Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction making/finding a better hose

I'm hopeful that many of you have faced this situation and can help. I can't recall how many garden hoses I've gone through. I'm sick of buying expensive hoses with 'lifetime warranty' or 'never kink warranty' and fighting their stiffness, their weight and unwieldiness, etc. If a hose seems to last a few months and not leak then it seems that it is for sure going to get run over by the car right over the brass end and get deformed and start leaking that way.

The ones that are a few seasons old are splitting. The ones that are stiff will kink and the kink spot has 'memory' meaning it always rekinks in that area.

I bought a heavy 3/4" red hose but the weight of lugging that around is not so good.

I'm intrigued by the coil up hoses with the stretchy soft cover on them (can't recall brand names) but read tons of bad reviews on them with spontaneous ruptures, poor connector ends etc.

I went back through the hardware again a week ago and I see only 2-3 brands anymore. It is basically elcheapo or quite expensive. In the higher end they all look similar, and feel stiff and heavy. I doubt I'm going to be happy. I also have an assortment of broken ones at home that I'm not sure if I should cut off the end and replace the end or not. When I've tried that in the past the fitting on the end is never tight and when you go to attach a sprayer or something the replaced end just spins and you can't get it tight either....

I was going through the tunnel car wash the other weekend and noticed they had a length of generic looking tubing, it was red, maybe it was 1" diameter? They had added their own pipe fitting and plumbed it to a larger water line with a ball valve (quarter turn shut off) for the on off. The other end had fittings added to allow for a pressure washer wand with hose clamps. Clearly it was not standard pressure washer hose, much larger diameter.

If a car wash can make it work and chose not to use commercial garden hoses (even the top end ones) maybe I should too. Where can you find lengths of larger bore tubing that I could add my own fittings to? I'm trying to get more water flow in my garage and a larger diameter hose would help with that too.

I can't seem to find something like the car wash had. Was theirs likely rubber, pvc? something else?

Or if there is a go to hose in the 3/4" size I'm all ears.

Look to the commercial car wash hoses:

https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/c-618-tubing-and-hose.aspx

I wish there was a way to test first. The ones I'm seeing on their web page seem to be for air not water. The water hoses are about $1.50/ft so I'll have $200 into a hose by the time I get all set. They have lots of options, a little hard to know what you are getting.

For example I wonder what their 'Pliovic' and 'Insta-grip' hoses are for?

DO you think the the carwash staff will think it strange that I pull in the tunnel and roll out of my car and ask if I can go feel their hoses?

I have had good luck with this Nebraska-born/family-owned company's hoses & hose reels. They are pricey, but well made. I guess each geographic area has it own variables as far as hose lifespan.

Eley Hose

Eley Hose Reel

Your trying to get more flow to your garage and are tired of heavy bulky hoses....

Ever think about trenching and laying pvc pipe out to the garage to a frost free hose bib? That way you could run shorter lengths of hose that are lighter weight and easier to handle/coil up and the car won't run over them???

I use Pocket Hose brand. The braided fire hose style. Very durable. I've had 5 for the past 6 years no issues no leaks what so ever. Weigh absolutely nothing.

TBar,
My garage is attached to my house. The cold and hot supply lines are 1/2" lines and I have exposed plumbing in my basement yet so could upsize the supply lines to 1". But I have a moen spigot in the garage (frost free as it shuts off in the basement) and it is the single handle type where you rotate right and left to set temp and pull out to get water flow and control flow. It is a nice set up, but its brass lines that connect inside the house are also 1/2" I considered upsizing the fixture to 3/4" feed lines and then would probably just go with a standard spigot with separate hot and cold handles with 3/4" line feeding. I would then do 1" feed from my basement with a reduction to 3/4 at the back of the fixture.

Of course the hose hookup is also a restriction. Then because I have 100' hose in the garage there is some restriction along the length of the hose.

I had the plumber come out as while I'm at it I want to change the cold line from hard water to softened water for washing cars.

However the way the lines come from the basement and into the garage they actually go under a finished stairwell in my back entry, go under the stair tread, then a big hole is bored in the side of the stair tread stringer and then out in the garage. (the stair tread in the back entry goes up to the bonus room above the garage)

So the plumber said without ripping up stair treads he can't get at those pipes to upsize them. So I'm probably stuck with my current fixture without removing drywall and carpet. I could go on the basement side and upsize the feed.

I might be better just upsizing the 100' hose in the garage and not worrying about it.

I can run shorter hose for washing cars while in the garage, but then my wife likes to hose down the driveway and that frequently has her using the hose in the 75-100 foot range

Snakebite, I need to search for these pocket hose fire style ones...

Try a hose intended for RV/camper use. Safe for drinking out of, and intended for near constant exposure to the elements.

I got a 50' heavy duty one for my camper back in 2007 and it's been outside ever since. Yep, it's just fine! I think it was like $80.00, or around there.

Big difference drinking out of it from a regular garden hose tho.

I looked at a heated hose for the winter and they don't give them away. Yikes!!!

FWIW, Pocket Hose also has a life time warranty.

Man it is extremely difficult to not comment on lifetime warranties for pocket hoses.

Bob-O, you should get an award for your ability to exercise an extreme amount of posting constraint!

I did buy some brand fold up hose with the slinky coating over it. It was pricey and lasted a period of time that is easier to measure in hours rather than days.

However, if it was ever as simple as bring it back to the hardware store, big box store or whatever and swap it out, I do like the other features of the pocket hoses. Amazon reviews on all of the lightweight, pocket or hose in a bucket type hoses are very poor.

My dad in law has one in his garage used strictly for filling his car wash bucket and rinsing the garage floor. I imagine it will last a while for him due to light use, not a heavy traffic environment, no kids, no pets, safe drivers entering the garage etc.

Aww CC, ya missed my intent. When I was a kid all the ol boys would give me and my buddies crap about playin pocket pool.
My warranty has expired.

FWIW I got yer intent my friend just didn't quite know how to reply without getting slapped by a mod!

So, this is no longer about hoses?

Gotta say I bought a Gag gift for a friend...

What is the scoop on the potability of garden hoses? Saw an RV hose labeled as lead free. Someone else told me that's a marketing ploy and lead hasn't been used in hoses for years.

All I know is I use a garden hose to fill fish tanks from my well distribution manifiold to my RAS's, and another to transfer water from my iron filter to fish tanks, and the fish seem fine.

RoHS. Elimination of lead and other toxins so you live longer.

This is big enough that major manufacturers are dozing facilities world wide. Discontinuing products as well.

For sure. Lead is bad stuff but is it in the garden hoses? I guess I can do a google search.

You will not like the weight but go to a commercial farm store that specializes in farm chemical application (sprayer) equipment. Get EPDM sprayer hose and they will have assorted fittings, including ones to go to the straight threads of garden hoses. You can get it in half or 3/4 inch and even one inch (which would be way to heavy for your use).

The problem with those tends to be the opposite of garden hose. Whereas a garden hose gets stiff with age, the problem is with excessive flexibility.

I've got a couple RV hoses that must be pushing 20 years old. Still in fine shape.

I just use the contractor grade red rubber hose in 3/4" and 50 footers. I will put them together if I need more length and 50 feet of that is not a big deal to lug around. This is much easier than having to sort out a 100 foot contractor hose.

Cheers Don.

Kind of like my uncle who says his vodka is healthy because its gluten free. Snark

Snrub, how old are you to possess such knowledge?

I keep two of these for use on the patio. One last about 6-8 months then blows out and I get the spare and keep on trucking.

Return the blown out one for free exchange at my leisure then repeat the above. Very handy for use where I don't want a large unsightly hose.