Monday, October 24, 2011

What damage did freezing do to my grandmother's bathtub faucet?

My grandmother's house is vacant, and luckily I just happened to check on it just a day or so after the furnace's thermostat broke. Especially lucky because the outdoor temperature dropped to an extremely low 1 degree that night!



The temperature was 44 degrees when I replaced the thermostat, and a faucet far from the main part of the house was already dry due to freezing. Water was still running in the main part of the house where the bathtub is. (I didn't try the bathub faucet.)



The next day the indoor temperature was still only 56 degrees and the water was stopped at EVERY faucet. I changed the thermostat so that the furnaced ran at the higher setting (stage 2). And I closed an outdoor access door to the crawl space.



The next day water was available from all faucets.



Unfortunately, cold water was coming out the bathtub faucet even though the valves were closed. Not just a drip, but a steady stream. Far from full force, though.



Can you explain how this is possible?



The house is 100 years old, but the faucet and valves are modern (about 7 years old). I don't know if the plumbing itself is updated, or if it's just new fittings. The fittings look like those in this picture:



http://www.viewpoints.com/images/review/



A major difference is that grandma's tub doesn't have the middle valve, and there is a thing to pull up on the faucet to redirect the water to the shower head. I'm told that the ones in this picture are Gerber fittings, and that Gerber knobs can be retrofitted on old plumbing. (I'm not positive if Grandma's fittings are Gerber -- just that they look like them.)What damage did freezing do to my grandmother's bathtub faucet?If you are not familiar on how to replace the faucet valves and or O rings or seals you may want to call a plumber. It more then likely froze these and busted them in the freeze and that is why you have your leaks.

Chances are the faucets are the newer type and you can buy new seats and O rings at almost any hardware store.What damage did freezing do to my grandmother's bathtub faucet?if you look in that picture the gasket / grommet in the persons hand is what is stopping the water flow. somehow in the freezing that gasket which is rubber must have torn or been damaged. perhaps from trying to turn the valve when there was still ice in the valve body.



Not a big fix. shut the water off and take that valve apart. run up to the hardware store and get a new grommet for a buck.



Good luck.