On May 5, 4:49�pm, "Dioclese" NONE wrote:
"Newbie" wrote in message

...





We want to instal a faucet outside the building to water the backyard
lawns. (At present we have to run the hose either from inside or around
the building from the front.)

The way the porches, decks, etc are, it would be convenient if teh
faucet was at the side of the wooden porch, about 10' out from the
brick wall.

However, a handyman tells us that in Chicago's climate we can't do this.
According to him, the pipe must remain inside the heated building and
the faucet should just come out of the wall.

Is he right, or with some precaution (like shutting off the water well
before winters) can we have a few feet of pipe outside?

Thanks for all advice.

The temperature, be it at freezing, or, at 50F below is of no consequence as
ice is ice is ice. �It expands no further. �So, by the same nature, the pipe
that holds that water that turns to ice is of no further danger once it
freezes. �Doesn't matter if you're in upper Alaska, or southern Florida.

A simple way to take up the ice expansion is to have a garden hose connected
while the hose bib valve is open. �The garden hose should have a simple
valve on the end for open or closed. �The hose's ability to expand will take
most of the compression while the valve on the end of the hose is closed.

That won't work, in fact that's really dumb. At 20F, typical for
Chicago, the water in the hose will freeze solid right up to the hose
bib in an hour, then what? You obviously didn't think this through...
it can be well below freezing for many days in Chicago... the water in
the exposed hose bib will freeze solid too (as if that hose wasn't
there), and burst inside the foundation shooting water inside...
you'll know it burst when you find a flooded basement. If you're very
lucky you'll discover the damage before the temperature drops further
and the saturated masonary foundation cracks into a billion bits.
According to your theory millions and millions of people have been
doing it all wrong... during freezing winters everyone should leave
their garden hose connected with the hose bib valve open. LOL