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Outside water faucet replacement. As simple as it looks?

4K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  ajtool 
#1 ·
One of our water faucets for the back yard leaks when turned on from the stem, so before we swap it out, I cut a hole in the ceiling in the laundry room to make sure the pipe was not strait welded on. What I found was an on / off valve in the ceiling before it goes out side. That valve will need to be replaced as it leaks a little bit at the stem (only slightly) and green corrosion. This may just require just a new washer?

On to the out side. I suspect the faucet out side is held on with a 1/2" threaded nipple (not sure if that is the correct term). So, if I am correct, all I should have to do is turn the valve off that goes to it, and simply unscrew the old faucet and put the new one on.

But there are a few problems / fears:

1) the inside on / off valve may leak when turned off
2) I could be wrong about how the outside faucet is connected
3) I fear as if I may end up breaking the pipe or loostening the brazing at the on / off valve or before that valve where I would have to turn off all the water to the house
4) I guess I don't trust the brazing

I did pick up a cheap pipe wrench (with the waxed cloth) to have some one on the inside hold it while the old faucet is removed. I could not swing getting a higher end.

On the bright side, when I cut away the drywall in the ceiling I caught a potential problem before it caused a bigger headache by seeing that green corrosion on the on / off valve.

So, is chaning the out side faucet / spigot more simple then I am making it?
 
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#2 ·
sometimes you get lucky with the stem,, with the valve all the way open, you can tighten the packing nut by the stem and this will stop the dripping, one possible concern is that you had to cut the ceiling to get at the pipe shut-off, sure it looks good but if you have a leak somewhere you are going to have a mess. They sell access doors for something like this, install one instead of closing off the hole with sheetrock. I've done only a couple of the outside spigots, and had more success just cutting the pipe inside then trying to get the old one off. The flange on the spigot should be screwed into the wall. If you are concerned about the shut off valve, close it, and open outside spigot to see if water still comes out, in your part of the country you should use a frost free spigot. To be on the safe side, look around for another shut off valve in the basement if you have access,, in case of problems, you can always shut off the main line coming into the house when working on this prodject.. Have fun.
 
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