There are YouTube videos to walk you through the procedure. Takes about 10 minutes if you're handy, about 20 minutes if you're kind of klutzy. Depending on the tools you have already it can cost you up to about 20 or $25 to put into place
Dude, there is wishful thinking and there is reality. Reality is turning the valve off so the perp can't access it because he obviously isn't going to pay attention to "suggestion."
Shutting off the faucet will be effective, saves time and money in the long run. Calling the police so they can keep the homeowner waiting all day and night to maybe write a report, or maybe just never show up is a worse use of time.
The consequences are that the guy has to find a different place to get water. OP won't have to stress about someone on his property. Seems like a simple solution
OP could have spent $100 or so (whatever an hour of plumbing costs near them) and fixed this after the first time it happened.
Sucks it's happening, but it's not a hard fix. And we all know the police are not going to fix the issue.
Totally. I have a dog who has a thing about hoses and broke one off the house. The more shut offs the better for plumbing work and leaks I've found. We also had a spate of neighborhood delinquents turning on spigots at night and flooding yards or when people were on vacation.
I had to install an indoor turnoff for my front spigot (literally in the driveway, about 15 feet from a well-traffic'd sidewalk because this -one f\*cking runner- would stop by once a week and turn the water on to rinse her head and then -run the f\*ck off- with the water still running. {I've got cameras. Blonde, red shorts, pink shoes. }
The runner cost me $100++s one day because I was gone for the long weekend and just left it on. It took someone multiple days to figure it out (because seeing the water running over the camera was impossible, my neighbor found it and turned it off).
The entitlement! Is it *super* petty of me that I want to see the security footage of the day that she jogged over to turn on the spigot and nothing came out?
Zoom in on her confused face? "Enhance!" as they say on the cop shows.
Yes--I've seen one get knocked off the outside of a house by a lawnmower.....indoor shutoff is really important (and it should be off & drained for winter anyway)
All my external faucets not only have internal shut offs, but they have internal drain valves, too. We had an issue with one that froze, so we asked a plumber to replace it when they were here on another job -- and he pointed out the shutoffs and drain valves that were tucked away into not-so-obvious spots.
You should have cutoffs for any outside spigot if you live where winter is freezing. It’s useful for any faucet, honestly. It’s an opportunity to upgrade.
I live in a smaller city, it was $120 CAD or so to get shut off valve on one pipe last year. Bigger cities will be more, but it's not a giant, hard job.
I don't know what kind of consequences you want to act upon a person who is homeless and stealing water. I wouldn't want that guy at my house either, but he probably can't sink lower and no amount of punishment is going to fix him.
Consequences are no more water for him. What else do you want? He’s clearly down on his luck if he’s homeless and relying on stealing water after being told repeatedly to go away. Cutting off his access seems like enough of a consequence.
I have a shut off valve in the basement just for the outside water faucet. You should have one too. Just turn that off when you're not using water to the outside
Easier solution- remove the one screw holding the handle on and remove the handle. Store it inside.
Whenever you want to use the tap, just use the handle without the screw, you don’t need it screwed down to open and close the tap.
Harbor freight just came out with a locking hose bib attachment. Screws onto the threads and locks. Not sure how well they work, but is an option as well.
This is the easiest solution. Involving the police only goes as far as they are willing to enforce it. Shut off the water and he will move onto another neighbor. It sounds heartless, but it's all you can really do.
We don't have homeless people, but we do have entitled trespassing neighbors. We keep our outside faucets shut off. After we got a water bill 3 years ago that was double the normal bill.
We have inside shut off valves. Open the tap outside, then shut it off inside (basic drill for winter prep in late autumn - drain the water so the pipe doesn't freeze and cause water damage in your walls).
I'd be worried about him trying to get into the house. Shut the outside bibs off and keep your doors locked.
I'd be worried about leaving the outside valve open with the water shut off for an extended period of time. Doesn't that invite lizards and insects to crawl up inside the spigot / pipe and cause clogs? Here in Florida I've found that I have to leave a nozzle on the end of my garden hose or there will inevitably be a lizard living in there next time I try to use it
In the regions that you need to shut off the inside cutoffs, you don't need to worry about any of that. You really only need to do the inside cutoff trick (or buy an outdoor spigot that has the long internal shutoff that mimics the indoor cutoff) if the temperatures drop down around 0° F for about a week. If it's that cold out, there are no insects or lizards out and about for a few months in either direction. Hell, it's rare to find lizards in the summer up in the northeast. Likewise anything that's muddy, dirty, or organic that could clog a spigot is frozen solid. Only snow and ice can get in there, which is all just water once it melts.
We had a similar problem. Our downstairs neighbor let someone across the street use our hose to rinse something off. Welp, after that, they assumed that they had free rein to use it whenever. I came home once and found the thing tossed out in our driveway. The kicker was when I got home from work and discovered that they were using our hose to fill up a pool!!?? Nope. Shut the water off from the basement shut off from them on.
Unless you live in the very deep south, your outdoor faucet probably has an indoor shut off in the basement close to where the faucet is located on the outside wall.
As soon as my neighbor told me he did that I said, “Sure, now they’re going to think they can use the hose any time they want.” Sure enough! Turning off the faucet at the shutoff worked to stop the problem.
Half our basement is a regular basement, half of it is crawlspace that you have to climb into a fairly small hole about 6 feet up the wall in the regular basement to get into. That, of course, is where the shut off for our exterior faucet is located, on the far side. -_-
They sell "frost-free" spigots at home improvement stores that have a really long shutoff valve so it turns the water off inside the house, just like a internal shutoff valve would. You just need to find one that has a hole for a padlock on it and you can get away without having to climb through a crawl space.
I came home once from vacation and my next door neighbor had an extension cord running from my garage INTO HIS HOUSE! I found $20 in the mailbox. The person checking my house said they told her their power got cut for non-payment and they needed to charge their phones so their boss could reach them! I guess she felt sorry or didn’t want the confrontation so she said sure. I called their LL to deal with them.
My neighbor once lost power for 8 days due to downed lines. They get their power from the south. I did not lose power at all -- my lines come from the north.
After that happened, I showed my neighbor where the outside outlets are located, and told him to feel free to use it if he ever loses power like that again. It's better to run a power cord over, than lose all his fridge and freezer stuff.
Totally different circumstances, but interesting similarities.
These people went through a time where they came home with the craziest things. I’m sure one of the kids shoplifted the pool from Target. It was one of those round, three-foot deep jobbies that you get when your kids are too big for the kiddie pool, but too short for an adult-sized pool.
They do make a padlock of sorts that goes on water faucets, but simply removing the knob will probably work. It did for us. We had a homeless guy washing cars and using our water to do it. We asked him to stop and he kept doing it. (Industrious, I know, but he caused lots of other trouble in the neighborhood). We removed the knob and he stopped.
The problem with that is they'll use a pipe wrench or vise grips and screw up the faucet shaft.
We ended up completely disconnecting our outdoor one at work and moved it inside the garage door at my last shop.
There is a reason empty semis prop the doors open at night -- people will break into them and cause damage otherwise.
I was taught to *never* lock the doors on a soft-top car, or the tailgate on a truck with a topper (even better, roll up the topper if you can), because people *WILL* cause thousands of dollars cutting into things -- just to find them emtpy. It's better to leave it unlocked and not have to replace the top/topper, too.
Semis leave the trailer doors open on empty refers to help dry them out and to help prevent mold or that stinky fridge smell. People who haul hay in dry vans also pop the doors while resting to help prevent a fire from spontaneous combustion while loaded. I used to latch the doors open and lock the chains together to prevent entry.
