Repairing in wall sillcock

[james]

The 25 year old faucet in my backyard is near failure. It squeaked when turned and it's not a metalic squeak, but twisting-the-cork-off-a-bottle kind of squeak, and water drips out of the handle at certain point. I have managed to adjust it so that water is shut off and is not dripping out of the handle.

This sillcock goes into the house in between a wall. On one side of the wall is a kitchen cabinet, on the other side is the living room. I have to choose one of the walls to cut an opening for repair.

On the cabinet side, the height of the pipe is 1 inch from the middle shelf, and the shelf is not made to be removable. Even if the middle shelf is removed, it would still be a tight space to work in.

On the living room side, it is easy to cut the hole to work on the pipe, but repairing the drywall may leave a sign of repair due to slightly mismatched paint and texture.

Any words of wisdom?

[don &/or Lucille]

[Jon Danniken]

I haven't dealt with that particular spigot, but I would expect there to be some provision for removing the cartridge without cutting the wall. Take off the handle and see if there is a way to remove it.

If you have to cut into the wall, I would lift the siding up with a Superbar to gain access. You will need some caulking and nails and primer to finish, of course.

Jon

[Colbyt]

Cut the hole in the LR wall. Removing and replacing that inside a cabinet like that will be a nightmare job.

And the shelf may prevent you from doing what you need to do. You won't know until after the hole is cut.

[jamesgangnc]

You probably can rebuild it without removing it.

[hallerb]

and if you cant install a new water outlet in a easy spot.

just put a cap on the existing one

[Stormin Mormon]

Trace the old one back, cut the tubing, and use that tubing to supply the new spigot?

I'd want to shut off the water to the house, and try taking apart the old spigot. perhaps a new faucet washer, and some plumbers grease will bring the old silcock back to life.

[trader4]

Is that just drywall at the back of the cabinet? If so and if you can see how to remove the shelf, there should be enough room to work in. With the living room approach, I'd consider how to deal with the painting issue. Unless it's relatively new paint and you have some or can get some, you'd likely have to paint at least the full wall. Of course it depends on how noticeable that spot is, etc.

You could try taking the valve apart and taking the parts to a plumbing supply. But, I've never seen a sill c*ck that looked like that. It looks like there are two pipes coming out for it? Maybe it's an old version of a freeze proof one? Others have suggested possibly abandoning that one and installing another one in a different location which could be an option too.

[Evan]

Remove the cabinet to access the wall...

Cut out the drywall paneling to access the pipe...

Repair pipe/spigot as needed...

Repair hole in drywall, re-taping the joints and using joint compound as needed sanding between coats...

Repaint the wall section behind the cabinet a the same color as it is now... It will be less noticeable having repaired and repainted the wall inside a cabinet than on the wall in the living room near a corner...

Rehang the cabinet on the wall after you have repaired the pipe and the drywall...

~~ Evan

[HeyBub]

I had a similar problem. All I wanted to do was replace the ordinary faucet with a 1/4-turn ball valve. I put the wrench on the faucet, turned, and the pipe collapsed! Turns out the mortar had EATEN into the galvanized pipe!

I ended up chiseling out about seven bricks to gain access to the "T" that served the faucet. I replaced the 8" pipe leading to the faucet, covering it first with a 1/2" thick rubber boot, and re-mortaring the bricks I had removed.

Checking, lo and behold, the same nastiness was affecting another faucet service. Refurbished it the same way.

About a 200-curseword job.

Therefore:

1. If access from the outside is possible, you won't have the dilemma about which you are worried.
2. I strongly suggest the 1/4-turn ball valve faucet as a replacement. They cost more, but there's far less that can go wrong with them.