How to Replace a Spigot | Ask This Old House

In this video, Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert, Richard Trethewey, explains a variety of failure points in a hose spigot and demonstrates how to replace one that is damaged beyond repair.

Richard Trethewey demonstrates a couple of ways to fix a leaky hose spigot. Richard explains that there are two places a spigot usually fails—the bonnet and the stem— and shows how to easily stop the leak and extend the life of your spigot.

How Do You Keep Outdoor Spigots from Freezing in Winter?
With your average spigot, the washer sits on the outside of the house, so in the winter, water is prone to freezing if it is not shut off and drained.

Instead, Richard advises using a frostproof spigot. It has a longer stem that reaches inside the house, meaning the washer end is far enough away from the outside, so it is safe from the cold and will prevent a frozen pipe.

Time: 1 hour
Cost: $50
Skill Level: Moderate

Tools:

Shopping List:

Steps for Replacing a Spigot:
1. Shut off the water supply.
2. Go inside and find the line that goes to the spigot.
3. Cut the pipe in an accessible place. Use a bucket to catch any remaining water.
4. Remove the spigot and pull the pipe out.
5. Get a measurement for the new pipe connection. The new work has to be the same as the old. If you are not worried about it fitting the spigot opening, extend the pipe using a threaded adapter and Teflon tape. Otherwise, solder the pipe into the frost-free faucet connector. But first, remove the inside stem so the rubber washer doesn’t melt when you go to solder.
6. Slide the spigot into place.
7. Solder the connection using a coupling fitting.
8. To secure the new spigot, use stainless steel screws to make sure they don’t rust over time.
9. Turn the water back on and test the connections.

Where to find it?

The other tools and materials Richard needed, both for soldering the new valve and repairing the old one, can all be found at home centers and plumbing supply stores.

About Ask This Old House TV:
From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. Ask This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

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How to Replace a Spigot | Ask This Old House

[Learnamericanenglishonline]

One hour for Richard = Six hours for me

[michaelandres]

He's such a great teacher. I'm a licensed plumber in Hawaii and we never have to deal with freezing spigots, so this was fascinating to watch.

[peterl.]

This video inspired me to try out the teflon tape at 3 different spots and stopped the leak. Been failing to take off the leaky hose bib for 7 months and I was finally going to call a handyman. Saw this video when I couldn’t fall back asleep this morning, so I’m just stunned that this problem is finally over. THANK YOU!

[BrandonCarraway]

I have learned so much from This Old House. One of my favorite series.

[romuloromero]

We just bought a 200 year old house and this was my first real repair. Thank you for showing me how to do it!

[steveloux]

Two things I can count on Richard for - a cutaway of the product, and a reference to "full city water pressure". :D

[jessstuart]

A local plumbing company would not install a rebuild kit on a leaky outdoor faucet and would only replace it (for $750). Found and bought a rebuild kit online for $20, installed it myself in about 20 minutes (carefully reading the instructions), and now it works like new.

[gwbergstrom]

I tried that Teflon tape packing trick and it worked perfectly!!! I was going to call a plumber to change the whole spigot. Now, all it cost me was 10 minutes of my time. I already had the tape. Brilliant!! You should go into the plumbing business. You’d make a killing.😂

[larrymoore]

Nice job Richard walking us through all the options including install a new one.

[walterw]

Such a helpful well narrated video. I really appreciate the time and effort put forth for this material. Thank you.

[bowlampar]

Whenever i want to install some features inside and outside my home, i always follow Richard expert opinion and recommendation even though mine is not an old house. His video is really helpful for most home owners. 🤔🤔

[jameswoolridge]

Thanks for the video, it had all the information I needed to replace my leaky faucet. Went frostproof, added a shutoff inside as well (in case I fudged it). I had a similar problem to the home in the video, soldered pipe for the first time today... so far everything's working great

[oo.]

That goddamn teflon is everywhere! Thanks for the video and taking the time to explain the Why as well as the How !

[soyeljefe]

Richard is excellent at explaining this stuff.

[smipims]

Saved me a trip to the hardware store. Tightened up my leaky spigot - no more leaks

[Mike__B]

I love it "we're going to pull this out" *SNAP* "yeah just look at this, it fell apart inside there"

[robertraube]

Love Ask This Old House and all the great information. I have one comment about this video…, having just been involved in one of these frost proof type spigots (water hydrant), the manufacturer strongly urges that the pipe be on a 5° downward slope towards the outside to allow any water inside the pipe after shutting off the outside valve to allow that water to drain out. If not…, water still inside the pipe could freeze and crack the copper pipe. That’s ’exactly’ what happened to my neighbors spigot/ pipe.
Bob R

[alexeyberezov]

Thank you so much! Such a great explanation. Thanks to this video I fixed my first tap with no previous experience !

[Joshuamllr]

Full city water pressure is gonna be my band name.

[stevenduering]

Mine was soldered like that, however the builder had a union installed after the shut off valve. Made it so much easier to replace.