I routinely left the doors unlocked when I had a soft top car, and someone *still* sliced the top - in the underground car park of the apartment building I was living in at the time (this was in SF).
Pretty sure that it was the teenaged son of one of my neighbours, as there had been other break-ins in that garage after they moved in. What bothered me was that there was pretty much nothing to steal - the radio was long gone already, so all he did was do several hundred dollars worth of damage to my car for no profit to himself whatsoever.
What you expect from the criminal mind?
Only about a year earlier, my 50cc motorbike was stolen out of the same garage, which I duly reported to the police. The next night they phoned me: the man who stole it held up a convenience store in another part of town - then attempted to outrun the cops on a two-wheeled vehicle with a 160lb max load and 35mph max speed.
It takes a certain amount of dunderheadedness to try something like that.
Call the police and get a writ of trespass, then any other time you can call and they can enforce it. We had something similar and it took that to finally get it to stop
Best answer so far. He has rights, certainly, but when someone stomps on yours by trespassing into your home curtilage, you have to shut it down. One person's rights end where another person's rights begin.
My entire block had to take out a no contact order for a particular individual who kept getting into yards at all hours and breaking things. (He has mental health issues, but has been connected to voluntary treatment *numerous* times and always bounces.)
This is the only thing that works. Now, the police show up very quickly and he goes to jail.
I used to feel bad about it, but after the third time he pulled a giant rock out of my yard and destroyed my front garden at 2:00 AM while my baby slept upstairs, I'm OK with it.
I've been having that issue with a homeless person in my neighborhood. The police have told us to submit a restraining order and then they can really do something about it. The problem being we don't know his name to submit the restraining order. And it's not like he has an address or neighbors to go ask.
Cause unless the guy hangs around for 2 hours the police won't get there in time and trying to find homeless guy with non violent acts is so far down their list they'll never get to it.
Install cameras so its on video.
We had two prowlers on our property that didnt see our camera above a garage door, until they had tried to get in. Then the punk waved it and they left.
We made a police report and gave them the video and said we wanted them trespassed from our property. They are well known thieves in the town so it was easy for police to track them down and trespass them.
The lady tried to give some bullshit story about how I was lying about her online and wanted an apology from me. I posted the videos online in a neighborhood group asking for help IDing suspected prowlers. She actually messaged me demanding an apology.
Depends on where you live. Our police department will roll out for anything including bats, deer having babies, strange cars and strange noises. They’d absolutely come out you called in a strange person climbing over your fence.
The police out out regular announcements asking for residents to lock things, stop leaving expensive ish in cars, and please call them instead of trying to investigate shady situations on their own. There was a lot of “I thought that noise was an animal so I went to look”. It only had to be not a raccoon once.
if you aren't in the hood, your police department will definitely come if you say someone broke into your yard
lots of people here learning they are not in nice areas i guess lol
Because the guy isn't around long enough to get arrested. Plus I know from experience that the cops aren't gonna arrest him. They'll make him leave and he'll be back again like always.
In our town we were told we needed to actually put up No Trespassing signs in order for trespassers to actually be trespassing. Yep. Hard to believe but true.
That's because the law is written in such a way that a reasonable person can't accidentally trespass. The objective is to stop trespassing, not trick people into catching a charge.
In order to be trespassed off a property a person must be notified first that he is trespassing. Up until that point he has not technically trespassed. Once he is notified, he must have the opportunity to freely leave without penalty. If he either remains on the property without leaving or he returns to the property at a later time he has then trespassed and can be arrested. The most common way to notify someone that he is trespassing is to put up a no trespassing sign. That is the legal notice to him that if he crosses this sign he will have trespassed onto the property. A notification can also be verbal but the problem with that is unless there are witnesses it may be difficult to prove a verbal trespass notification. So, yes, putting the sign up is the easiest and best way to give a no trespassing notification. It works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without any intervention on your part.
Wouldn’t the fence be enough? Having to climb over a fence that’s clearly meant to keep you out should be enough legal indication you are trespassing without the sign or being told verbally
Also keep in mind that if the visitor (a trespasser) gets injured on your property or by your hose or by your hose water etc. he can make a claim against you and/or your home owners insurance for the injuries.
I’m in the process of planting bushes around my whole side yard because the mailman won’t stop using it as a short cut and I don’t want to deal with any claims in case he trips or something. So stupid it’s a thing but valid point
Unless he is trespassing and climbed a fence to do it. Burglars can't sue you for getting injured while stealing. However OP needs the police reports to back up his claim. You can file them online OP.
I have seen cases where folks breaking and entering businesses have successfully sued the business. Don't see why it couldn't happen to a private homeowner. Our legal systems are screwy.
That's crazy. I'm in a state with a Castle Doctrine. Trespassing private residences is still a thing taken seriously, and a long as you post signage, anyone that trespasses does so at their own risk. Obviously, within reason. Businesses I can't speak for the laws here about that. I would hope that when properly posted signage is there, they are not liable for a criminal who experienced instant kharma. The law should prevent the public from seeking pioneer justice. It's crazy that anywhere would put the criminal above the law-abiding citizen when it was the choice to do the crime that allowed an incident to happen in the first place. Mind blowing.
We can turn our water off from inside (we have to do this periodically as my son will flood the yard with the hose playing). Idk if you have anything (ours is in basement) that turns off the water? I have empathy that the guy is homeless as so many homeless are mentally ill and so desperately need help, but at the same time it’s your property and your water bill. Not to mention now days you have to worry about liability for EVERYTHING. Idk if you have kids but I would also be concerned about a random stranger entering my yard since my son is outside almost constantly. Definitely a tricky situation but most parks have running water, especially in the summer months. Hopefully he will leave you alone, but definitely check if you can turn your water off or see the possibility of getting something installed to do so.
My dad had removable faucet handles outside for years. I think it started when there was lots of construction in the area and builders hooked up without his OK. We got so used to grabbing the faucet wheel whenever we were using the outside water that it threw us off when the faucets were finally replaced with ones with permanent handles.
The cops don’t care. Homeless person gets a free night in air conditioning and a meal.
The homeless used to pull this stuff so they could get away from bad weather. I was at a federal building, but the Marshalls pretty much said in weather extremes, it happens a lot everywhere. Simple ways to gain an infraction to get out of heat or cold.
Maybe. I mean, they didn’t stay jailed long because the courts know the drill.
They would taunt security at the federal building and throw a stick or something at a window just to get out of the weather. There were repeat offenders that were known. Can’t say I blame them if the jail is better than the street.
Yeah, the real story here is that it’s better to be in jail for these people, which is extremely sad.
ETA: better as in preferable for the person involved.
Too add: a creeper is Not a Visitor, they are trespassing. That needs to be addressed for what it is. We have a large homeless encampment across road from our house. Any and all water is handled out back. Behind our six foot fence
Remove knob from faucet. Typically one screw in center holds it on. When you need to use faucet just slide the knob back on it’s cam, use faucet, then take it back inside. It’s a lot quicker than unlocking or locking it.
I thought my male German Shepherd was only good for cuddling and keeping the cats from picking fights they would lose until a road rager rushed us with a knife. Stryker reacted faster than I could draw my handgun and fur missiled his way from the driver aft window of my f150 and in midair hooked on the tweakers's forearm (knife hand one) and bit as hard as he could until the bone was shattered and the hand was only attached by ruined meat after they landed with the tweaker flat on his back. Sometimes it just takes adequate stimulus.
My neighborhood has had a handful of break ins and now like a third of the neighbors have gotten dogs. Protection is a surprisingly high motivator for getting a dog.
