Outside Faucet - What's Going On?

One of my outside faucets, about 15 years old, worked fine yesterday. Everything was good when I turned it on this evening, but when I went to turn it off, the handle rotates endlessly without reducing water flow at all. I can push the handle in and stop all but a tiny amount of water flow, but as soon as I release it, flow volume returns to full. Tonight's fix is leaving a hose connected with a squeeze nozzle to prevent flow, and hoping nothing blows. Any suggestions where to start? Is this a DIY or plumber job? Unfortunately, my plumbing skills are minimal. Thanks.

 

Most hose bibs can be taken apart and rebuilt or repaired. Take and post a picture of it so we know what type of valve you have there. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

 

Can you post a picture showing the style of bib you have? You'll have to turn the water off to the house eventually so be locating that valve, too.

 

Sorry, shoulda thought of that when I had better light. I grabbed this one from the other side of the house, but they are identical. I didn't think to remove the Y-splitter, so just ignore that part. I do know where the cut-off valve is located. Thanks.

 

You'd be surprised to know how many people couldn't turn the water off to their house in the event of an emergency. I was just mentioning it in jest. The type hose bib you have is not a frost proof one, but with proper precautions can serve for years. First, I would turn the water off, remove the hoses and remove the nut just above the casting. The entire guts would then unscrew with the handle. I am afraid you may find a broken shaft from your description, but we'll wait until you do that to see what you have. If, when you remove it, you find no washer on the end, then it has either deteriorated or is stuck on the seat inside. You'll simply have to replace the washer and reassemble.

 

Thanks for all the feedback and excellent advice. Just to bring closure to this thread, when I got home Thursday nite, I am embarrassed to admit I had a new faucet and a plumbing bill. The moral of that story is if you marry a redhead gal from the hills of Carolina, don't p*$$ her off, but that's another story...

She actually had to call out two plumbers. Both agreed it was a broken stem(?) and both claimed it was too old to get parts to rebuild it, needing to replace the faucet fixture. The first one started but got afraid he was going to break off the pipe in the wall, so he declined to continue. The second one had the same concern, but was able to get it loose and replaced. In the end, my lovely lady probably knew best (she usually does). It's hard to know what would happen if I tried, but it probably would have been ugly.

Again, thanks for all the help. This forum is the best thing going on the Internet.

 

And thank you for stopping back and letting us know how you made out.