Any plumbers here?

[Bogie]

My bathtub spigot just self-destructed. Lots of spew down low, no glorious skin-peeling pressure at the shower head any more.
 
How hard is that to replace?

[Nick1911]

Easy.  Some are thread on, some have a set screw underneath, typically with a recessed hex for an allen key

[Grandpa Shooter]

Easy.  Some are thread on, some have a set screw underneath, typically with a recessed hex for an allen key

Not all plumbing is the same.  Do you have copper, iron, pex, or plastic?  The tub spout may be so corroded to the stub out that attempting to twist it off will twist the pipe with it, if copper.  Or the threaded end of the iron nipple may come off with the spout.  Or the spout itself may be flash coated plastic and snap off when twisted, and the threaded part stays on the stub coming out of the wall.  Pex plumbing is frequently not well supported for tub spouts and shower heads and presents another array of issues.  Check the type of plumbing and spout before doing anything yourself.

I did home repair maintenance and remodeling for many years before retiring.  Anytime I thought I had seen it all, I was proven wrong.  Plumbers are a special breed.

[Ben]

Not all plumbing is the same.  Do you have copper, iron, pex, or plastic?  The tub spout may be so corroded to the stub out that attempting to twist it off will twist the pipe with it, if copper.  Or the threaded end of the iron nipple may come off with the spout.  Or the spout itself may be flash coated plastic and snap off when twisted, and the threaded part stays on the stub coming out of the wall.  Pex plumbing is frequently not well supported for tub spouts and shower heads and presents another array of issues.  Check the type of plumbing and spout before doing anything yourself.

I did home repair maintenance and remodeling for many years before retiring.  Anytime I thought I had seen it all, I was proven wrong.  Plumbers are a special breed.

+1 on the being careful in case of corrosion. The last thing you want is a break behind the drywall.

[K Frame]

Pex lines generally feed into the valve body, which should be firmly anchored, and the shower head and tub spout metal plumbed (I know plumbers who do it that way).

If they are not, and the spout and shower head are pex fed, then they should be firmly anchored on blocking. If the spout is pex fed it will most likely be held in place with a set screw, as mentioned below, which will allow you to pull the spout out of the wall far enough to undo it. Hopefully.

As I said, most plumbers I know make those connections with metal just to ensure proper stability of the valve, shower head, and spout.... but may the odds be ever in your favor.

[230RN]

Drive-by... sorry.

https://youtu.be/L6C0b3AAFCs (1:12)

Well, somebody had to post it.

[Jim147]

I had to do some plumbing this afternoon. Glad I had 1/2" crimp rings and a fitting I could plug. The girl has no shower until tomorrow but she will survive.

[Bogie]

Okay - I shall try the twist off upon the morn... After I take a low pressure shower. Worst comes to worst, I crip the SOB and solder it. I just do showers anyway.
 
Oh, and the drywall in the shower is gone anyway. That's down, getting read to do durock and some tile. Downside is that on the outside wall, they basically used 1" furring strips attached to the outside concrete block. So I'm gonna probably be relying on fast-setting liquid nails or something.
 
Damn, but rehab is... the suck... But at least China Fright has tarps cheap enough to just throw out.

[Grandpa Shooter]

Okay - I shall try the twist off upon the morn... After I take a low pressure shower. Worst comes to worst, I crip the SOB and solder it. I just do showers anyway.
 
Oh, and the drywall in the shower is gone anyway. That's down, getting read to do durock and some tile. Downside is that on the outside wall, they basically used 1" furring strips attached to the outside concrete block. So I'm gonna probably be relying on fast-setting liquid nails or something.
 
Damn, but rehab is... the suck... But at least China Fright has tarps cheap enough to just throw out.

You might want to think about putting some foamboard insulation on that outside wall before you put up that durock.  Not a good thing to have uninsulated walls in an area with water.  Condensation can build up and freeze in the space between block wall and the sheeting you put up.  Never a good thing.

[Bogie]

Doing spray foam, and trimming it. Real soon now.

[Bogie]

And it had been like that for about 70 years...

[Hawkmoon]

And it had been like that for about 70 years...

Years ago I was the staff architect for a public housing authority. When I started on the job, the authority had recently purchased a privately-owned project of about 150 units, and they were in the midst of a comprehensive modernization and rehab. Part of the work was to blow insulation into all the exterior walls.

The next winter the maintenance department was besieged with calls for frozen and broken pipes where the washer hookups were located. Investigation revealed that in all the units that froze, the water supply pipes were located close to the exterior side of the stud cavity. That was fine when there wasn't any (or much) insulation in the walls, but when the cavity was blown full of insulation the result was that the heat from the interior couldn't get to the pipes -- so they froze.

Insulation is good stuff -- if the right place.

[Grandpa Shooter]

Years ago I was the staff architect for a public housing authority. When I started on the job, the authority had recently purchased a privately-owned project of about 150 units, and they were in the midst of a comprehensive modernization and rehab. Part of the work was to blow insulation into all the exterior walls.

The next winter the maintenance department was besieged with calls for frozen and broken pipes where the washer hookups were located. Investigation revealed that in all the units that froze, the water supply pipes were located close to the exterior side of the stud cavity. That was fine when there wasn't any (or much) insulation in the walls, but when the cavity was blown full of insulation the result was that the heat from the interior couldn't get to the pipes -- so they froze.