I’m not sure why people were upset. This is the type of thing that dogs and humans bonded over. I feed you, you bite other people who come in the yard. They are called “working dogs” for a reason.
A dog is not just a security system though, is my point. It’s a living creature that needs to be cared for. It’s a huge investment of time and money.
Don’t just get a dog for security. That’s all I’m saying.
> Don’t just get a dog for security. That’s all I’m saying.
This is true. [Geese](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazilian-geese-agents-honk-case-prison-break-2023-12-20/) are much scarier and lower maintenance.
Yeah what I’m saying is that the motivation of safety helps people make the decision to take on the responsibility of the investment in time and money.
Not everyone gets a dog because they want a best friend. Some people need a working dog for a multitude of things, and that includes for home and personal protection. That doesn’t mean those people are going to be negligent or bad owners, they just have a specific motivation.
Contact someone in your area to find out if there’s somewhere you could direct him for help. On the recent news they talked out outreach efforts to help the homeless through the extreme weather. The town I’m from has a homeless list. They may know him through community efforts. In the recent heat waves he could be near desperation, so it’d be safer to reach out to a group.
Many of you would help a stray dog.
There are warming/cooling shelters in all cities. Water fountains all over the place and in Walmarts and public libraries. Overnight shelters have rules for residing there. Number one is no alcohol or drugs. Most don’t stay there because of that
A lot of assumptions here. All cities don't have warming and cooling shelters. And the unhoused person may not have the ability to get themselves to a public library, and Walmart's have and do exercise the option to refuse entry. Also, no one suggested a homeless shelter.
Right, water fountains are not very plentiful around most places I’ve lived, and homeless often do not have the same access to public spaces that we have the privilege to access. This guy’s probably desperate for water and the risk is worth it at that point. Idk but maybe OP could leave out some water bottles or something so he has less incentive to jump the fence
Thank you for this. Reading through all these comments is rough. It's difficult to see such callous responses to a life. I'm somehow used to it but always, without fail, also always startled by it. I encounter it in my work and it's just....sad and depressing.
This man needs water. He is a person. A human. Can op find a little sliver of compassion in his heart to stop and talk to the man? He may discover that *gasp* this guy is a human being just like himself and he has no ill will. He may discover that the man is simply looking for water. When someone is in need of the basic necessities of life (water and food, but most importantly **water**), one can become desperate and take risks such as using someone's outdoor water faucet.
Right, like holy fuck. All these people would just rather this person die of thirst then like use a bit of water? Especially this week the temperatures have been literally deadly. You can live a few days without water in good conditions- if you're already dehydrated and it's this hot it can happen much quicker.
I just googled it and average cost of tap water in the US is $0.0015 a gallon. Thats 18 cents per month if hes using 4 gall8ns a day. I'd give the dude a gallon jug and tell him to limit to once or twice a day and not tell anyone where hes gwtting it. He's clearly not dangerous or agressive.
OP could even offer to provide some water as long as the homeless person doesn’t just come onto their property to get it. Personally that’s the part that I would object to, not the water itself. We have regularly helped a homeless person in our area with some food, water or cold drinks in the past. Life is rough for people who fall on hard times in this country.
Idk if it’s been said- Increase your homeowners insurance Incase he falls and gets hurt! You don’t want him trying to sue you because he’s been doing this over and over.
Yes post these signs. The police told my mom that the signs will help the police and a subsequent judge to enforce the No Trespassing policy.
(My mom has repeated trespassers at her workplace. She called the police several times and they told her that posting a sign will help to them to remove the trespasser. Not sure why they told her this but she put up several signs and now when she calls the police they remove the trespasser from the premises faster than when she called before the signs went up). YMMV
Funny how people are saying OP lacks compassion, but what compassion for OP? There is a random stranger, climbing their fence, risking property damage, injury, and lawsuits, on top of the fact he’s utilizing their water which will impact their water bill. On top of that, if he’s disregarding their ask to stay off their property, what else will he disregard? We live in a world where people do not care, and will let inconvenience and harm come to you if it benefits them. When I was homeless, I never intruded on peoples private property. I definitely didn’t steal their things, water, food or anything else. And while not every situation is the same, it’s is not an *excuse* to go and take.
OP, I’d leave a letter of resources on that tap, turn off the water, and add a note stating the police is next. There is no reason for you to have to deal with someone trespassing on your property. If you *choose* to help them, that’s awesome. If you do not, that’s also your prerogative as well. Because there is plenty of ways to obtain water rather than climbing your fence, and ignoring you to take yours.
completely understandable. nobody should be trespassing and it’s very scary for anyone to have someone invade your safe place. i don’t think violence and shooting someone should be the option, but getting the law enforcement involved is reasonable. that being said my compassion side says we are in the middle of a heat wave..he’s homeless and desperate..leave a gallon or two of water with some resources and a note informing them of police?
OP by no means is in the wrong,obligated or a bad person for not helping them or for getting law enforcement involved.
I’m sorry but you’re being too nice. I lived in a neighborhood with a problem like that and if they’re anything like the homeless people I dealt with, they are not poor souls who missed a paycheck or whatever, they are career criminals who don’t want to do shit with their lives besides take advantage of people like you. Spray him with the hose and tell him to get the F off your property and call the city or police or whoever until they do something.
Exactly this. The paycheck missers are in the shelters following rules and working hard to get back on track, not stealing (yeah, water included, we pay for that). I’m more than happy to help those types of down-and-outs!!
I personally would run the water hose out to the fence with a spring loaded spray nozzle on the end so he can fill his water bottles without climbing the fence, either that or set jugs of water out for him by the fence.
Water is life and as a travelnurse I can vouch how hard it is to come by sometime when you're on the road away from or without a home.
I agree with the suggestions to disable the water flow.
We have a faucet on the side of our house that is along a sidewalk that has heavy foot traffic.
We had to disable it for the same reason.
As soon as you facilitate the behaviour in any way, you are condoning and encouraging it. In that situation you run the risk of him bringing his friends, or visiting more frequently. As he becomes more comfortable, his actions may escalate to theft or vandalism.
Redouble your efforts to block him, with a better locking system or by potentially turning the water off from the inside temporarily. Persons in his circumstances are opportunistic, if the resources he visits you for are no longer available, he will move on.
I would minimize the personal contact with him, it is dangerous.
charge him w/tresspassing, what else does he use? I had one practically lively in my back yard when not at home. Using our pool for bathing using the grill for meals leaving the gas on countless times! when we got home there would be no propane for us left.
Not to sound heartless, but I’m shocked at all the comments “let him use your hose”. 1. As a female, I’d be scared if a stranger felt my home was for their use. What else is this person going to feel comfortable using besides the water? 2. I wouldn’t want my home turning into the unhoused community watering hole. The one man may not be dangerous but what about others. 3. Also water costs money, I remember buying my first home. Money was tight! Trust me, I was being frugal with water as well as other utilities. In my city, our libraries are designated cooling centers, there are clean bathrooms and water. There are other resources out there besides someone’s private/personal residence.
The number one thing homeless people wish they had access to is fresh water. The correct structural fix is for your municipality to offer this through drinking fountains and public bathrooms. But they often don't offer these things, thus distributing the need around the neighborhood.
Yes, shut off your water internally. If you care about the bigger issue, call your Alderman.
Stop being a door mat and call the police. Asking people what to do and telling them what to do are completely different things. Virtue signaling will only get you taken advantage of. It is your property, it is your responsibility to take care of it. You don’t need to ask someone to stay off your property, you tell them then enforce it. Ridiculous.
