Hose Bib against stucko wall HELP!

[trophyman]

The three hose bibs on my house, in Florida, are anti siphon. When they were installed, 8 years ago, they brought the pipe out right against the stucco wall. Really, the hose bib flange was partially INSIDE the stucco. Wish we had caught it when the house was built but now it is what it is, all three leaking.

I’ve chipped away the stucco to see what I have and it’s copper pipe with the hose bib threaded on to it. I can unscrew the bib now but how can I install a new bib and secure it to the house? Right now, the pipe coming from the house is VERY loose to the point it concerns me that if I pull on an attached hose it may pull loose inside!

I CAN NOT access from inside the house because the wall is covered in marble. The other two I probably could cut into the interior wall, but would rather not. Any thoughts on how to make this repair, and secure it to the exterior wall, without it sticking out 4 or 5 inches from the wall? The stucco wall is really not very structurally hefty to the point that I can use tapcons or the like. Any help is greatly appreciated!! See pictures for what I’m working with.
Thanks everyone.

 

[Jimbo]

Don't try to unscrew that faucet until you are 100% sure it is not soldered. Odds are WAY in favor of it being soldered.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[trophyman]

Yea jimbo, I thought the same, but it is threaded???? I'm not a plumber, but having worked on over the road coaches for most of my life I've done my share of plumbing (air, A/C etc). Any ideas on how I fix this mess?

 

[Hackney plumbing]

Those are Arrowhead brass hose bibbs. Just because they have wrench flats do not assume they are FIP (threaded on) valves. If they are soldered on you would need to heat them up and pull them off after removing all the water. Dont over heat. Heat the valve and apply slight pressure with some pliers.....when it get hot enough it will break free. Dont over heat it. Make sure all the water is out of the pipe. Make sure all of the water is out of the pipe. Dont over heat it.

LOL

Ok now that the faucet is off extend the pipe out of the wall and turn in any direction with a 90 and then terminate with an FIP drop eared ell anchored to the wall. protect the pipe from the stucco. Patch the stucco. Your in central Fl so no real danger of anything freezing.

If they are threaded on,remove the male adapter and do the same thing as I outlined above. This will anchor the hose faucet and allow you to replace it in the future very easily with no wall repairs.

Just a suggestion.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I do so miss the quality craftsmanship that is so common in Florida. If anybody installed sillcocks like that up here they would be taken out and summarily shot. (not your cure Hack, the original installation)

 

[Hackney plumbing]

I do so miss the quality craftsmanship that is so common in Florida. If anybody installed sillcocks like that up here they would be taken out and summarily shot. (not your cure Hack, the original installation)

I find that crap all the time. I drive by new construction and see sillcocks hanging out of the wall before the house gets bricked......I tell my helper,see that.......thats repair worke being made.

Flanges not anchored to the slab.
Flanges below the tile.
Steel closet and tank to bowl bolts.
Plastic pop ups on lavs.
Cheapest toilets you can buy


The old sillcock buried in the stucco or brick

The cleanout and water cut off buried in the landscape.....

I dont like my cure really but its usually the best cheapest way that people will go for and that works. When you start talking about cutting finished inside walls people freeze up.....cant really blame them.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I worked in the Sarasota area for almost 6 years back in the early 80's and finally had to move along due to my constant arguing and irritation with most of the guys that call themselves plumbers down there. I realize that the "tropics" don't have to deal with a lot of issues that we have up north like burying water lines 48" down or needing a 4" roof penetration for frost and of course, basements down there are pretty much non existent but lord I saw some plumbing being done down there that was down right criminal. Seems like nobody owns a tape measure and a level and I guess thats because the slab covers it all up, craftsmanship takes a back seat to time and profit. Still, I can't stand to work that way. Maybe I have OCD but I prefer to call it pride. Any of you guys down that way that think I am picking on you should self reflect for a bit and if you're doing good work then keep on doing what you do well and I'm a Dick.

 

[Hackney plumbing]

I use to make sure everything I did was almost perfect. Now I really dont give a crap......I install it so it doesn't leak and will last until the material fails naturally. If I have a customer that wants to pay for an outstanding job then I can provide that also. The market dictates what you do....or you leave that area as you did. I cant do that right now but believe me the past month or so I have been talking about it.

I may start doing showers and water heaters ONLY. LOL Set my vans up and thats all we do.

 

[Jimbo]

Tell us what you see that convinces you it is threaded.

 

[hj]

IT would be VERY difficult to install a flanged sillcock using a soldered joint. THerefore the odds are about 99.999 to 1 that they screw on. Use a hose bibb without a flange then apply stucco patch around it to lock it in place.

