Need plumbing advise

[Weird Harold]

hot water heater, furnace and washer and dryer are in utility room...about 25' from the wall that holds the problem faucet. On the back side of the utility room is a Florida room and a patio.

It's hard to picture, but the house is long and narrow.

Sounds like a cinder-block version of a "Shotgun House."

 

[jehoram]

The cheapest solution, and maybe the only one you need, is to install a valve just below the faucet itself. it screws into the existing faucet.

Here's a picture:

You can leave it screwed onto the faucet, and just use the valve. And you can screw your garden hose onto it, just as if it were the faucet.

For more information, here's the page I got it from:

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/f4/f4108446-a795-4890-bb8e-73466706a01f_1000.jpg

 

[TheOldWidow]

OK, jehoram I have a quick question.

If I install a valve underneath the existing faucet, a new one that can be shut off, won't the old faucet still leak? Because now it has more pressure against it? I was assuming (yeah, I know) that the reason it's leaking was because the internal packing/ball valve/whatever was malfunctioning. Am I missing something here?
Or is it early and I haven't had enough coffee.

 

[ReadyOne]

Exactly where is the leak?

I may have missed your answer, but I still don't know what exactly is leaking.

Is the water coming out from around the stem, where the handle attaches? (Or at the packing nut?)

Is the water coming out the hose attachment point? If you attached the garden hose, would the leak now be at the end of the hose?

Someplace else?

 

[HisArpy]

Give us a picture of the wall and bib. Without it, we're shooting in the dark.

I can tell you that 2K is ridiculous no matter what some stupid contractor has to do to fix it. Without seeing anything, I'd say to take one of those cutoff tools (you can use either the vibrator style or rotary ones) and remove the mortar around the bricks next to the area where the pipe comes out of the wall in an area big enough to work in. Remove the bricks as best you can even if that means breaking them to pieces. You can replace bricks.
Bust open the wall blocks if it's concrete block. Use a big hammer drill and concrete drill bit to make lots of holes and just hammer the pieces out with a cold chisel. This will reveal the pipe.

Fix by either capping the pipe or replacing the faucet. Pipes laid in concrete slabs are usually copper and the joints are sweat soldered. This takes a propane torch and silver solder to repair but it's EASY to do. If your pipes are galvanized, just replace the pipe/faucet with new.

Use concrete or mortar to fix the hole in the block. Make it thick and dry-ish looking. Use a triangular trowel and just stuff it in there and let set. It needs to be level and smooth with the block surface because you have to stick the bricks back on. Mortar the bricks in place, use the triangular trowel to wipe off any squeeze out and make the mortar match in appearance.

Lots of work but not $2K worth.

 

[TheOldWidow]

The water leaks at the throat of the faucet. I was able to turn the handle once and stop the drip, but now using a pipe wrench to stabilize the faucet head, I can't turn the handle any further with another wrench.

The faucet backs flush to the bricks. There is no extension and the faucet is not frost proof. It is a local hardware variety, nothing special. Brass with a red handle. I can't post a picture or I would. I don't have an account to a hosting site, like this forum demands.

 

[KentuckyDom1971]

Put on the external cable like joharum posted above.
Open your old valve all the way and use the new valve to cut the water on and off.
Basically you have then eliminated the valve that leaks.

 

[TheOldWidow]

I can do that. Wouldn't the pipe end that I put on it be sufficient. I don't use the faucet. I won't pay domestic water rates, (there is only one system) to water lawn or shrubs.

 

[KentuckyDom1971]

I can do that. Wouldn't the pipe end that I put on it be sufficient. I don't use the faucet. I won't pay domestic water rates, (there is only one system) to water lawn or shrubs.

If you buy an add on spigot like above that is freeze proof you will be good.

 

[TheOldWidow]

Sir,
I thank you for the information.

I thank everyone that stopped by to help me save money. That's the name of the game for me. The best solution and the cheapest price.

 

[jehoram]

The water leaks at the throat of the faucet. I was able to turn the handle once and stop the drip, but now using a pipe wrench to stabilize the faucet head, I can't turn the handle any further with another wrench.

I don't know what you mean by "throat" ... if it's the part where the hose screws on, you can use that attachment I described earlier. If it's anywhere else, you've got to replace the packing and maybe polish the valve seat (or at least get any accumulated crud off). You've got to shut off the water supply to do that, but there has to be some sort of valve to do that if your place is up to code.

I can't post a picture or I would. I don't have an account to a hosting site, like this forum demands.

I don't have one either. what I did was find an image on the Net that looked like what I had in mind and stuck the URL in my post. With the gazillions of images on the Net now, I'm sure that there's one that looks like your setup.