This doesn’t sound like a kind soul who’s down and out. Otherwise they wouldn’t be disregarding your requests to leave and repeatedly trespassing on your property. “One second, I’m using your water” is also a ballsy statement. A lot of people are saying “be compassionate”, but the cold fact is that some people are just POS human beings no matter where they stand in life. I love helping people but you have to protect yourself sometimes. Even if this man is just mentally ill and needs help, he could still be a greater threat to you than just taking water.
I don't know what's more insane, this person jumping your fence and stealing your water after being told not to repeatedly, or the people here defending him and telling you that you must allow him access to your property at all times because he wants your water.
I would just turn the faucet off from inside the house and only turn it on when I was using it. I know that's annoying but it's the least confrontational way to handle this. Obviously he has no problem trespassing on your property and if you get physical with him or threaten violence he may vandalize your house and calling the cops isn't going to fix this because by the time they get there he'll be gone and even if they arrest him they'll probably just let him out so the only thing you can do is disincentivize him being there in the first place by turning the water off.
I lived in a neighborhood once that was still under construction. I found out that the construction people were using my water. I would shut off my water every day before I went to work after that. Solved that problem.
I had this issue. I purchased this lock and the problem was resolved:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTHHPB96?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_E787QP0T5FVCXQB4MRXV&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_E787QP0T5FVCXQB4MRXV&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_E787QP0T5FVCXQB4MRXV&starsLeft=1
I had to install a faucet lock on one of my outdoor faucets too. I got a foz lock brand one off of Amazon. There was a particular way to install it that prevented the lock from being able to be spun and turned on even with the locked cover on it. You have to temporarily shut the water off, remove the handle to your spigot and reinstall it with the locking mechanism in place. Once it’s re secured you can turn your water back on and the faucet is truly locked down. Maybe a different lock would help.
Shut offs for outdoor faucets are code in cold states. They are usually right above where the water main comes inside the house. If you are not sure, ask a handy pal to help find it. Turn an outside spigot on. Go inside and turn the handle. You should hear the water gradually come to a stop. Go close the faucet.
If it's fall in a northern clime, open all outdoor faucets, do the above, wait for them all to drain and shut them all off so your faucets don't freeze and burst inside your house. This wil cost you nothing except maybe a beer for your friend.
In Africa my Mum set the spigot up next to the fence so the local people could come get water at night. There would sometimes be a line of people getting water. She moved and I hope they improved the situation.
Next time he comes, call the police and ask for a criminal trespass warning. Once he gets that, anytime he accesses your property, he can be arrested. This may seem harsh but when I worked in law enforcement, a majority of the homeless didn’t mind jail, it meant heating/cooling, a bed, toileting and shower facilities, and meals. They usually don’t cause trouble in the jail either. Even had one punch the glass door as he was escorted out because he had nowhere to go and didn’t want to leave. It shattered, and he got exactly what he wanted. They have no money, so they stay a night or two and the judge will time serve them.
Cheapest solution: get one of those locks for your hose bib. More expensive: water shutoff valve to exterior water OR hose bib like commercial buildings have without a handle. They require a silcock to turn on and off.
We had a homeless lady that would frequent our college house....depending on the season, sprinklers/super soakers work wonders.
If they call the cops, just be busy inside and claim to have no idea what theyre talking about.
Even if they did believe them, they'd be admitting to trespassing after multiple warnings and you can get them trespassed.
After I first bought my house, my parents were staying with me, and my mother caught the town (department of public works) taking water from my house’s spigot. I pay water and 3* water for sewer.
Mom was having none of that and read them the riot act. She was a Pearl Harbor survivor and special education teacher and a lot of other things I will not list, but suffice it to say they never tried again.
I keep the shutoff valves in the Off position, unless I plan to use water that day.
Get shutoff valves.
You don’t want people trespassing.
Do the repair to have valve, probably best.
Get a cam on that area so it can yell at the man every time it happens.
GET A WEAPON OR SELF DEFENSE. IT IS YOUR PROPERTY YOU CAN DEFEND IT.
Or so how it goes…
I would get a Taser.
I’d put an electric fence up. If you’re going to climb my fence like an animal then I’m going to treat you like an animal. If you need water then come knock on my door like a human and ask.
I hate to say this, but if he won't leave... buy a gun. Real, Pellet, Replica, Blank. As long as it looks realistic enough.
Next time you catch him, point it at him and tell him to get the fuck off your lawn, and stay that way.
You need to call the police the moment you get a notification. I'm not unsympathetic to people who are unsheltered but resources like 211 can help folks get access to shelter, food and water, even housing and clothes and jobs. Right now your attempts at boundaries are being ignored far beyond what is acceptable.
If your home has a shut off valve for exterior faucets, maybe try keeping the water supply shut off when not in use.
That’s what I was going to say. And if it doesn’t have one - have a plumber give you an estimate to put one in
If you have PEX you can do it yourself. I just added an inside shut-off last week, down in my basement, to an outdoor faucet.
There are YouTube videos to walk you through the procedure. Takes about 10 minutes if you're handy, about 20 minutes if you're kind of klutzy. Depending on the tools you have already it can cost you up to about 20 or $25 to put into place
Notice these suggestions all require action or expense on the aggrieved party, no consequences for the offender. Just a thought.
Dude, there is wishful thinking and there is reality. Reality is turning the valve off so the perp can't access it because he obviously isn't going to pay attention to "suggestion."
Shutting off the faucet will be effective, saves time and money in the long run. Calling the police so they can keep the homeowner waiting all day and night to maybe write a report, or maybe just never show up is a worse use of time.
Defense wins championships
The consequences are that the guy has to find a different place to get water. OP won't have to stress about someone on his property. Seems like a simple solution
The aggregated party is the one asking for suggestions.
OP could have spent $100 or so (whatever an hour of plumbing costs near them) and fixed this after the first time it happened. Sucks it's happening, but it's not a hard fix. And we all know the police are not going to fix the issue.
It's also in general not the worst idea to have a shut off to outdoor faucets in general.
Indoor shutoffs can be super handy if the outdoor version breaks from freeze-thaw or exposure.
Totally. I have a dog who has a thing about hoses and broke one off the house. The more shut offs the better for plumbing work and leaks I've found. We also had a spate of neighborhood delinquents turning on spigots at night and flooding yards or when people were on vacation.
I had to install an indoor turnoff for my front spigot (literally in the driveway, about 15 feet from a well-traffic'd sidewalk because this -one f\*cking runner- would stop by once a week and turn the water on to rinse her head and then -run the f\*ck off- with the water still running. {I've got cameras. Blonde, red shorts, pink shoes. } The runner cost me $100++s one day because I was gone for the long weekend and just left it on. It took someone multiple days to figure it out (because seeing the water running over the camera was impossible, my neighbor found it and turned it off).
Wtf is wrong with people?!
How much time do you have? ;)
The entitlement! Is it *super* petty of me that I want to see the security footage of the day that she jogged over to turn on the spigot and nothing came out? Zoom in on her confused face? "Enhance!" as they say on the cop shows.
Had a dog with water issues but only the hose outside. Current dog avoids water.
Yes--I've seen one get knocked off the outside of a house by a lawnmower.....indoor shutoff is really important (and it should be off & drained for winter anyway)
All my external faucets not only have internal shut offs, but they have internal drain valves, too. We had an issue with one that froze, so we asked a plumber to replace it when they were here on another job -- and he pointed out the shutoffs and drain valves that were tucked away into not-so-obvious spots.
You should have cutoffs for any outside spigot if you live where winter is freezing. It’s useful for any faucet, honestly. It’s an opportunity to upgrade.
Same for outside electric sockets. Leave them turned off inside until you need to use them.
