Frost Free Faucets

[trader4]

"Unfortunately, all the walls of the house are 36" thick stone and it does get cold enough in the stone to freeze the pipe all the way to the

inside because I had it happen one year when I forgot to drain one of the pipes. There is no way to slope the pipe down to the outside so that I can simply open the outside faucet after I shut of the water inside."

Uh oh. If you can't slope it down towards the outside or at least make it level, then the freeze proof sillcock won't work either, as that has to be able to drain too. Something is very wrong if this is setup so the pipe is pitched in the wrong direction

Just out of curiousity, how do you know the pipe actually froze all the way back to the inside wall? Was it split that far in?

If you can get a 24" one, then one solution would be to enlarge the pipe opening to about 2" in diameter for the last 14" of the inside wall. If you seal off the pipe hole outside with expanding foam, that should allow enough warm air to get around the pipe so it won't freeze. It would be a pain to do, but it would be a solution.

The longest frostfree valve made (even for commercial use) is

24". This means the shut off would still be 12" into the stone. At this

point the only solution that the plumbers suggest is to put a shutoff valve and a drain valve inside. Unfortunately there is no good place to

place this without it sitting in plain view in a finished space. I hoped that osmeone knew of a source of very long frost free valves that

my plumbers and I had not discovered. Thanks

[RicodJour]

Good link, thanks.

R

[RicodJour]

Definitely gets cold enough to cause problems, but there are a lot of variables, so it's hard to tell from here whether yours is likely to freeze or not. I'd assume it will.

I guarantee you'll never have to be reminded again after the pipe freezes and bursts.

R

[Robertm]

A couple of weeks after installation I got around to reading the little sheet they have in the box and figured it was no big deal because I could simply add an external anti-siphon. So I went and bought one and then when I opened the box it explained that an external anti-siphon cannot be used with a frostfree sillcock. The anti-siphon feature would be important if I had irrigation or had any use of pesticide spraying equipment added to the hose, but I use it only for water so it's not a big deal unless I should ever sell the house. Just irritates me to pay a licensed person for a job that is supposed to meet the code and they cut corners to save a dollar or two. He could have given me the option of paying $10 more for a job that would meet the code or he could have quoted higher in the first place. I've hired three different licensed plumbers since I bought the place and they are all the same. None of them know how to solder so they use compression fittings. They don't use enough hangers. Schedule 40 pipe ends up being something without a number on it and after they leave I have to repair the leaks they left behind. I gave up and am now resigned to doing the work myself.

Bob

[Joshua Putnam]

Depends on the individual installation, insulation quality, how warm you keep the house, etc.

I can tell you it got cold enough south of Seattle this week to split a bronze sillcock. Around 19 degrees.

Always remove the hose from frost-free faucets, or the hose can hold water in the part that's supposed to be dry, and you'll split that part of it. The one lucky part is that the split is downstream from the valve, so it doesn't gush water as soon as it thaws.

[Chris Lewis]

According to :

Indeed. We've had a freezeproof sillcock burst. I think the builder didn't put enough slope in it.

[Goedjn]

Can't you just take a 24" apart, and stick in a longer pipe and rod?

[Chris Lewis]

According to Goedjn :

Yes. If you have a machine shop. If you have access to a machine shop, it'd probably be easier to make a frost free faucet from scratch tho.

Frankly, in situations like this, I think you're better off with a traditional inside shutoff and integrated bleeder. Less things to go wrong. Ie: a frost free faucet that leaks slightly, and the outside end got plugged by a spider nest. Replacing a frost-free faucet that's burst can be kinda nasty.

I've never been enamored of the things. Largely because I don't like washer-style faucets for exterior hose bibs. Too restrictive. I use full aperture ballvalves and gatevalves for my exterior plumbing.

[Rick Feldhege]

replying to Ryan Born, Rick Feldhege wrote: I'm having the same problem with my old farmhouse. My outside walls are 14 to 16 inches thick, but go to Supplyhouse.com and they carry an 18 inch frostproof faucet by Woodford model 17. Hope this helps.