Originally Posted By: Denis
For the outside faucets, they installed some kind of pressure release faucet that prevents burst lines.

That's what our house came with as built. We replaced those with real inside shutoff valves for every line that goes outside, as many here do.

Those pressure release faucets do help against freezing, when a hose is inadvertantly left connected to them, but they have the side effect of spewing the water pressure they release right up there against the side of you house. In many places that might not matter, but here in Colorado we have expansive clay soils. So the last thing you want is having that clay soil expand and contract (due to water) right up against your houses foundation. Makes for very expensive foundation cracking/repair.