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Well, after multiple battles, I've believe that my mission is mostly accomplished! I know that it isn't the prettiest, but you've gotta learn somehow. I soldered many fittings and added a shutoff valve with some tinning flux and lead-free solder; however, my fire/heat-resistant blanket was...

@Tuttles Revenge, it was sound advice, but for whatever reason, that copper pipe just didn’t want to come out, and the heat blocking putty that I purchased was about as useless as tits on a bull—it was a crumbly mess. I’ve got another few rounds in me, so I ordered a new hose bibb. Aftermath:

So I messed up. :( I used a propane torch with the intention of separating the small piece of copper pipe (water line) that is soldered to the hose bibb by means of melting off the solder. That way I could join the spigot to the water line using a threaded coupler. Well, it failed, and it is...

You are indeed correct; cardboard sucks: it’s fragile and it can’t handle moisture at all. I’m no attic maven, but I’ve never seen insulation stops stapled to the floor between trusses and 2-3 feet in from the edge of the eaves the way mine are. It looks like lazy workmanship—by the builder—to...

Update: I cut the water line inside the house and pulled out the frost-proof-outdoor spigot. It appears that the spigot was not cracked in any way. I checked by opening the spigot, pouring water into the open end, covering the opening with my thumb, and shaking vigorously. Result: no leak...

Thanks for the help @PlumbNuts. It looks like I may have to tackle this project in a week as I have some traveling to do. When I do tackle the project, I’ll be sure to post pictures.

Regarding water pressure: have you opened the shutoff valve to that spigot inside the house ALL the way, until you cannot turn it any more? As you may know, typical "turn" shuttoff valves can turn more than you might think. Since I'm new to plumbing myself, I can't give you any specific...

@PlumbNuts, No, I did not know the inner workings of a frost-proof hose bib. I ignorantly assumed that it incorporated some kind of material science metallurgy that kept a pipe from freezing :oops:. However, you opened my eyes, and I now realize that the vital components of a frost-proof hose...

Thanks for the words of wisdom. Since I haven't done much work with copper pipes—other than changing out a compression ring on a water supply line for a toilet—or with hose bib repair, I'd be a foolish to start off with an aggravating project on my first go-round, but I'll be sure to take a...

So it seems that the spigot pipe is cracked. Thanks @Reach4 and @MASTERPLUMB777. The spigot/faucet is or was frost proof, but I think that I know how the crack happened: My father-in-law came visiting in his RV during a cold spell and he needed water connected to it. I set him up with...

Yes, before you do anything regarding spigot repair, turn off the water to that spigot. Often times there is a direct shutoff valve to the individual spigot, which should be labeled by the original builder, or you could likely trace it since you're basement is unfinished. But if there isn't a...

What ended up happening @mkeschatzi? Are the drain flies still around?

So I think that I may have a cracked spigot pipe that leaks within my foundation wall. I've suspected this since November, when I shut off my hose bibs, but I never got around to diving into the project this winter. I'm guessing that the majority of the leaking water flows out the spigot-pipe...

As you likely know, a softwash system is a way to wash cars, house siding, and roofs that uses low pressure as opposed to a pressure washer, which uses high pressure. I'd like to build my own softwash system, and I know roughly what I want, but I'm not sure what plumbing parts to buy, and I may...

Yes, I recently discovered that my attic insulation is rather inadequate—apparently my inspector wouldn't go into the attic when I was purchasing the house from out of state, after having to army crawl through much of it recently, I now know why—so it was still hot up there despite sub 50°...

Oi! Just when I thought I was out of that attic... it pulls me back in :oops:. No, I did not seal the cleanout cap. However, I just did some research and it seems that there are a variety of products that I can use for this, and apparently Teflon tape is not the best choice. Although I own...

I appreciate that, friend. I know that I'll look back on this and think that it was really easy, but it wasn't—it was simple, but not easy. The attic was so hard to traverse on my hands & knees with a tool box, headlamp, PPE, etc.—moving from truss to truss (or is it joist to joist?). At...

Thank you!

Hey gentlemen, I successfully finished the hole in my attic-vent pipe! Here’s what I did: 1. Used a hand hacksaw to cut out the section of the pvc pipe that had the hole in it—it was too tight to use a reciprocating saw. 2. moved away the loose fill—I threw out any that was wet or looked...