of a standard stem faucet are present in a freeze-proof faucet, but the sloped, elongated body of the faucet allows the stem to stop the flow of water inside the house, where the temperature stays above the freezing point. Water remaining in the exposed body drains out of the spout.
Tip # 2 Removing The Packing Nut: Remove the handle screw and the handle. Unscrew the hexagonal packing nut–it is designed to come off, even though the faucet body may appear to be all of one piece with the stem projecting from it. Then put the handle back on the stem.
Tip #3 Removing The Stem: Turn the handle counter-clockwise to unscrew (Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey) the washer end of the stem from the faucet body. Then pull the handle away from the faucet body. If the stem cannot be budged this way–the packing holds it very tight–remove the handle, set a pair of locking-grip pliers over the round part of the stem and pull the stem free. Then replace the stem washer in the ordinary way.
Mr. Rooter Plumbing offers 24/7 emergency drain cleaning services: Call 877-ROOTER-2 and a licensed Mr. Rooter plumber will be dispatched to your home or business immediately.
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Mr. Rooter Media Center
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