Frozen pipes in winter aren’t anything new to plumbers in Minnesota. We see this issue every fall. If you have an ice rink forming beneath your hose spigot you’re going to want to get it looked at. However, the ice isn’t the worst of your worries. Your water line going to your faucet may freeze and burst causing major water damage to your home.

When you have an outside faucet that is dripping it can be caused by a few different issues. If you have a isolation valve inline for the outside spigot it could mean that the valve isn’t shutting off completely. Even if it’s a slow leak the line could still fill up and potentially freeze and burst when it gets too cold. Every fall when temperatures drop below freezing a homeowner should shut off and drain the water line going to the outside spigots. Leave the outside spigot open and check to see if it still drips. If it does then the inline isolation valve should be repaired or replaced.

For added protection, we recommend a second shut-off valve on the water supply to the hose bib be installed inside the house so you won’t have to rely on the frost-free hose bib alone. If the frost-free hose bib has survived a few or more winters, however, one could argue that at this point the risk of a failure is minimal. SharkBite offers a range of hose bibbs, garden valves, and frost free sillcocks. To start your installation, begin by preparing your pipe. Cut the pipe as cleanly and squarely as possible, ensuring the pipe is free of scratches and debris. If you are handling copper pipe, remove any sharp edges or burrs. Replacing most frost-free faucets usually involves just shutting off the water, unscrewing the old faucet, and screwing on the new one. Water started coming out of where knob goes on. I shut the main water off and removed the valve inside. It appears that the stem busted off just before the the threads that screw the valve into the fitting, leaving the piece that busted off still threaded inside and the rest of the stem I was able to get out. It is 12 inch frost free faucet.

To repair this internal shut-off valve you first need to shut the water off to the whole house. When repairing the valve be aware that they are factory sealed and are not easy to take apart. Make sure to be careful when attempting to take them apart so that you don’t put too much stress on the solder joints. Use two wrenches in opposite directions holding on to the body of the valve and the section that you are attempting to remove. Make sure to grab the hex shaped spot below the packing nut (removing the packing nut won’t get you to the washer you need to replace).

Ball Valve with drain

Some valves do not take washers and therefore you cannot repair them. If you have a washerless shut-off valve that leaks it will need to be replaced. You will need: a propane torch, solder, flux, sandcloth, a wire fitting brush, a small section of copper pipe (most likely 3/4″ I.D.), a slip coupling (again probably 3/4″) and a shut-off valve. I would highly recommend installing a ball valve with a drain on it as opposed to a washer style valve. If you purchase a decent quality ball valve it will last a very long time.

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Note: If you do not feel comfortable soldering, then do not attempt this and call a licensed professional plumber.

Installing A Frost Free Faucet

To replace the valve you need to first shut off the main water. Cut out the old valve using a copper tubing cutter. Next, you will have to solder the new valve to a small section of copper piping. Make sure that when you are soldering the valve that it is in the open position. Measure the space and cut the copper tubing to size. Next, solder the valve to the existing pipe making sure that the drain that is on the valve is on the outside wall side and not the house side of the piping. Finally, slide on the slip coupling and solder that into place to both the new pipe and the old pipe.

Replace Frost Free Valve

Not all faucets have an interior isolation valve. If your valve is a “frost-free” style of valve then you may not have an isolation valve. Frost free valves are a style of valve in which the water shut off for the valve is located at the back end of an integrated copper pipe inside the house. This allows the water to be shut off further in on the line keeping the water away from the outside cold temperatures. The use of a frost-free valve is often used in locations where an internal shut off valve is inaccessible. Often times they are used is spots where the walls and ceilings are finished and the piping is not exposed. This style of faucet (like all faucets) will leak over time. If you have a frost-free valve that is leaking you will need to replace the washers internally on the valve to prevent the valve from freezing and bursting.

If you don’t have a frost free valve or isolation valves for your outside faucet you may want to consider having something different installed. If you don’t want to replace the valves right now and just want something to help prevent a problem on your current valve there are a few options that can help. One is to buy a Styrofoam faucet insulating cover. They run less than $5 at our store. They aren’t the greatest option but easily one of the cheapest helps out there.

Another option for helping prevent an outside faucet from freezing would be to add a section of heat tape to the pipe. Heat tape is a cable that you wrap around the problematic pipe to help prevent it from freezing. It comes in varying lengths and you can plug it in and unplug it when needed. It is a cost-effective option that does work. Simply wrap the heat tape around the pipe, cover it with fiberglass pipe insulation and plug it in. This can also be used to help thaw already frozen pipes, although it does work better as a preventative measure.

Pipe Heat Tape

Making sure that you do preventative maintenance on all of your outside faucets can prevent a cold, wet, and costly problem down the road. Paying to have a plumber replace a faulty valve will cost you significantly less than having to pay for emergency plumbing service work when you have a pipe freeze and break in the middle of the night.

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For more info on frozen pipes check out this post on frozen pipes

For more info on valves check out this post on frost-free outdoor spigots

For all questions call 763-551-8990

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Installing A Frost Free.valve