Our new house has only two outside faucets, neither is near the patio. We
want to bring a water outlet to the patio by connecting something to the
faucet, copper or PVC plastic, which will allow us to connect a water faucet
at the patio which can be turned on and off, for the patio plants. We also
need to have the water on the side of the house (which will water the front
plantings too). My husband is a great do it yourselfer, but not a plumber
so far.
Comments?
And thank you to all the help I get on this list. Much appreciated.
Jackie
zone 7, MS

"Jacqueline Davidson" wrote in message
.. .
Our new house has only two outside faucets, neither is near the patio. We
want to bring a water outlet to the patio by connecting something to the
faucet, copper or PVC plastic, which will allow us to connect a water
faucet at the patio which can be turned on and off, for the patio plants.
We also need to have the water on the side of the house (which will water
the front plantings too). My husband is a great do it yourselfer, but not
a plumber so far.
Comments?
And thank you to all the help I get on this list. Much appreciated.
Jackie
zone 7, MS


Running PVC or copper denotes a permanent line. Connecting same to the
faucet denotes an exposed line to the elements. Maybe you don't see
anything wrong with freezing a water supply line...
--
Dave

Mankind, homo sapiens, 3rd chimpanzee
or whatever you choose, is not separate
from nature. Stop living and thinking
that way.

Jacqueline Davidson said:


Our new house has only two outside faucets, neither is near the patio. We
want to bring a water outlet to the patio by connecting something to the
faucet, copper or PVC plastic, which will allow us to connect a water faucet
at the patio which can be turned on and off, for the patio plants. We also
need to have the water on the side of the house (which will water the front
plantings too). My husband is a great do it yourselfer, but not a plumber
so far.
Comments?

Run a hose out to the area where you need the connection and bury it
under mulch. (Use a 3/4" diameter hose if you can get it.) You can
connect it to the tap with a Y-splitter if you need to be able to connect
to the original tap. Put a shut-off valve on the end near the patio.
You can "faucet extender" kits that come with a short piece of hose,
and put them at the end of whatever length of hose you need to get
close to the action. They come pricey, with brass fittings, or cheaper,
with plastic fittings. Or you can just use an in-line shutoff and let the
end lie on the ground.

Before freezing weather threatens, open the shut-off valve and disconnect
the hose at the tap to let it drain. If the hose is protected from sunlight
and freezing it will last many, many years and never needs to be "blown
out" or winterized.

I've taken this approach to get a 'tap' out to the back part of the yard, and
it's worked for 18 years.

Websites provided for example, no endorsement implied:

fancy: http://www.nextag.com/hose-faucet-extender/search-html
plastic: http://www.doityourself.com/invt/2436954
simple: http://www.factorydirecthose.com/sit...product/BWC224

Y-connector: http://www.rittenhouse.ca/asp/Product.asp?PG=1242

I also recommend using quick-disconnects on all your hose ends, sprayers
and sprinklers. (Whatever brand is conveniently available locally.)

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

After enlightenment, the laundry.

Jacqueline Davidson wrote:
Our new house has only two outside faucets, neither is near the patio. We
want to bring a water outlet to the patio by connecting something to the
faucet, copper or PVC plastic, which will allow us to connect a water faucet
at the patio which can be turned on and off, for the patio plants. We also
need to have the water on the side of the house (which will water the front
plantings too). My husband is a great do it yourselfer, but not a plumber
so far.
Comments?
And thank you to all the help I get on this list. Much appreciated.
Jackie
zone 7, MS



IMHO: The best solution for a "great do it yourselfer" who does not posses
plumbing skills is to run the water lines him(her)self, drilling all of the
holes, inserting the pipe, and doing the donkey work that would tie up so
much expensive plumber time and then call in a pro to make the actual
connections. PEX pipe is probably the easiest method ever conceived for
piping and is easily within the range of any weekend DIYer. The only
critical thing is that it not be kinked and that it not be run over sharp
edges or other items that might cut it. Actually the connections aren't
that difficult either but they do require an investment in equipment that
can't be used for anything else and which isn't trivially cheap. Of course
you'd have to have arranged for a plumber who is willing to work with you
and for any locally-required permits.

Of course the foregoing assumes the ability to actually route the pipes
through a basement or crawl space. If the job is going to entail
jackhammering a route through a concrete slab or tearing apart walls then
perhaps some serious reconsideration would be called for.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

On Aug 31, 8:47�am, "Jacqueline Davidson"
wrote:
Our new house has only two outside faucets, neither is near the patio. �We
want to bring a water outlet to the patio by connecting something to the
faucet, copper or PVC plastic, which will allow us to connect a water faucet
at the patio which can be turned on and off, for the patio plants. �We also
need to have the water on the side of the house (which will water the front
plantings too). �My husband is a great do it yourselfer, but not a plumber
so far.
Comments?
And thank you to all the help I get on this list. �Much appreciated.
Jackie
zone 7, MS

Two hose bibs at opposite ends are plenty for most houses... how large
is your house? I have two hose bibs, one at the front, one at the
rear... each with 100' of hose on a reel... that's plenty to reach to
the sides and more than enough to reach out away from the house for
occasional distant watering. There was a time I thought of adding
hose bibs at the sides but then realized how unsightly, two hose reels
are enough to hide and mow around. And quality hose reels are a bit
pricy and still don't hold up well, seems they make them more and more
flimsy each year and charge more and more.

Other than plumbing in additional hose bibs (not very difficult/
expensive) the easier method is to simply lengthen your existing
hoses... probably the least troublesome as well... extra hose bibs and
hoses just present more exposure to winter woes, maintenence/
replacement, and hose storage. Also, for patio watering coil type
hoses are probably the most utile and least cumbersome... it's simple
enough to use a "Y" connection to bring a hose to your patio, tuck it
in to your foundation so you can quick connect a coil hose, simple
valves are easy to add wherever. I think when living in cold weather
locations the fewer hose bibs the better. I have potted plasnts on my
deck but I don't remember ever hauling a hose over to water them,
rather than unwind and rewind a hose it's far easier to fill a
watering can... and I fill my watering can at my kitchen sink. And
think honestly about how often you use a hose, probably a couple times
a week at most, during a rainy spell perhaps not once in a month. And
now at summer's end is a good time to buy a few extra hoses, I like 50
footers, much simpler to handle than 100 footers.