What a Hose Bib Is (and Where It’s Leaking)
A hose bib — also called an outdoor faucet, spigot, or sillcock — is the water faucet on the outside of your house where you connect a garden hose. When one starts leaking, the water almost always comes from one of three places:
- Around the handle stem: water seeps out where the handle meets the faucet body while the water is on. This is the most common leak, and the easiest to fix.
- From the spout: a drip or stream from the mouth of the faucet even when the handle is turned off all the way.
- From behind the faucet or inside the wall: water appearing at the siding or on the interior wall behind the faucet. This is the one that should worry you — it usually means a freeze-cracked pipe, and it needs a plumber.
Before you touch anything, find out which one you have. It determines the fix.
Step 1: Turn Off the Water
Most hose bibs have a dedicated shutoff valve inside the house — typically in the basement, crawl space, or utility room, on the pipe that feeds the outdoor faucet. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If your home doesn’t have a dedicated shutoff, use the main water shutoff (usually near where the water line enters the house or at the meter). Open the hose bib afterward to drain the remaining water and confirm the supply is off.
Step 2: Tighten the Packing Nut
The packing nut is the hex-shaped nut directly behind the handle. A loose or worn packing nut is the number-one cause of leaks around the handle stem. Place an adjustable wrench on the packing nut — hold the faucet body steady with a second wrench so you don’t twist the pipe inside the wall — and turn the nut clockwise about a quarter turn. Turn the water back on and check. In many cases, this alone stops the leak, and you’re done.
Step 3: Replace the Packing Washer
If tightening didn’t help, the packing material under the nut is worn out. With the water still off, unscrew the packing nut completely and slide it back along the stem. You’ll find packing material — either a small rubber or fiber washer, or string-like graphite packing — wrapped around the stem. Remove the old material and install new packing (a packing washer or a few wraps of graphite packing string, both available at any hardware store for a few dollars). Reinstall the nut, tighten it snug, and test.
Step 4: Fix a Dripping Spout (Washer and Seat)
If the faucet drips from the spout when fully closed, the problem is the washer at the end of the stem or the valve seat it presses against. Remove the handle (usually one screw under a cap), then unscrew the packing nut and pull the whole stem assembly out by turning the handle counterclockwise. At the end of the stem you’ll see a small rubber washer held by a brass screw — replace it with one the same size. While the stem is out, look inside the faucet body with a flashlight: the valve seat is the brass ring the washer seals against. If it’s pitted or rough, a seat wrench (a cheap L-shaped tool) lets you unscrew it and install a new one. Reassemble everything, turn the water on, and test.
Step 5: Check the Vacuum Breaker
Most modern hose bibs have a vacuum breaker — a small cap-like device threaded onto the spout, required by plumbing code to prevent dirty water from being siphoned back into your drinking water. If water sprays or drips from under the spout cap when the faucet runs, the vacuum breaker’s internal washer has failed. These are usually designed to be replaced as a unit: unscrew the old one (some have a breakaway set screw you’ll need to drill out — check the instructions on the replacement) and thread on a new one, typically $5–$15 at a hardware store. Do not remove the vacuum breaker and leave the faucet without one; it’s a backflow protection device, and code requires it.
Step 6: Look for Freeze Damage
If the leak is coming from behind the faucet, from a split in the faucet body itself, or from inside the wall, the pipe likely froze and split during winter. This is common with standard (non-frost-free) hose bibs when a hose is left connected over winter — the trapped water freezes, expands, and splits the pipe, often inside the wall where you can’t see it. A split pipe or cracked faucet body is not a washer job. Shut off the water to that faucet and call a plumber; this is a pipe repair or replacement, typically $150–$400 nationally for a straightforward hose bib replacement, more if wall access is needed. Prices vary by area.
Frost-Free Sillcocks: What They Are and Why They Matter
A frost-free sillcock (also called a frost-proof hose bib) looks like a normal outdoor faucet, but the actual shutoff valve sits 8 to 14 inches inside the house, on the warm side of the wall. When you turn the handle off, water drains out of the exposed portion, so there’s nothing outside the thermal envelope to freeze.
Two things to know about them:
- They only work if you disconnect the hose. A connected hose traps water in the faucet body, defeating the entire design. This is the single most common reason frost-free faucets still freeze and split. Disconnect hoses before the first hard freeze every fall.
- They must slope slightly downward toward the outside. If a frost-free sillcock was installed level or sloping inward, water won’t drain out and it can still freeze. If yours was recently installed and still froze, incorrect slope is a likely culprit.
If your home has standard hose bibs and you live anywhere with freezing winters, upgrading to frost-free sillcocks is one of the cheapest insurance policies in plumbing — usually $150–$350 per faucet installed nationally, your area may vary.
Tools and Parts You’ll Need
- Two adjustable wrenches (one to hold the faucet body, one to turn nuts)
- Replacement washers, packing washers, or graphite packing string (a faucet repair kit, ~$5–$10, covers most sizes)
- Screwdriver for the handle screw
- Replacement vacuum breaker, if needed (~$5–$15)
- Penetrating oil, if the faucet is old and corroded
When to Call a Plumber Instead
Call a professional if: water is coming from inside the wall or behind the siding; the faucet body is cracked or split; the faucet is soldered directly to copper with no shutoff and you’re not comfortable soldering; or the stem is frozen solid with corrosion and won’t budge. Forcing a corroded faucet can twist and break the pipe inside the wall, turning a $10 washer repair into a much bigger job.
Get a free quote — describe the leak and we’ll connect you with licensed local plumbers in your area who can fix it or replace the faucet.
