Frozen Outdoor Faucets: The Hidden Basement Leak Cedar Rapids Homeowners Miss

Every spring, some Cedar Rapids homeowners turn on the garden hose and find water pouring into the basement instead. The outdoor faucet froze and split over the winter, and nobody knew until the valve was opened. A few minutes of work in the fall prevents it.

How an Outdoor Faucet Freezes

An outdoor faucet (hose bib or sillcock) is a pipe that runs from inside the heated basement, through the rim joist, to the outside wall. Iowa winters regularly drop well below zero, and the part of the pipe inside the cold wall freezes first.

• Older standard hose bibs hold water right at the outside wall, where it freezes.
• Frost-proof hose bibs have a long stem that closes the valve inside the heated space, so the outside part drains. They only work if the hose is off.

The Hose Mistake

A connected hose keeps water in the frost-proof stem. It freezes, expands and splits the pipe inside the wall. Because the split is behind the valve, nothing leaks all winter. The first time the faucet is opened in spring, water runs into the wall and down into the basement, sometimes for hours before anyone notices.

Fall Checklist

1. Disconnect every hose, splitter and timer from outdoor faucets.
2. On older standard faucets, close the inside shutoff valve and open the outside faucet to drain it.
3. Add an insulated faucet cover on exposed walls.
4. Check that basement rim joists near faucets are insulated.
5. Know where your main shutoff is. See our shutoff valve guide.

Spring: Test Carefully

The first time you open an outdoor faucet each year, have someone watch the basement wall and ceiling directly behind it. If you see or hear water inside, close the faucet and shut off the water supply to that line.

If It Leaked Into the Basement

1. Shut off the water to that line or at the main.
2. Photograph the wall, ceiling and floor.
3. Call a plumber to replace the faucet and the split section.
4. Get the wet insulation, drywall, carpet and framing checked and dried.

Water inside a finished basement wall often soaks the insulation and the bottom plate where nobody can see it. Read frozen pipes in an Iowa winter, what to do after a burst pipe and wet drywall: dry or remove. Our basement water damage page covers how the area is dried.