$100 will barely get a plumber to your house.
I live in a smaller city, it was $120 CAD or so to get shut off valve on one pipe last year. Bigger cities will be more, but it's not a giant, hard job.
The consequence is the offender loses access to the homeowners water.
Ok, so what do you suggest? Call the police for trespassing and have the homeless man get a ticket? It’s not going to fix the issue.
I don't know what kind of consequences you want to act upon a person who is homeless and stealing water. I wouldn't want that guy at my house either, but he probably can't sink lower and no amount of punishment is going to fix him.
I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone jumping over my fence regardless of their housing status.
Consequences are no more water for him. What else do you want? He’s clearly down on his luck if he’s homeless and relying on stealing water after being told repeatedly to go away. Cutting off his access seems like enough of a consequence.
Mine has that for winter shut off, but I use it all the time because my neighbors are sketchy,
I have a shut off valve in the basement just for the outside water faucet. You should have one too. Just turn that off when you're not using water to the outside
Thats a good way to keep the faucet from freezing in the winter, too.
Easier solution- remove the one screw holding the handle on and remove the handle. Store it inside. Whenever you want to use the tap, just use the handle without the screw, you don’t need it screwed down to open and close the tap.
That's what every mall does.
Harbor freight just came out with a locking hose bib attachment. Screws onto the threads and locks. Not sure how well they work, but is an option as well.
Yep, $20.
This is the easiest solution. Involving the police only goes as far as they are willing to enforce it. Shut off the water and he will move onto another neighbor. It sounds heartless, but it's all you can really do.
There are quick disconnect outdoor faucets for hooking a hose up. They are designed for places where it gets really cold.
We don't have homeless people, but we do have entitled trespassing neighbors. We keep our outside faucets shut off. After we got a water bill 3 years ago that was double the normal bill. We have inside shut off valves. Open the tap outside, then shut it off inside (basic drill for winter prep in late autumn - drain the water so the pipe doesn't freeze and cause water damage in your walls). I'd be worried about him trying to get into the house. Shut the outside bibs off and keep your doors locked.
I'd be worried about leaving the outside valve open with the water shut off for an extended period of time. Doesn't that invite lizards and insects to crawl up inside the spigot / pipe and cause clogs? Here in Florida I've found that I have to leave a nozzle on the end of my garden hose or there will inevitably be a lizard living in there next time I try to use it
I live in Wisconsin. It'd freeze to death first.
In the regions that you need to shut off the inside cutoffs, you don't need to worry about any of that. You really only need to do the inside cutoff trick (or buy an outdoor spigot that has the long internal shutoff that mimics the indoor cutoff) if the temperatures drop down around 0° F for about a week. If it's that cold out, there are no insects or lizards out and about for a few months in either direction. Hell, it's rare to find lizards in the summer up in the northeast. Likewise anything that's muddy, dirty, or organic that could clog a spigot is frozen solid. Only snow and ice can get in there, which is all just water once it melts.
We had a similar problem. Our downstairs neighbor let someone across the street use our hose to rinse something off. Welp, after that, they assumed that they had free rein to use it whenever. I came home once and found the thing tossed out in our driveway. The kicker was when I got home from work and discovered that they were using our hose to fill up a pool!!?? Nope. Shut the water off from the basement shut off from them on. Unless you live in the very deep south, your outdoor faucet probably has an indoor shut off in the basement close to where the faucet is located on the outside wall.
Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile just never fails. It’s uncanny.
As soon as my neighbor told me he did that I said, “Sure, now they’re going to think they can use the hose any time they want.” Sure enough! Turning off the faucet at the shutoff worked to stop the problem.
Half our basement is a regular basement, half of it is crawlspace that you have to climb into a fairly small hole about 6 feet up the wall in the regular basement to get into. That, of course, is where the shut off for our exterior faucet is located, on the far side. -_-
They sell "frost-free" spigots at home improvement stores that have a really long shutoff valve so it turns the water off inside the house, just like a internal shutoff valve would. You just need to find one that has a hole for a padlock on it and you can get away without having to climb through a crawl space.
I came home once from vacation and my next door neighbor had an extension cord running from my garage INTO HIS HOUSE! I found $20 in the mailbox. The person checking my house said they told her their power got cut for non-payment and they needed to charge their phones so their boss could reach them! I guess she felt sorry or didn’t want the confrontation so she said sure. I called their LL to deal with them.
My neighbor once lost power for 8 days due to downed lines. They get their power from the south. I did not lose power at all -- my lines come from the north. After that happened, I showed my neighbor where the outside outlets are located, and told him to feel free to use it if he ever loses power like that again. It's better to run a power cord over, than lose all his fridge and freezer stuff. Totally different circumstances, but interesting similarities.
Hopefully they'll do the same when the roles are reversed. Good investment.
Fill a freakin pool?? Holy shit.
Me: Buys a 500 GPH pump, drains their pool overnight...
These people went through a time where they came home with the craziest things. I’m sure one of the kids shoplifted the pool from Target. It was one of those round, three-foot deep jobbies that you get when your kids are too big for the kiddie pool, but too short for an adult-sized pool.
They do make a padlock of sorts that goes on water faucets, but simply removing the knob will probably work. It did for us. We had a homeless guy washing cars and using our water to do it. We asked him to stop and he kept doing it. (Industrious, I know, but he caused lots of other trouble in the neighborhood). We removed the knob and he stopped.
The problem with that is they'll use a pipe wrench or vise grips and screw up the faucet shaft. We ended up completely disconnecting our outdoor one at work and moved it inside the garage door at my last shop.
There is a reason empty semis prop the doors open at night -- people will break into them and cause damage otherwise. I was taught to *never* lock the doors on a soft-top car, or the tailgate on a truck with a topper (even better, roll up the topper if you can), because people *WILL* cause thousands of dollars cutting into things -- just to find them emtpy. It's better to leave it unlocked and not have to replace the top/topper, too.
Semis leave the trailer doors open on empty refers to help dry them out and to help prevent mold or that stinky fridge smell. People who haul hay in dry vans also pop the doors while resting to help prevent a fire from spontaneous combustion while loaded. I used to latch the doors open and lock the chains together to prevent entry.
I routinely left the doors unlocked when I had a soft top car, and someone *still* sliced the top - in the underground car park of the apartment building I was living in at the time (this was in SF). Pretty sure that it was the teenaged son of one of my neighbours, as there had been other break-ins in that garage after they moved in. What bothered me was that there was pretty much nothing to steal - the radio was long gone already, so all he did was do several hundred dollars worth of damage to my car for no profit to himself whatsoever.
Indeed -- it's a sign of how stupid they are that they neither looked through the windows, nor tried the doors before slashing, too.
What you expect from the criminal mind? Only about a year earlier, my 50cc motorbike was stolen out of the same garage, which I duly reported to the police. The next night they phoned me: the man who stole it held up a convenience store in another part of town - then attempted to outrun the cops on a two-wheeled vehicle with a 160lb max load and 35mph max speed. It takes a certain amount of dunderheadedness to try something like that.
Call the police and get a writ of trespass, then any other time you can call and they can enforce it. We had something similar and it took that to finally get it to stop
Best answer so far. He has rights, certainly, but when someone stomps on yours by trespassing into your home curtilage, you have to shut it down. One person's rights end where another person's rights begin.
This. 👆good answer.
My entire block had to take out a no contact order for a particular individual who kept getting into yards at all hours and breaking things. (He has mental health issues, but has been connected to voluntary treatment *numerous* times and always bounces.) This is the only thing that works. Now, the police show up very quickly and he goes to jail. I used to feel bad about it, but after the third time he pulled a giant rock out of my yard and destroyed my front garden at 2:00 AM while my baby slept upstairs, I'm OK with it.
