I Ignored a Dripping Garden Tap All Winter — Then Found the Pipe Split in Spring

I noticed the garden tap dripping sometime in November. A slow, occasional drip — nothing that seemed worth bundling up to fix in the cold.

It kept going all winter. Every time I walked past the side of the house, I’d see that little wet patch on the concrete below the spigot. I told myself I’d deal with it in spring.

March came. The weather warmed up, and I went outside to hook up the hose for the first time. I turned the tap handle, expecting the usual gush of water.

Instead, water sprayed sideways from where the pipe met the wall. Not a trickle — a full jet, soaking the siding and pooling at the foundation.

I shut it off from inside and took a closer look. The copper pipe had a clean split running two inches long, right behind the brick. The metal had actually torn open.

A drip shouldn’t do that. I’d assumed it was just a worn washer, maybe a loose packing nut. But something happened to that pipe over the winter — something I didn’t see coming.

What actually splits a solid copper line like that?