What can I expect from a hose spigot replacement?

Most replacements are pretty straightforward. Except for early spring and/or after a significant freeze event when we see a significant number of ruptured hose spigot pipes, about 90% of our hose spigot replacements are simple.

Be aware that we must turn the water off to the entire house during a replacement. Hopefully, your main shut-off valve is easily located and functioning. Upon completion, you can expect there to be air in the lines, so don’t be alarmed. Because of the relatively inexpensive nature of the majority of these replacements, we do not have an additional cost built into the job to come inside and bleed all of the air out of every faucet.

Despite the fact that most replacements are straightforward, we always arrive expecting the unexpected. Our trucks carry all of the various sizes/lengths (five total plus various extensions and adapters) because we do not know what size will be needed until the old hose spigot is removed from the wall. The type of wall (siding, brick, stone, stucco, etc.) and the depth of the framed wall (2×4 or 2×6, etc.) all play a part in the length.

Although rare, a severely ruptured hose spigot can break off inside the wall. If this happens, the brick may need to be cut or the drywall opened up from the inside to gain access to the spot. For most plumbing companies, this would trigger an even larger expense and the need for a 3rd party to make the drywall or brick repairs. However, at Earl’s Plumbing, we have developed an effective system for handling this situation.

In the event that a spigot breaks off inside the wall, we can often still remove these broken-off pieces without the need to cut the drywall open or remove the brick. The success rate has been pretty high, and we have saved our customers thousands of dollars in additional repairs.

In older homes (built before 1990) or homes in the rural communities that we serve outside of Frisco, we do often find hose spigots where the entire line has been sweated or “hard piped.” That means it is not a basic replacement.

When we run across these, we will brainstorm the best possible solution to permanently repair and prevent further leaks. Sometimes, customers ask us to just cap the line, but that is the least likely solution that we would agree to do because it’s just not good or smart plumbing.