Outdoor Water Valve Care

In this video, Handyguys Brian and Paul explain how to fix an outdoor water valve. Outdoor water valves can typically last for a very long time if they have the proper care. However, the typical valve experiences 2 common problems: dripping and leaking. The Handyguys look at both of these problems and provide remedies to the home owner that has a dripping or leaking outdoor water valve.

Dripping Valve

If an outdoor water valve is dripping, it typically has to do with an issue concerning the outdoor water valve washer. First, take off the lower of the two nuts on the water valve. As you do this, the entire stem and handle will unscrew with the nut. On the bottom, there’s a washer held in with a screw, and this is what shuts the water off. If the washer is bad, the outdoor water valve is going to leak. Often when you unscrew the nut, you will see that the washer is deteriorated or the screw is bad. If you are able to, try and save the old screw.

In order to remedy the dripping, you can buy a washer and screw kit from a local hardware store. These kits typically have washers and screws in all different sizes and are also cost efficient. You can also take the stem into a local hardware store to get the perfect washer and screw fit rather than the whole kit. After obtaining a new washer and/or screw, remove the nut again on the outdoor valve, unscrew the screw, and replace the washer. After, put the screw and valve stem back onto the faucet, and the dripping problem will have been remedied.

Leaking Valve

If an outdoor water valve is leaking, the problem can be fixed in just 2 steps. First, remove the handle from the valve. Second, take off the top nut, or packing nut, and replace or supplement the packing. In this video, the Handyguys use a self-forming graphite valve packing. Silicon packing also works nicely for this problem. Take the old packing material out from the valve, and wrap the new one around the stem. Tighten down the nut and seal up around the stem in order to have a new valve that no longer leaks.

With these two remedies, any homeowner can ensure that their outdoor water valve lasts a long time. Just make sure that you turn off the water valve in the winter in order to ensure that the valve doesn’t freeze.