Replace an Outdoor Sill Cock

About This Guide

The sill cock that split during January.

A frost-free sill cock (outdoor faucet) should last 20+ years. Most fail in year one or two because the homeowner left a garden hose attached over winter — the hose held water in the pipe body, the water froze, expanded, and split the internal pipe.

The good news: replacement is a two-hour job, and the new unit plus correct winterizing will outlast the house.

This book walks:

• ✓ What a frost-free sill cock is and why it matters.
• ✓ Diagnosing the failure (leaking from spout, from handle, from
• ✓ inside the wall).
• ✓ Sizing the replacement (length, thread, inside shutoff type).
• ✓ Shutting off water inside the house at the dedicated valve.
• ✓ Removing the old sill cock from the wall.
• ✓ Soldering OR using SharkBite to install the new one.
• ✓ The sloped install (back pitched down toward the outside so it
• ✓ drains fully).
• ✓ Testing before winter.
• ✓ Winterizing annually — the five-minute task that matters.