Alternative to frost proof faucet?

Stan in Oly, WA

Well-known Member
One of the hose faucets on my house is connected to galvanized steel pipe which protrudes through the concrete foundation and has been mortared in place. The problem is that on the inside of the foundation it is in an area of the crawl space which is totally inaccessible. (Eventually, I'm going to have to deal with that issue, but first things first.) Winters here are so mild that there are rarely more than two or three nights per year when it gets cold enough to worry about pipes freezing, but now that my wife has retired, there's more of a possibility that we might be gone during the winter sometimes. I'd like to replace the hose faucets with frost proof ones, but that isn't going to be possible with the one in question. Is there an alternative way to get protection against freezing for an exterior faucet? I'd like to take care of things like that so that I wouldn't have to rely on my memory or the reliability of a house sitter for matters that, however unlikely, have the potential to create large problems.

Thanks, Stan
 
If it is on a dedicated line, you could put a stop and waste valve in the line, close valve, open waste cap, open outside faucet, if it doesn't drain by itself a little air would clear the line. Pete
 

For the last ten years or so once the temps start to drop in the fall every hardware store in cold country has had light blue styro-foam covers that go over out door faucets,
 
At the farm in ND I taped electric heat tape to the copper water lines in an unheated crawl space; I left the thermostat end out in the cold so it would turn on the heat when it got cold. Wrapped fiberglass insulation around the pipes and tape. It's been in place and working since the late 60's. Brother had to replace one heating tape in the late 80's; the other original is still working.
 
I, too, have an outside faucet that runs through my crawl space that I can't get at. I hired a plumber (I'm no plumber) to put a shut off valve on the line that feeds that faucet. Fortunately the water line feeding the faucet is accessible for a few feet from my crawl space access point. The shut off valve is about 40 feet from the faucet. I shut it off in the fall and open it again in the spring.
 
Assuming it stays reasonably warm on the inside of the foundation, you might be able to get away with covering the faucet with one of these: <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/Standard-Faucet-Cover-1980/204759226">http://www.homedepot.com/p/Standard-Faucet-Cover-1980/204759226</a>

You could put a shutoff valve with a drain in the line that supplies the faucet. Even if you can't properly drain the line, the plumbing is unlikely to be damaged if the faucet and drain are both open. Something like this: <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/LEGEND-VALVE-1-2-in-Brass-Sweat-C-x-C-Ball-Valve-with-Drain-No-Lead-S-1100NL/203581008">http://www.homedepot.com/p/LEGEND-VALVE-1-2-in-Brass-Sweat-C-x-C-Ball-Valve-with-Drain-No-Lead-S-1100NL/203581008</a>
 
Can you drain the line for the off-season? Add a shutoff valve and drain where you have access. In snow country it's common to drain the water pipes in houses that will be vacant. Use compressed air to drive most of the water out of the low spots in the system.
 
Without being there and seeing what you have it's hard to advise. You say the side with the crawl space is inaccessible but is it a straight shot with the pipe. I'm thinking if it's a straight shot you might be able to cut the pipe where it is accessible and use that pipe to pull a new pipe through the exterior wall. Then you could fit it with the frost free facet and re-mortar it in. Worst case scenario you might run a trench from someplace else and come up from the ground with a new line. They make frost free valves which the valve is below ground.
 

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