I know up north outdoor faucets have a cut off so you can drain them for freezes. Is it possible to have that done here? All 3 of my hose bibs run behind sheetrock and come outside of my house on the exterior wall. I ask because in 2021 I had busted pipes in 2 of them. One where the pipe runs through my Attic and across the ceiling of our master bedroom causing lots of damage. The 2nd one runs across the ceiling of the garage.

Has anyone had this done? I would love to be able to drain the outdoor faucets during these annual historic freezes.

If they can do it there, you can do it here. It's really just a matter of you cutting into the wall/ceiling, putting the cutoff on the line, and putting in an access panel.

ETA you would want to do this in a pretty accessible place as close as you can get to where the line starts in order to drain as much of it as possible. If the line branches off then goes up to the attic and back down to the house bib, a shutoff where it branches off will trap water in the pipe that goes up into the attic. After the cutoff, add a drainage valve to let this water out too. You can just drain it into a 5 gallon bucket. When you drain the line, close the shutoff and then open the spigot. When it's done draining, open the drainage valve at the shutoff with the spigot open and drain that section. Then cost the spigot and drainage valve. When you turn the spigot back on, crack it open before opening the shutoff so you can purge the air from the line.

I didn't know if up north the outdoor faucets come out of the exterior of the houses like here or straight through the ground rather than through the structure of the house.

It shouldn't matter. What you want to do is drain as much of the line in or near unconditioned space as you can. Really anything that will be exposed to extreme cold or freezing. Stuff behind drywall is usually ok because that in-wall area is insulated and doesn't freeze as bad, but something in an uninsulated ceiling area or in an attic will freeze because those areas can get very cold.

Agree with ABATTBQ11 always so just posting other options employed in the past.

New local construction Aggieland never has attic pipes but I remember cases where a foundation line got cut/whatever and attic lines must be run.

Yes, we've had 5-9F 2021 and in 1949 even worse! ....
but in those cases charging the lines on-off--on every 2-4 hours is the better mantra to dripping (e.g. at what rate for what temp???) when the solution included enough insulation pre-planned. Seems that R38 can be augmented to much more over those pipes (and while up there, cover HVAC ducts to save $$$$).

If not the ABATT gold std. solution, then more insulation is the other option, even if having to blow where humans can never go. Great Stuff that does not corrode whatever pipe material goes to ext.wall hose bibbs is a great filler. Wool socks then can wrap faucets beofore the SOP hard shell igloos (only R-2 ?!?!?) get strapped on outside.

Next we can delve into electric pipe wrap solutions IF you voted correctly so that electric mongul profiteers w/connections don't scimp on reserves = power outages while they have Dallas parties baking cakes. (2021Feb) Google that history UGH

I had frost free faucets installed but you can buy freeze misers that seem to work well.

https://www.freezemiser.com/products/the-freeze-miser?variant=39971216752819&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=19016439096&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19023222640&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvtzLBhCPARIsALwhxdpBn8-NS0qUAS47xnJLm_lx32ti_Xr_-3t_SDPt7XZgZHCTFwHbAOsaApE8EALw_wcB

Thank you for the responses. I will contact a plumber and see what they think they can do.

I have no idea why builders don't plumb them so you can cut off your outside faucets. We live where most people have wells and some do plumb them as hard water and soft water. Then you get the Houston builder who has no idea you need a water softener and your faucets all become soft also, and you eat up salt like crazy.

Go frost free. I am still kicking myself for not retrofitting when I had the house resided 2 years ago.


If you are concerned about pipe runs in the attic freezing and bursting, add pipe wrap insulation and/or switch to PEX which is more forgiving to freezing. It is also common for whole house pex installations to have a central manifold with the ability to shut off individual circuits.

Freeze miser is 20 bucks. A plumber is not. I own 22 or more of these things and they keep my bibs and pipes flowing down to the low teens. Havnt been able to test lower but they'll work the same.

My two Freeze Misers got down to the negatives this past weekend and did great. Other than the soft plastic being easy to cross-thread when I put them on for the season, they're great

Lol….yeah, my daughter cross threaded one of my first ones right out of the box. I now try to hold the brass tip with my thumb and forefinger and spin them on. If they don't go easy that way, I'm about to screw it up. Lol.

That's my only complaint as well.

I live in denver and have two of these (hot and cold) at my outdoor kitchen in backyard. I use typical supply hoses to connect to sink, and around thanksgiving or so I just remove supply hoses and these spigots are made to drain and won't have issues in cold

https://www.lowes.com/pd/3131157



they don't need a shutoff valve because the seal is simply inside, where it's warm. They are installed at a slight downward angle to water drains out. Mine are like 6" shafts.

I've considered these. Can they get blocked by icicles?

Not sure about icicles. I know of several people who use them and no issues reported. The device slowly opens as the temp drops so there will be water flowing constantly until temp rises. It slowly closes/opens as temp changes.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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I've considered these. Can they get blocked by icicles?

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No. Not if they are installed properly per directions. They MUST be angled down. Mine work down to the lower teens and they've documented them working down to the -45.

The "icicle" on mine is from a leaking valve stem. Clearly, the device is still keeping the pipe thawed. You can see the dripping water from the end. I trust them 100%.

When my dad built our house in rural BCS we put the pressure tank in the garage from the well and aslo had the hose bibs separated out from house water,(If we needed soft). the valves to turn of water to the house, hose bibs and sprinkler system are all in the garage right by the pressure tank. I valve off the sprinkler system and hose bibs in weather like this and it is nice. Also can shut the water to the house off this way if out of town for extended time. Plus pressure tank is in garage and do not have to have a pump house.

drred4 said:

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When my dad built our house in rural BCS we put the pressure tank in the garage from the well and aslo had the hose bibs separated out from house water,(If we needed soft). the valves to turn of water to the house, hose bibs and sprinkler system are all in the garage right by the pressure tank. I valve off the sprinkler system and hose bibs in weather like this and it is nice. Also can shut the water to the house off this way if out of town for extended time. Plus pressure tank is in garage and do not have to have a pump house.

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Nice!!!

Good to know. I've considered them, but I don't want a situation where the water dripping freezes and forms I've that blocks it from flowing. I've had that with faucets. I guess that's not an issue because it's not a constant drip. I will give these a try.