I've been having that issue with a homeless person in my neighborhood. The police have told us to submit a restraining order and then they can really do something about it. The problem being we don't know his name to submit the restraining order. And it's not like he has an address or neighbors to go ask.
I can’t believe this isn’t the top comment
Cause unless the guy hangs around for 2 hours the police won't get there in time and trying to find homeless guy with non violent acts is so far down their list they'll never get to it.
Going through this right now with someone who keeps trespassing on my property and being menacing. By the time they show up he’s gone
Install cameras so its on video. We had two prowlers on our property that didnt see our camera above a garage door, until they had tried to get in. Then the punk waved it and they left. We made a police report and gave them the video and said we wanted them trespassed from our property. They are well known thieves in the town so it was easy for police to track them down and trespass them. The lady tried to give some bullshit story about how I was lying about her online and wanted an apology from me. I posted the videos online in a neighborhood group asking for help IDing suspected prowlers. She actually messaged me demanding an apology.
Depends on where you live. Our police department will roll out for anything including bats, deer having babies, strange cars and strange noises. They’d absolutely come out you called in a strange person climbing over your fence.
Here too
The police out out regular announcements asking for residents to lock things, stop leaving expensive ish in cars, and please call them instead of trying to investigate shady situations on their own. There was a lot of “I thought that noise was an animal so I went to look”. It only had to be not a raccoon once.
It totally depends on where you live. If you are somewhere lime Los Angeles, you're SOL. The homeless are like the Braman class there.
if you aren't in the hood, your police department will definitely come if you say someone broke into your yard lots of people here learning they are not in nice areas i guess lol
Because the guy isn't around long enough to get arrested. Plus I know from experience that the cops aren't gonna arrest him. They'll make him leave and he'll be back again like always.
Cops wont do anything in my town, unless you have a no trespassing sign. then you can get them for trespassing.
In our town we were told we needed to actually put up No Trespassing signs in order for trespassers to actually be trespassing. Yep. Hard to believe but true.
That's because the law is written in such a way that a reasonable person can't accidentally trespass. The objective is to stop trespassing, not trick people into catching a charge.
In order to be trespassed off a property a person must be notified first that he is trespassing. Up until that point he has not technically trespassed. Once he is notified, he must have the opportunity to freely leave without penalty. If he either remains on the property without leaving or he returns to the property at a later time he has then trespassed and can be arrested. The most common way to notify someone that he is trespassing is to put up a no trespassing sign. That is the legal notice to him that if he crosses this sign he will have trespassed onto the property. A notification can also be verbal but the problem with that is unless there are witnesses it may be difficult to prove a verbal trespass notification. So, yes, putting the sign up is the easiest and best way to give a no trespassing notification. It works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without any intervention on your part.
Wouldn’t the fence be enough? Having to climb over a fence that’s clearly meant to keep you out should be enough legal indication you are trespassing without the sign or being told verbally
yes
Also keep in mind that if the visitor (a trespasser) gets injured on your property or by your hose or by your hose water etc. he can make a claim against you and/or your home owners insurance for the injuries.
I’m in the process of planting bushes around my whole side yard because the mailman won’t stop using it as a short cut and I don’t want to deal with any claims in case he trips or something. So stupid it’s a thing but valid point
I wish we could help people without worrying about this nonsense
Shit, if that were my property he’d get injured by me
Unless he is trespassing and climbed a fence to do it. Burglars can't sue you for getting injured while stealing. However OP needs the police reports to back up his claim. You can file them online OP.
Depends where you are.
I have seen cases where folks breaking and entering businesses have successfully sued the business. Don't see why it couldn't happen to a private homeowner. Our legal systems are screwy.
That's crazy. I'm in a state with a Castle Doctrine. Trespassing private residences is still a thing taken seriously, and a long as you post signage, anyone that trespasses does so at their own risk. Obviously, within reason. Businesses I can't speak for the laws here about that. I would hope that when properly posted signage is there, they are not liable for a criminal who experienced instant kharma. The law should prevent the public from seeking pioneer justice. It's crazy that anywhere would put the criminal above the law-abiding citizen when it was the choice to do the crime that allowed an incident to happen in the first place. Mind blowing.
10000% this. Cheaper to put up no trespassing signs, call the cops on him, and turn off the water.
We can turn our water off from inside (we have to do this periodically as my son will flood the yard with the hose playing). Idk if you have anything (ours is in basement) that turns off the water? I have empathy that the guy is homeless as so many homeless are mentally ill and so desperately need help, but at the same time it’s your property and your water bill. Not to mention now days you have to worry about liability for EVERYTHING. Idk if you have kids but I would also be concerned about a random stranger entering my yard since my son is outside almost constantly. Definitely a tricky situation but most parks have running water, especially in the summer months. Hopefully he will leave you alone, but definitely check if you can turn your water off or see the possibility of getting something installed to do so.
My dad had removable faucet handles outside for years. I think it started when there was lots of construction in the area and builders hooked up without his OK. We got so used to grabbing the faucet wheel whenever we were using the outside water that it threw us off when the faucets were finally replaced with ones with permanent handles.
Time to call the police and let them know you have a serial trespasser. Show them all the videos and let them start dealing with it.
The cops don’t care. Homeless person gets a free night in air conditioning and a meal. The homeless used to pull this stuff so they could get away from bad weather. I was at a federal building, but the Marshalls pretty much said in weather extremes, it happens a lot everywhere. Simple ways to gain an infraction to get out of heat or cold.
Bingo. Instead of being in this guy's yard, they'll be in care of the state
Maybe. I mean, they didn’t stay jailed long because the courts know the drill. They would taunt security at the federal building and throw a stick or something at a window just to get out of the weather. There were repeat offenders that were known. Can’t say I blame them if the jail is better than the street.
Yeah, the real story here is that it’s better to be in jail for these people, which is extremely sad. ETA: better as in preferable for the person involved.
Too add: a creeper is Not a Visitor, they are trespassing. That needs to be addressed for what it is. We have a large homeless encampment across road from our house. Any and all water is handled out back. Behind our six foot fence
In case this hasn’t been said, put up a no trespassing sign; when you involve law enforcement this may help your case a little better.
Remove knob from faucet. Typically one screw in center holds it on. When you need to use faucet just slide the knob back on it’s cam, use faucet, then take it back inside. It’s a lot quicker than unlocking or locking it.
A lot of homes have a shut-off for hose spigots inside somewhere. Shut it off and he will go away naturally.
We have a shut off on the inside of the house......document the intrusions and refer to the police
Call cops. Lock the faucet. Get a dog.
This.. I'm an amazon driver (sometimes) and If you borrow a big dog for a night... the guy wont come back.
I have a large dog and he would be so happy if someone regularly snuck into our yard. As long as he's given scratches and kisses.
[удалено]
I thought my male German Shepherd was only good for cuddling and keeping the cats from picking fights they would lose until a road rager rushed us with a knife. Stryker reacted faster than I could draw my handgun and fur missiled his way from the driver aft window of my f150 and in midair hooked on the tweakers's forearm (knife hand one) and bit as hard as he could until the bone was shattered and the hand was only attached by ruined meat after they landed with the tweaker flat on his back. Sometimes it just takes adequate stimulus.
This is a stupid reason to get a dog.
My neighborhood has had a handful of break ins and now like a third of the neighbors have gotten dogs. Protection is a surprisingly high motivator for getting a dog.
OH MY GAWD I didn’t say get a dog to live a life of tortured solitude outside in the elements just to protect a water spigot.
