Need some advice on a plumbing question. After I retired from my day job the LOL's at the condominium complex where we own a unit (but don't live there) suggested I get on the HOA board; so I did. Quickly discovered the board elects their own officers, and surprise: I am now president. (Please stop laughing at me.)
Anyway, we have several buildings that have an odd feature with an outdoor faucet (hose bib) whose supply line descends through an unheated storage space. These lines have been a problem for years, and this past winter did not help. Even though they are copper (foam insulated), we had two of them freeze and break this winter. (We were in the low teens at night a few times; dropping to single digits would be scary. Could be worse: the domestic water lines are CPVC.) We have cut out the affected sheetrock and capped the line pending a better approach that falls within a limited repair budget. I would prefer to stub off half of the problem lines close to a heated wall, put the sheetrock back up and not worry about those. For the other half, was wondering about installing a shutoff valve close to a heated wall, then repiping with PEX down to the hose bib. That would allow us to turn off the water during the winter, drain the line, and turn it back on in spring. Whatever we do has to be simple enough for an average condo owner to be able to turn off/on. Heating the space, or the supply line itself, would be difficult and expensive.
Not sure where the architect lived that designed these buildings, but probably not in a cold climate. Anyway, thanks for reading all of this. Any suggestions would be appreciated. And I already plan to implement a key suggestion: sell the unit.