 

[Hackney plumbing]

IT would be VERY difficult to install a flanged sillcock using a soldered joint. THerefore the odds are about 99.999 to 1 that they screw on. Use a hose bibb without a flange then apply stucco patch around it to lock it in place.

Hj I see sillcocks soldered on 99% of the time. Different parts of the country my friend.

 

[WorthFlorida]

In my south Florida home built in 1990, done in all copper, I had a sillcock in a bad location. It was behind the A/C units. When it gutted my bathroom for a remodeling, there it was right behind the shower wall. It was T'd off the line before the shower, made a couple of 90 degree turns, ran along the cement block and then 90 degree right out the wall. It was solder all of the way. So if you think it is a thread you should be OK but if it is a solder joint, the heat may loosen the joint only inches from it. I'm assuming it is similar a mine was since you stated that the inside wall is marble, a bathroom?

If it is a thread, take it off, fashion some fittings to extend it out of the wall so the sillcock flange would be about 3/4" from the wall, cut a 1x4 or 1x6 treated board square and drill a hole in the center. Place the board directly over the extended pipe and attached the board as best you can, probably with construction adhesive or gorilla glue. Then thread on the sillcock, screw it down to the board and caulk like crazy. Once the caulking is dried or has set up, coat the board with a stucco mix using a brush, then paint it to match the house.

If it is a newer home it might be CPVC and it will be glued and then you're in a real mess. I have a another home in the Orlando area and I have one sillcock missing the handle and I cannot find a replacement. To change out the valve it would mean chopping into the wall to get to the pipe, cut it out and fix it the right way.

You should look in HD or Lowes, there are some neat concrete fasteners other than tapcons that may work. If your wall is CBS, then you have hollow areas where you can drill into and use toggle bolts. Hilti Toggler Bolts are one of my favorite types and I have used them many times at the church I maintain. I used them to hang TV wall mounts and one wall mount was in a concrete block wall.

 

[trophyman]

Thanks everyone for the replies. It IS DEFINITELY THREADED ON. I agree it would be difficult, albeit not impossible, to solder that connection. It appears that it was done BEFORE the final coat went on the exterior wall so more of the connection was accessible. However, it concerns me that with building practices like this cause a lot of problems for homeowners. I unscrewed it yesterday to get the size. I've got some really good suggestions here and will post my results later today after visiting the home improvement store. What a great resource you guys are.

 

[hj]

quote; Hj I see sillcocks soldered on 99% of the time.

And HOW do they do it after the wall is finished if they want the flange against the wall? Here, they DO solder "hose bibbs" to the copper, but NONE of them are sillcocks with a flange.

 

[hj]

because

quote; However, it concerns me that with building practices like this cause a lot of problems for homeowners

It is INTENTIONAL. There are many "practices" that are done with the express idea of making it difficult, or impossible, for a homeowner to repair/replace it himself and thus has to call a professional, (especially if it is easier or cheaper for the installer to do it that way). It is especially prevalent in areas with a strong union presence.

 

[trophyman]

quote; However, it concerns me that with building practices like this cause a lot of problems for homeowners

It is INTENTIONAL. There are many "practices" that are done with the express idea of making it difficult, or impossible, for a homeowner to repair/replace it himself and thus has to call a professional, (especially if it is easier or cheaper for the installer to do it that way). It is especially prevalent in areas with a strong union presence.

Ya know, I've often thought that, even commented on it to my wife yesterday. Fortunately I spent my working life crawling over, under and around heavy equipment repairing hydraulic and air lines in the middle of a mud lake. Then on to transit buses and over the road coaches. Think about all the mechanical systems in a house—plumbing, HVAC, electrical. Now add 2 miles of air lines and another 2 miles of assorted micro-switches and air valves, put it all on 6 wheels and bounce it over the worst roads in America for 22 hrs a day. Leaks and broken copper, steel, brass and flexible tubing was a way of life for many years.

 

[WorthFlorida]

Hi hj

In Florida everything is stucco and it covers just about everything. Most windows are aluminum and it the stucco right up to it with no room for caulking. The doors, even with wood frames will get covered over. For an inspection the seams and joints are tight and water proof. The sillcocks are stuccoed over and that what holds them to the wall. It seems maintenance is not an issue for building inspectors. Since you're in AZ is most homes concrete and block with stucco?

 

[trophyman]

Hi hj--The sillcocks are stuccoed over and that what holds them to the wall.

That is exactaly how I'm repairing it. Pictures to come.