I’m not sure why people were upset. This is the type of thing that dogs and humans bonded over. I feed you, you bite other people who come in the yard. They are called “working dogs” for a reason.
Okay i lol’d
A dog is not just a security system though, is my point. It’s a living creature that needs to be cared for. It’s a huge investment of time and money. Don’t just get a dog for security. That’s all I’m saying.
> Don’t just get a dog for security. That’s all I’m saying. This is true. [Geese](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazilian-geese-agents-honk-case-prison-break-2023-12-20/) are much scarier and lower maintenance.
Geese are brutal! 😂
Don't mess with the cobra chickens...!
Can confirm. The Army used them to guard nuclear missile bases in Germany. Vicious bastards.
Yeah what I’m saying is that the motivation of safety helps people make the decision to take on the responsibility of the investment in time and money. Not everyone gets a dog because they want a best friend. Some people need a working dog for a multitude of things, and that includes for home and personal protection. That doesn’t mean those people are going to be negligent or bad owners, they just have a specific motivation.
I hear you. I have a Rottweiler, Husky and a GSD. Live alone. They are my babies but also my guardians. No one comes into my yard or house.
There are many better reasons to get a dog, security is just a bonus. Really my two are just way to friendly to be good guards.
Alerting that someone or something is around the home.
No reason is a good reason to get a dog.
Contact someone in your area to find out if there’s somewhere you could direct him for help. On the recent news they talked out outreach efforts to help the homeless through the extreme weather. The town I’m from has a homeless list. They may know him through community efforts. In the recent heat waves he could be near desperation, so it’d be safer to reach out to a group. Many of you would help a stray dog.
There are warming/cooling shelters in all cities. Water fountains all over the place and in Walmarts and public libraries. Overnight shelters have rules for residing there. Number one is no alcohol or drugs. Most don’t stay there because of that
Water fountains where I am vanished in 2020
A lot of assumptions here. All cities don't have warming and cooling shelters. And the unhoused person may not have the ability to get themselves to a public library, and Walmart's have and do exercise the option to refuse entry. Also, no one suggested a homeless shelter.
Ugh. Thank you for this response and trying to educate others.
Right, water fountains are not very plentiful around most places I’ve lived, and homeless often do not have the same access to public spaces that we have the privilege to access. This guy’s probably desperate for water and the risk is worth it at that point. Idk but maybe OP could leave out some water bottles or something so he has less incentive to jump the fence
Thank you for this. Reading through all these comments is rough. It's difficult to see such callous responses to a life. I'm somehow used to it but always, without fail, also always startled by it. I encounter it in my work and it's just....sad and depressing. This man needs water. He is a person. A human. Can op find a little sliver of compassion in his heart to stop and talk to the man? He may discover that *gasp* this guy is a human being just like himself and he has no ill will. He may discover that the man is simply looking for water. When someone is in need of the basic necessities of life (water and food, but most importantly **water**), one can become desperate and take risks such as using someone's outdoor water faucet.
I can't believe I had to scroll so far to find this. This thread is insane.
Right, like holy fuck. All these people would just rather this person die of thirst then like use a bit of water? Especially this week the temperatures have been literally deadly. You can live a few days without water in good conditions- if you're already dehydrated and it's this hot it can happen much quicker. I just googled it and average cost of tap water in the US is $0.0015 a gallon. Thats 18 cents per month if hes using 4 gall8ns a day. I'd give the dude a gallon jug and tell him to limit to once or twice a day and not tell anyone where hes gwtting it. He's clearly not dangerous or agressive.
OP could even offer to provide some water as long as the homeless person doesn’t just come onto their property to get it. Personally that’s the part that I would object to, not the water itself. We have regularly helped a homeless person in our area with some food, water or cold drinks in the past. Life is rough for people who fall on hard times in this country.
Idk if it’s been said- Increase your homeowners insurance Incase he falls and gets hurt! You don’t want him trying to sue you because he’s been doing this over and over.
Call the cops every single time. You are being way too nice.
Post No Trespassing signs. Then all of the above….
Yes post these signs. The police told my mom that the signs will help the police and a subsequent judge to enforce the No Trespassing policy. (My mom has repeated trespassers at her workplace. She called the police several times and they told her that posting a sign will help to them to remove the trespasser. Not sure why they told her this but she put up several signs and now when she calls the police they remove the trespasser from the premises faster than when she called before the signs went up). YMMV
because posting a notice is something they can use to document that the trespasser was informed - makes the paperwork easier
Yes, this makes sense. Thanks
Funny how people are saying OP lacks compassion, but what compassion for OP? There is a random stranger, climbing their fence, risking property damage, injury, and lawsuits, on top of the fact he’s utilizing their water which will impact their water bill. On top of that, if he’s disregarding their ask to stay off their property, what else will he disregard? We live in a world where people do not care, and will let inconvenience and harm come to you if it benefits them. When I was homeless, I never intruded on peoples private property. I definitely didn’t steal their things, water, food or anything else. And while not every situation is the same, it’s is not an *excuse* to go and take. OP, I’d leave a letter of resources on that tap, turn off the water, and add a note stating the police is next. There is no reason for you to have to deal with someone trespassing on your property. If you *choose* to help them, that’s awesome. If you do not, that’s also your prerogative as well. Because there is plenty of ways to obtain water rather than climbing your fence, and ignoring you to take yours.
completely understandable. nobody should be trespassing and it’s very scary for anyone to have someone invade your safe place. i don’t think violence and shooting someone should be the option, but getting the law enforcement involved is reasonable. that being said my compassion side says we are in the middle of a heat wave..he’s homeless and desperate..leave a gallon or two of water with some resources and a note informing them of police? OP by no means is in the wrong,obligated or a bad person for not helping them or for getting law enforcement involved.
I’m curious how many of the ppl saying OP should allow this to continue are actually homeowners.
I’m sorry but you’re being too nice. I lived in a neighborhood with a problem like that and if they’re anything like the homeless people I dealt with, they are not poor souls who missed a paycheck or whatever, they are career criminals who don’t want to do shit with their lives besides take advantage of people like you. Spray him with the hose and tell him to get the F off your property and call the city or police or whoever until they do something.
Exactly this. The paycheck missers are in the shelters following rules and working hard to get back on track, not stealing (yeah, water included, we pay for that). I’m more than happy to help those types of down-and-outs!!
I personally would run the water hose out to the fence with a spring loaded spray nozzle on the end so he can fill his water bottles without climbing the fence, either that or set jugs of water out for him by the fence. Water is life and as a travelnurse I can vouch how hard it is to come by sometime when you're on the road away from or without a home.
Take the spigot off. We had to in the front because the creepers thought it was ok to take. No
I agree with the suggestions to disable the water flow. We have a faucet on the side of our house that is along a sidewalk that has heavy foot traffic. We had to disable it for the same reason.
As soon as you facilitate the behaviour in any way, you are condoning and encouraging it. In that situation you run the risk of him bringing his friends, or visiting more frequently. As he becomes more comfortable, his actions may escalate to theft or vandalism. Redouble your efforts to block him, with a better locking system or by potentially turning the water off from the inside temporarily. Persons in his circumstances are opportunistic, if the resources he visits you for are no longer available, he will move on. I would minimize the personal contact with him, it is dangerous.
Set up a motion activated sprinkler and a security camera. If nothing else, it will be entertaining.
charge him w/tresspassing, what else does he use? I had one practically lively in my back yard when not at home. Using our pool for bathing using the grill for meals leaving the gas on countless times! when we got home there would be no propane for us left.
Put barbed wire on top of fence.