Insulation is good stuff -- if the right place.

What would be a better idea is to never put plumbing in an outside wall.  I've repaired many houses where the unexpected drop in temps blew out plumbing in an outside wall that had gone many years with no problems.  I never understand why folks don't look ahead in anticipation of what could happen, and act accordingly.

[K Frame]

"What would be a better idea is to never put plumbing in an outside wall."

That's what I love about my townhouse. With the exception of the two hose bibbs on the front and the rear of the house, all of the plumbing runs up through the central core of the house. None of it chases up an exterior wall cavity.

[Ben]

"What would be a better idea is to never put plumbing in an outside wall."

That's what I love about my townhouse. With the exception of the two hose bibbs on the front and the rear of the house, all of the plumbing runs up through the central core of the house. None of it chases up an exterior wall cavity.

That's how my house is setup. If something does happen, as much as I hate going into the crawlspace, that's a lot easier than breaking open walls. The one hose bib that comes out of the house is frost free.

[K Frame]

Neither one of my hose bibbs is frost free, but they're both located in places where when I winterize them they are inside the insulated conditioned portion of the house and there's no fears about them freezing.

[zxcvbob]

I've had more trouble with frost-free hose bibbs than the standard kind, and when a frost-free does break it breaks inside the wall.  I've replaced them with old fashion faucets and "winterize" just means make sure no hoses are attached.  They freeze and thaw without any problem because no liquid water is trapped between a valve and an ice blockage.  (a water pipe that runs parallel to an outside wall can freeze it two places and water gets pinched in the middle)

[Bogie]

Okay - it is fixed... Seems like all the damn things are the same idiot design tho, and doomed to break. I need to make something better.

[Grandpa Shooter]

I've had more trouble with frost-free hose bibbs than the standard kind, and when a frost-free does break it breaks inside the wall.  I've replaced them with old fashion faucets and "winterize" just means make sure no hoses are attached.  They freeze and thaw without any problem because no liquid water is trapped between a valve and an ice blockage.  (a water pipe that runs parallel to an outside wall can freeze it two places and water gets pinched in the middle)

The issue I ran into is that generally the frost free hose bibs are installed wrong to start with.  People drill a hole straight through the wall, whether block or board, and insist on installing the bib flat with no downward tilt to it.  The valve stem is as long as the barrel of the hose bib and the valve seat is on the part inside the interior of the wall.  When you shut the water off it is supposed to drain all the water out of the barrel so that it can not freeze in the barrel, which is inside the wall.  I installed the frost free with at least a 1/2" drop from interior to exterior to allow for drainage and warned people to always disconnect the hose if cold weather was possible.  Usually the first time they used it they would call complaining that it leaked.  I started carrying an old frost free bib with me so that I could show them the inside and how long the valve stem was, and why.  I lost count how many of those I replaced, or had to correct over the years.

[Ben]

The frost free to the house was leaking when I got here. I knew nothing about them so called a plumber and he replaced the whole thing with a new one. No trouble since, so I'm sure he did a correct install.

I'm always fighting with my cow guy come November, because I'm disconnecting the auto-filler hoses from the stock tank frost free hydrants in the pastures so things don't freeze up when we hit the low 20s-teens, and he's always reconnecting them because I guess he doesn't want to come out every day to fill the stock tanks manually. I, on the other hand, don't want burst hydrants where it's a pain in the ass to get to them to replace them. I'm at the point where I'm ready to tell him to get the cows out of here at the end of October so I don't have to stress about it.

[K Frame]

Installing a frost free unit flat generally isn't a problem...

As long as there's nothing holding a column of water in the valve body itself, such as an attached hose or an anti backflow valve.

Enough water will leak out of the valve body that it won't be a problem if any remaining water in it freezes. But if it is FULL of water... that's a problem.

[Jim147]

I have frost free and four foot buries around here. Never had a problem with any of them. I unhook the hoses before it freezes and the buried ones have a bed of gravel to drain into.

[Kingcreek]

I have freeze proof Iowa brand hydrants that have survived minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. I rebuilt one that was acting up but you can pull and rebuild from the top without excavating the whole thing. IIRC the rebuild kit was about $19.

[zxcvbob]

Installing a frost free unit flat generally isn't a problem...

As long as there's nothing holding a column of water in the valve body itself, such as an attached hose or an anti backflow valve.

Enough water will leak out of the valve body that it won't be a problem if any remaining water in it freezes. But if it is FULL of water... that's a problem.

Yep, forgetting to take the hose off is what killed mine.    I did take the hose off but after it was too late.  I bet that's pretty common.

I think some places mandate backflow preventers on faucets, and they cut off the setscrew so you can't take them out.  Put one of those on a frostfree faucet and you are doomed.  (pro tip: drill out the setscrew with a lefthanded drill bit)

[Ben]

I have freeze proof Iowa brand hydrants that have survived minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. I rebuilt one that was acting up but you can pull and rebuild from the top without excavating the whole thing. IIRC the rebuild kit was about $19.

Noted. That "not excavating" thing is huge.