Winter Freeze Protection & Repair
Hose bib repair in Oklahoma City usually starts on the first warm afternoon after a freeze, when someone turns on the outdoor faucet and water sprays inside the wall instead of out the spout. We repair frozen and split outdoor faucets, fix the pipe behind them, and replace old spigots with frost-free hose bibs that drain themselves every time you shut them off.
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(405) 309-1873A hose bib, also called a sillcock or outdoor spigot, is the faucet on the outside of your house. When one freezes, the damage often hides inside the wall. Our service covers the faucet and everything behind it:
Even a small drip adds up. By EPA WaterSense numbers, one drip per second from a leaky faucet wastes more than 3,000 gallons over a year.
A standard hose bib has its shutoff valve right at the outside wall. When you close it, the pipe behind it stays full of water all the way to the wall, in the coldest part of the house. On a hard night, that water freezes, expands and splits the pipe or the faucet body. Nothing leaks until the ice melts and someone turns the faucet on.
IBHS notes that in warmer southern regions, where plumbing on exterior walls is common, crawl spaces and exterior hose spigots are vulnerable when temperatures drop below freezing. That describes a lot of Oklahoma City houses.
If an outdoor faucet is spraying inside the wall: close the faucet right away. If water keeps running, shut off the main. Then call us. Do not keep testing the faucet, because each run pushes more water into the wall cavity.
Freeze season is here in Oklahoma City.
Frozen pipes, burst pipes, split hose bibs and sprinkler backflow damage. We answer 24/7 when the temperature drops. See our winter plumbing services.
A frost-free hose bib puts the shutoff valve at the end of a long barrel that reaches inside the heated part of the wall. When you close the handle, the water stops well inside the house and the barrel drains out through the spout. Nothing is left to freeze at the cold outside face of the wall.
IBHS advises shutting off and insulating outdoor valves if you do not have frost-proof faucets, and notes that homes built before 2010 typically do not. Upgrading is one of the cheapest freeze fixes in plumbing. Getting it right takes a few details:
Outdoor faucet spraying inside the wall?
Close the faucet, shut off the main if it keeps leaking, and call us. We answer 24/7.
| Option | How it protects | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Standard hose bib with foam cover | Slows heat loss at the faucet | Water still sits at the cold outside wall |
| Standard hose bib with inside shutoff | Close and drain the line before winter | Only works if someone remembers every fall |
| Frost-free hose bib | Shuts off inside heated space and drains itself | Can still split if a hose is left attached |
| Frost-free with vacuum breaker | Same freeze protection plus backflow protection | The vacuum breaker must be able to drain too |
Before and after
We price the job after we see it. The wall type (brick, siding, stucco or block), how we reach the pipe from inside, whether the pipe behind the faucet split, the pipe material, and the faucet you choose all matter. Several faucets done in one visit cost less per faucet than separate trips.
In many Oklahoma City homes, the line to the hose bib runs up through an exterior wall with little insulation around it. Oklahoma City Utilities recommends disconnecting hoses and covering spigots before a freeze, and closing and draining outdoor faucets if they have their own shutoff valve. Those steps help, but on a north or west wall in a hard freeze, a frost-free hose bib is the fix that lasts.
If the spigot is part of a bigger freeze problem, our plumbing winterization service covers the whole house, and frozen pipe repair handles lines that are frozen right now. If the faucet feeds an irrigation system, add sprinkler system winterization to the same visit. Visit our home page to learn more about us.
Local, licensed and insured
Licensed
A split outdoor faucet is rarely just the faucet. The pipe that feeds it often cracks a few inches inside the wall, where you cannot see it. Our licensed team opens the wall from the inside or outside, replaces the damaged pipe, and installs the new hose bib in one visit, then checks the wall cavity for water that may have soaked in.
Since 1985
Our plumbing experience goes back to 1985, and outdoor faucets turn up in every kind of wall: brick, siding, stucco and block, on slab homes and crawlspace homes. That matters, because the right frost-free hose bib depends on how thick the wall is and where the pipe comes from. We pick the length and mounting that let the faucet drain properly for years.
4.9★
Customers rate us 4.9 stars across 88 Google reviews, and we treat a one-faucet repair with the same care as a big job. We seal the wall penetration so drafts and bugs stay out, test for leaks inside and out, and show you how to winterize the new faucet. We answer 24/7, so a spigot spraying into the garage wall never has to wait for Monday.
Google reviews
These guys were great! A breath of fresh air from the usual contractor/service. They cared about fixing the problem not how much they can charge. I had a same day service need, leak in between floors, the day before a trip. They came out same day and presented multiple solutions as well as keen explanations.
Mr. Robert has amazing customer service and work ethic. He fixed our toilet very quickly and explained everything that he was doing, and even showed us the finished product. Awesome work!
After having issues with my bathroom and kitchen plumbing for a few days, I contacted Plumber Oklahoma City, OK Plumbing & Repair this morning. He told me he was very busy, but would work to schedule our repair in with his team.
Service area
We serve every part of Oklahoma City plus these surrounding towns.
Straight answers
Nearly always because a hose was left connected. A frost-free hose bib works by draining the water out of its long barrel when you close it. A hose attached to the spout traps that water, and it freezes and splits the barrel inside the wall. A faucet installed level or sloped back toward the house can also hold water. Disconnect hoses before every freeze.
After a freeze, open the faucet briefly while someone watches inside the garage, basement or crawlspace, or near the inside wall. Look for water dripping from the siding or brick, a wet spot inside, or a faucet that runs weakly from the spout. If you see water where it should not be, shut the faucet off and call us.
Yes, especially on older faucets. Oklahoma City Utilities recommends disconnecting hoses and covering spigots with foam or plastic covers, and if you have a separate shutoff valve for the outside faucets, closing it, removing the hoses and draining the faucet. A cover helps, but it does not replace a frost-free hose bib on a wall that freezes.
A faucet that only leaks at the handle may just need a new washer or packing. One that split from freezing usually needs to be replaced, along with any cracked pipe behind it. Replacement is the right time to switch to a frost-free model, so the same faucet does not split again next winter.
It is a small backflow device on the faucet that keeps dirty water from being pulled back into your drinking water, for example when a hose is sitting in a bucket, a pool or a weed sprayer. Many frost-free hose bibs have one built in. We install faucets with backflow protection so your home's water stays safe.
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Day, night or weekend, call and talk to a licensed Master Plumber about what is going on.
Call (405) 309-1873