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If you live in a colder climate, your water pipes may be susceptible to freezing. For the most part, your plumbing is safely inside the heated living space of your house. However, a sillcock (spigot) on the outside wall of your house is exposed to the elements and can freeze during the colder winter months. Since water expands as it freezes, this situation can burst your pipes causing water damage to your house.
You have 2 solutions to avoid this mishap. First, you can turn off the inline valve and drain the water out of an existing sillcock during the winter months. Or for added convenience, you can install a frost-free sillcock that will help keep water away from the cold, outside elements. A frost-free sillcock contains a long stem that places the actual water shut off about 10 inches inside the house. This keeps still water away from the elements.
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| BEFORE You Start... | |
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Skill Level & Time to Complete |
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| • Beginner - 1 to 3 hours | |
| • Intermediate - 1 to 2 hours | |
| • Advanced - 1/2 to 1 hour | |
| - Always use lead-free solder for plumbing projects. | |
| - Wear protective glasses when soldering. | |
| - Always use caution when using a torch near wood. Cover the wood with a piece of sheet metal or flameproof material to prevent direct exposure to the torch flame. | |
| - Don’t be in a hurry. If you don’t properly prepare the pipes for soldering you may end up with leaks. Then you will need to completely drain the water out of the pipes you are working on. It is impossible to solder pipes with water in them. | |
| - Before you solder the pipes together, assemble all the pieces to make sure your have a proper fit and no unforeseen problems. | |
| - Review our tutorial on soldering copper pipes for additional information on this subject. | |
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| 1. | A frost-free sillcock has a stem that can range from 6” to 12” long. For easiest installation, you should have an additional 4” to 5” of straight pipe in between the inline shut off valve and the wall plate that the sillcock is mounted to. Otherwise you will need to reroute your plumbing to provide the straight run that is required. |  |
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| 2. | Start by turning off the inline valve to the existing sillcock. Purge the water from the pipe that you just shut off. Do this by opening the existing sillcock and opening the bleed valve on the inline shutoff valve. If you don’t have a bleed valve, don’t worry – the water will drain out when you cut the straight pipe. Leave the sillcock open. Remove any screws that attach the sillcock to the house siding. Measure back the length of the stem on the new sillcock plus 2” to 3” from the wall plate on the straight pipe. Use a pipe cutter or a hack saw to cut the pipe. Put a bucket under the cut to catch any water that remained in the pipe. | |
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| 3. | Pull the sillcock and with the straight pipe attached out of the hole through the siding. Measure the length of the straight pipe from the cut end to the back of the mounting bracket for the sillcock. Based on this measurement, make an assembly that includes the new sillcock, a threaded fitting, a straight piece of copper tubing and a straight union. Your measurement should cover the distance from the back of the sillcock mounting bracket to the inside shoulder of the straight union. Dry fit the assembly to make sure the straight union slides over the straight run of tubing still in the house. | |
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| 4. | Disassemble the pieces and solder together the threaded fitting, straight piece and straight union. | |
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| 5. | Once the joint cools, wrap Teflon tape around the threaded end of the new sillcock. Screw the fitting you just soldered onto the new sillcock and tighten. | |
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| 6. | Insert the whole assembly into the hole in your siding. Solder the straight union onto the straight pipe within the house. Make sure to protect flammable areas from your torch. Let the joint cool completely.
Now you are ready to test your work. Turn on the inline valve. Turn on and off the new sillcock. Check your work for leaks. If you find a leak in your work, you need to shut off the water and purge the water from the line. Depending on where the leak is, you may need to disassemble the new sillcock to correct the problem. Take the leaky joint apart, clean all components and re-solder the joint. |
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| 7. | Secure the new sillcock to the outside wall. It should come with a bushing that fits in between the sillcock and your siding. This bushing helps keep the sillcock stem level or slightly sloped towards the outside of your house. This is necessary to allow the sillcock to drain when it is turned off. | |
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