There are two 20 year old hose valves outside the house. Both leak, and one even has a busted handle that requires a vise grip every time we want to open and close the water flow.
I would like to replace both without the expense of hiring a plumber. I think this is a job that even I can do.. . maybe :confused:
Having said that, can someone with the know-how tell me what I need to do to make this repair?
Thank you!

Are the valves attached to the house or in the ground? What type of pipe are they attached to? Are they freeze resistant valves?

Both valves are attached to the house and come out of a wall. Not sure what type of pipe they are attached to. I'm in south Florida, so freeze concerns are nonexistent.

Hello, you need to look at the pipe. White plastic may only require cutting the pipe with a hacksaw and gluing the fittings.
Grey plastic, steel, or copper require a compression fitting. Give the size and type of pipe information to your home improvement,or hardware store, and they should have people to show you what you need. Be sure to turn off water and drain lines before cutting pipe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carbo

Both valves are attached to the house and come out of a wall. Not sure what type of pipe they are attached to. I'm in south Florida, so freeze concerns are nonexistent.

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Hi Carbo, greetings from Sarasota,

If your house is over 45/50 years old then you most likely have galvanized pipe with threaded hose bibs. After turning off the water to the house they may be unscrewed and removed. Now wrap the threads with teflon tape and install the new hose bibs.
If it's a house from the 70's on then we piped with copper. We installed our hose bibs using two methods depending on who did the work.
One way was to solder on a threaded adapter. You treat this just like you would a threaded hose bib, (see above).
The other way was to solder a hose bib directly on to the copper stubout.
This requires some soldering skillls and equipnent. If this is what you have and you need instructions on removing and either soldering on new hose bibs or converting to threaded adapters for a threaded hose bib just click on back.
Good luck. Tom

The house is around 20 years old. By the looks of things, it appears as if we have copper stubouts, with the bibs soldered on. Tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me since I have no skills in this area, and none of the needed equipment, my best bet is to contact a local plumber to handle the job.
Any ballpark estimates on cost?
Thanks, folks.

"Any ballpark estimates on cost?"

Figure 50 bucks for the service call plus the cost of the hose bibs. He will have to drain down the system, get all the water out of the pipes and remove and solder on new valves. TIP: Ask him to solder on 1/2" male adapters and replace the solder on valves with threaded ones. That way if you ever have to change them out you can do it yourself and not have the expense of calling in outside help. Good luck, Tom

I agree. Unless you can easily get to the back of the hose bib it might be difficult. But if you can easily get to the pipe at the back of the hose bib, I would cut the copper pipe with a pipe cutter or hack saw. I would take it to a place that sells plumbing supplies and get the material needed to replace it. They can see what you have and you can buy compression fittings so you do not need to solder. Have you considered just replacing the stems? Again you would need to drain the water. You take off the cap and unscrew the stem and take it to a plumbing supply. Good luck with it. Rodger

I have a follow on question that seems more appropriate to add to this thread than to start a new one.

I have copper threaded pipe coming out from my house. I have replaced a previously broken hose bib (it had a crack in the housing), but it's leaking from the threads. I've used Teflon tape, taken it off, and used MORE teflon tape, but it's still leaking. Cranking the faucet down as hard as possible hasn't helped. I'm pretty sure that the original bib broke because it was cranked down so hard.

Is there something else that I can use instead of the tape? There was still a little water leaking from the pipe when I wrapped the tape, would that be affecting the seal?

Thanks,
JulieHG

Carbo,

Don't waste your time just follow Tom's instructions that is the best way to go.

Julie,

Remove the hose bib inspect the inspect the pipe and hose bib for any cracks or scratches, if none clean the pipe and the bib apply 5-6 turns of teflon tape or Pipe thread compounds instill the bib don't over torque it, Good Luck.

John

JulieNg: there are various pipe compounds you can use instead of teflon tape. Some of the brand are: KeyTite and Pipe Dope.

Also, as Afaroo suggests, make sure you don't have a hair line crack in the hose valve. I agree, it is a good idea to have your plumber to solder on male adapter. That way, you can replace hose valve yourself.