How to Install a Frost-Proof Hose Spigot

In this video, Ask This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey helps a homeowner install a new sill cock.

Steps:

1. Bore a hole through the concrete foundation wall with an electric hammer drill and 1¼-inch-diameter masonry bit.

2. Wrap Teflon tape around the threaded end of the sill cock.

3. Thread a copper adapter onto the end of the sill cock; tighten with pliers and a wrench.

4. Unscrew the handle from the sill cock, then loosen and pull out the stem unit.

5. Feed the sill cock through the hole in the foundation wall from the outside, then bore two screw pilot holes.

6. Fasten the sill cock to the foundation wall with two 2-inch masonry screws.

7. Turn off the water at the water main or well pump.

8. Use a strip of emery cloth to clean a short section of the existing cold-water pipe.

9. Cut out a portion of the pipe with a tubing cutter.

10. Clean the inside of a copper T-fitting with a pipe brush.

11. Brush flux around the outside of the just-cut tubing, and to the inside of the T-fitting.

12. Use a propane torch and lead-free solder to solder the T-fitting to the cold-water pipe.

13. Apply flux to the inside of the copper adapter threaded onto the end of the sill cock.

14. Insert a copper street elbow into the adapter.

15. Cut copper pipe to length and attach copper fittings to extend from the street elbow at the sill cock to the T-fitting on the cold-water pipe. Also, install a ball valve to the pipe assembly.

16. Solder together all the pipes, fittings, and valve.

17. Seal the hole in the foundation wall with expanding foam insulation.

18. Open the ball valve to allow water to flow to the sill cock.

19. Attach the garden hose, open the sill cock, and test your work.