A leaking outdoor faucet is almost always the result of one winter
with a hose attached.
Your outside faucet is doing one of these:
Drips from the spout when the valve is off.
Internal valve seat failed. Repair (new washer) is the first try;
replacement if washer swap doesn’t hold.
Leaks from the handle when open. Stem packing
failed. Packing nut tightening is the first try; replacement if
not.
Leaks from a wet spot on the wall around the faucet, or from
the rim joist on the inside basement wall under the faucet. The
internal pipe body has split — almost always from winter freeze with
hose attached. Replacement only.
Water barely comes out. Clog (spider web, mineral
scale) or bent internal pipe. Replacement.
Years old and you want frost-free protection.
Upgrade.
A frost-free sill cock after installation
— the long rearward pipe visible through a cutaway, with the internal
valve seat well inside the heated wall cavity.
What a frost-free sill cock
is
A regular hose bib has its valve right behind the handle — just
inside the wall. In winter, the short bit of water between the valve and
the spout freezes first, expanding and splitting the body.
A frost-free sill cock has a long pipe (8–12 inches) reaching back
through the wall into the heated interior of the house. The valve seat
is at the far end of that pipe, inside where it’s warm. When you close
the handle, water drains out through the spout by gravity, leaving no
water in the exterior pipe section to freeze.
This works only if: 1. The sill cock is installed with the back end
pitched slightly DOWN toward the outside so water can drain out. 2. No
garden hose is attached when the weather turns cold — a hose blocks the
drain path.
What this book covers
Diagnosis (which failure mode you have).
Selecting the replacement (length, connection type, shutoff
style).
Locating the inside shutoff that serves the sill cock.
Removing the old unit.
Two install methods: soldering and SharkBite.
Testing and annual winterizing.
What this book doesn’t cover
Anti-siphon vacuum breakers (if code requires a
separate one outside the valve). Minor install, usually specified by
model.
Re-plumbing from scratch (adding a new outdoor
faucet where none existed). Bigger project.
Well systems — slightly different shutoff
strategy.
