SiLOSSiLOS

Where an outdoor sink gets its water

About this photo
‹ Back
ivy leaf
1

1The short version

Everyone calls it something different at the hardware store, and that's half the reason people get the wrong part. The outdoor version of a faucet is usually called a hose bib, hose bibcock, or spigot, and a freeze-resistant version of that same fixture is what plumbers mean by a frost-free or freeze-proof hose bib. All of these terms describe the same basic valve; the freeze-resistant version just moves its actual shutoff point back inside the heated part of the wall.

2

2What it takes, and what goes wrong

Running a supply line to an outdoor sink is a straightforward tap into an existing cold (and sometimes hot) line, with a shutoff valve placed somewhere accessible and indoors or otherwise protected. The classic failure, in any climate that freezes, is leaving a hose attached to an otherwise freeze-resistant bib all winter: the trapped water in the hose itself has nowhere to expand, and it can split the fixture from the outside in even when the wall-side plumbing is completely safe.

3

3The first hour

Before running any new line, find and label the shutoff valve that controls it, in permanent marker, right on the valve. That one small step is what makes the fall shutoff routine take two minutes instead of turning into a search through the whole basement.

Explore this area
HomeHouseGardenFarm