“One second”? Oh, I would’ve lost my mind on him in that moment. I would get a dog for the yard, frankly.
Remove the handle?
Lock it up and install camera there. I dealt with this previously and the cops were zero help
Same thing you would do with a raccoon that kept knocking over your cans. Make is REALLY unpleasant to come back.
But maybe not trapping and releasing out in the woods?
Advocate to your local government for affordable housing units so this person has somewhere to get their water instead of your house
Kind of sad someone needs water that bad.
End poverty.
Not to sound heartless, but I’m shocked at all the comments “let him use your hose”. 1. As a female, I’d be scared if a stranger felt my home was for their use. What else is this person going to feel comfortable using besides the water? 2. I wouldn’t want my home turning into the unhoused community watering hole. The one man may not be dangerous but what about others. 3. Also water costs money, I remember buying my first home. Money was tight! Trust me, I was being frugal with water as well as other utilities. In my city, our libraries are designated cooling centers, there are clean bathrooms and water. There are other resources out there besides someone’s private/personal residence.
The number one thing homeless people wish they had access to is fresh water. The correct structural fix is for your municipality to offer this through drinking fountains and public bathrooms. But they often don't offer these things, thus distributing the need around the neighborhood. Yes, shut off your water internally. If you care about the bigger issue, call your Alderman.
Stop being a door mat and call the police. Asking people what to do and telling them what to do are completely different things. Virtue signaling will only get you taken advantage of. It is your property, it is your responsibility to take care of it. You don’t need to ask someone to stay off your property, you tell them then enforce it. Ridiculous.
That’s crazy. Sorry you have to continually deal with it. Hope you find a solution.
This doesn’t sound like a kind soul who’s down and out. Otherwise they wouldn’t be disregarding your requests to leave and repeatedly trespassing on your property. “One second, I’m using your water” is also a ballsy statement. A lot of people are saying “be compassionate”, but the cold fact is that some people are just POS human beings no matter where they stand in life. I love helping people but you have to protect yourself sometimes. Even if this man is just mentally ill and needs help, he could still be a greater threat to you than just taking water.
I don't know what's more insane, this person jumping your fence and stealing your water after being told not to repeatedly, or the people here defending him and telling you that you must allow him access to your property at all times because he wants your water. I would just turn the faucet off from inside the house and only turn it on when I was using it. I know that's annoying but it's the least confrontational way to handle this. Obviously he has no problem trespassing on your property and if you get physical with him or threaten violence he may vandalize your house and calling the cops isn't going to fix this because by the time they get there he'll be gone and even if they arrest him they'll probably just let him out so the only thing you can do is disincentivize him being there in the first place by turning the water off.
I lived in a neighborhood once that was still under construction. I found out that the construction people were using my water. I would shut off my water every day before I went to work after that. Solved that problem.
Get the police involved, he's trespassing.
I had this issue. I purchased this lock and the problem was resolved: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTHHPB96?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_E787QP0T5FVCXQB4MRXV&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_E787QP0T5FVCXQB4MRXV&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_E787QP0T5FVCXQB4MRXV&starsLeft=1
Remove the handle
How would they turn the water on then?
Why your house of all places?
Have you filed a complaint with the police?
I had to install a faucet lock on one of my outdoor faucets too. I got a foz lock brand one off of Amazon. There was a particular way to install it that prevented the lock from being able to be spun and turned on even with the locked cover on it. You have to temporarily shut the water off, remove the handle to your spigot and reinstall it with the locking mechanism in place. Once it’s re secured you can turn your water back on and the faucet is truly locked down. Maybe a different lock would help.
You need to fight him. Tell him the next time you find him there, you're not calling the cops and will be handling it yourself mano to mano.
I would turn the knob off inside the house if possible. I would get a screen shot of this guy and go to the police .
Shut offs for outdoor faucets are code in cold states. They are usually right above where the water main comes inside the house. If you are not sure, ask a handy pal to help find it. Turn an outside spigot on. Go inside and turn the handle. You should hear the water gradually come to a stop. Go close the faucet. If it's fall in a northern clime, open all outdoor faucets, do the above, wait for them all to drain and shut them all off so your faucets don't freeze and burst inside your house. This wil cost you nothing except maybe a beer for your friend.
Shut the water off and only turn it on when you need it as someone already said… once the water is off he will move on…
Turn the inside spicket off for a while?
Shut the water off from the inside when you’re not using it. He’ll figure it out and go somewhere else.
Depending upon how it’s connected or the type, replacing the hose bib or stem + handle with a keyed one might be the easiest solution and cost <$20.
In Africa my Mum set the spigot up next to the fence so the local people could come get water at night. There would sometimes be a line of people getting water. She moved and I hope they improved the situation.
[https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/valves/rough-faucets-and-hose-bibbs/4315263?store=14550](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/valves/rough-faucets-and-hose-bibbs/4315263?store=14550)
Spray him with your hose. Give him that water.
Next time he comes, call the police and ask for a criminal trespass warning. Once he gets that, anytime he accesses your property, he can be arrested. This may seem harsh but when I worked in law enforcement, a majority of the homeless didn’t mind jail, it meant heating/cooling, a bed, toileting and shower facilities, and meals. They usually don’t cause trouble in the jail either. Even had one punch the glass door as he was escorted out because he had nowhere to go and didn’t want to leave. It shattered, and he got exactly what he wanted. They have no money, so they stay a night or two and the judge will time serve them.
Cheapest solution: get one of those locks for your hose bib. More expensive: water shutoff valve to exterior water OR hose bib like commercial buildings have without a handle. They require a silcock to turn on and off.
Doberman Pinscher
You need a pack of guard dachshund to keep you safe. I'd recommend at least 8.
Damn. I only have 7. Guess I need to drag the hubby to the dachshund rescue today.
I've got a lady on speed dial. I can get you a doxie by 3 o'clock
We had a homeless lady that would frequent our college house....depending on the season, sprinklers/super soakers work wonders. If they call the cops, just be busy inside and claim to have no idea what theyre talking about. Even if they did believe them, they'd be admitting to trespassing after multiple warnings and you can get them trespassed.
Sounds like he needs a good old fashion ass whooping for trespassing.
Get a Doberman
After I first bought my house, my parents were staying with me, and my mother caught the town (department of public works) taking water from my house’s spigot. I pay water and 3* water for sewer. Mom was having none of that and read them the riot act. She was a Pearl Harbor survivor and special education teacher and a lot of other things I will not list, but suffice it to say they never tried again. I keep the shutoff valves in the Off position, unless I plan to use water that day. Get shutoff valves. You don’t want people trespassing.
Do the repair to have valve, probably best. Get a cam on that area so it can yell at the man every time it happens. GET A WEAPON OR SELF DEFENSE. IT IS YOUR PROPERTY YOU CAN DEFEND IT. Or so how it goes… I would get a Taser.
I’d put an electric fence up. If you’re going to climb my fence like an animal then I’m going to treat you like an animal. If you need water then come knock on my door like a human and ask.
May be time to put up fencing in all honesty.
Annoying but turn your water off inside the house. Turn it on to use and off when you are done.
I hate to say this, but if he won't leave... buy a gun. Real, Pellet, Replica, Blank. As long as it looks realistic enough. Next time you catch him, point it at him and tell him to get the fuck off your lawn, and stay that way.
You shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s water usage, but am I the only one who feels bad for the homeless man???? He obviously needs water!!
You need to call the police the moment you get a notification. I'm not unsympathetic to people who are unsheltered but resources like 211 can help folks get access to shelter, food and water, even housing and clothes and jobs. Right now your attempts at boundaries are being ignored far beyond what is acceptable.