Repair Your Old Garden Hose

A good garden hose is a vital gardening tool. If you buy wisely, the garden hose you purchase can last for years. Occasionally, though, even the best hoses spring a leak, get punctured or need repairs of some sort. If you started with a good quality garden hose, you can easily repair it for less than what you’d spend on a cheap-o plastic hose at the local home emporium. Here’s how to deal with the most common garden hose repairs if you’d rather save your hose than replace it.

Small Leaks

Even the best garden hose can spring a leak, especially if you forget to roll it up on a garden hose reel and it gets run over by a sharp object. If your hose has a small puncture or crack, mend it with hose repair tape or electrical tape. For best results, clean and dry the hose before applying the tape and let it sit overnight before using it.

Leak at the Spigot

The most common reason your garden hose leaks at the faucet is an old or deteriorated washer. Remove the old washer from inside the garden hose fitting, purchase a replacement and pop in the new one. That should take care of the leak for a couple more good years.

Large Leaks

Did you run over the garden hose with the lawn mower or gash it with your weed whacker? You’d hate to throw out 49 feet of perfectly good garden hose when the damage to it only affects 6 or 8 inches. Luckily, you don’t have to. It’s easiest to use a garden hose repair kit – a coupler that holds two cut ends of a hose together. Using a straight, sharp knife, cut out the damaged section. Trim the two ends as square as possible. Take the damaged section with you to a gardening supply center or home improvement store to make sure you get the right size and type of mender. In addition to size – a ½ inch mender kit for a ½ inch garden hose, etc. – you should  also be sure you get the right mending kit for the kind of material your hose is made from: vinyl, rubber, reinforced vinyl, etc. Loosen the screws on both sides of the replacement coupler. Carefully insert the ends of the hose into either end of the coupler until they meet. Tighten the screws until you can’t pull the hose out of the coupler. Attach the hose to the spigot and test the connection.

Replace the Fitting

If you’ve managed to crush or damage the male or female coupling that attaches the hose to the spigot or a nozzle, you can replace it with the proper garden hose fittings. Measure the hose diameter to get the right size fitting. Cut away the old coupling with a sharp knife or blade, squaring off the end as cleanly as possible. Insert the cut end into the new coupling and tighten the screws evenly until you can’t pull the hose out.

Like anything else of high quality, a well-made garden hose will last you for years and is always worth repairing. If your hose is past repair, take the time and effort to replace it with a high-quality garden hose that will last for years to come.