A homeowner near Lake Joy, up Stillwater Hill northeast of Carnation, called us in April about the outdoor water on one side of the house. There wasn't a proper hose bib there at all: the only tap was a boiler drain teed into the water main under the floor, reachable by crawling. Donald rebuilt the connection in one afternoon.
What We Found
Under the house, the 3/4 inch CPVC main ran along the crawlspace with a red-wheel boiler drain screwed into a tee, the kind of valve made for draining a system rather than for a garden hose. There was no shutoff on the line into the house either; the tap and the house shared one valve at the source.
What We Did
Donald cut out the section of CPVC main that carried the boiler drain and reconnected the line with PEX, adding a quarter-turn ball valve on the run into the house so the plumbing can be shut off from the crawlspace without touching the source. Off the new line he added a tee and ran a supply to a real hose bib, mounted through the siding where a hose can actually reach it. It was pressurized and tested, with no leaks.
Why It Matters
- A boiler drain is not a hose bib. It is a drain valve with a hose thread, meant to empty a line a few times in its life, not to be worked all summer with a hose and sprayer hanging off it.
- A shutoff where there was none is the quiet win. The new ball valve means a future repair inside can be isolated from the crawlspace instead of at the source.
- CPVC and PEX join cleanly. A proper transition fitting lets new PEX pick up where an older CPVC main leaves off, without replacing what still works.
- Put the tap where the hose goes. A faucet on the wall at hose height gets used, disconnected in the fall, and looked at. One under the floor gets none of that.
Why Carnation
The properties up Stillwater Hill and around Lake Joy sit at the end of long driveways, most of them on wells and septic, and the plumbing under them was often built in stages over decades. A boiler drain standing in for a hose bib is the kind of thing that happens out here, and the kind we can fix in an afternoon from Fall City. With the wet season coming, a bib on the wall with the hose off is the version you want in November. Our fall plumbing checklist covers the rest.
Put the Tap Where the Hose Goes
Call 425-549-2400 or schedule an appointment.
More: outdoor faucet & hose bib services · plumbing in Carnation · the Duvall spigot that wouldn't stop dripping · water pressure services