dripping outside faucet

[kate_maine]

Greetings: I am new to being responsible for winterizing the outside of my home for winter. I have an outside faucet with a shutoff faucet on the inside of the crawlspace. I shut off this inside faucet as tight as possible and openned up the outside faucet, in order to drain out any remaining water.

Problem: there is a still a steady fast drip of water coming out of the outside faucet.

I need to be able to fix this myself as I do not have the means to hire a plumber.

Any ideas what might be wrong with the inside shut off faucet?

Thank you,
Kate

[jadnashua]

Assuming that inside shutoff is a multi-turn valve, the washer or the valve seat are likely shot. Sometimes, all it will take is to replace the stem washer, but if the seat is shot, it may not be replaceable, and you may need to replace the whole shutoff. Preferably, you'd use a 1/4-turn ball valve, as they tend to last much longer than a valve with a washer.

To replace the washer, you'd have to turn the house water supply off, drain off the water in the pipes, then open that faucet part way, unscrew the packing nut (the nut the handle goes through), then when loose, back the handle and stem out of the valve body. The washer will be on the end of that stem (shaft) of the valve. Most are held in with a screw through them in the middle. The screw might be messed up and also need to be replaced. The parts are cheap, but while you have it out, look into the valve and see where that washer goes - that is the seat, and it should be smooth. If it is rough, the new washer will get eaten up and not seal.

[MACPLUMB 777]

The simple way is with the outside faucet wide open, crawl under house and
open that valve full open for a full minute then turn off, more then likely
you have some sand or other debris caught under the stem opening valve
allows water flow to flush out valve then turn off tight

[kate_maine]

Thank- you Jerry, I will be trying this first this weekend!

[kate_maine]

Thank-you, Jim. I am hoping that Jerry's idea works....much more simple but I must say...you write out excellent instructions; after reading them I feel confident I can do this.