The other day I went out to water my yard after seeding. When I was done, I turned the knob on faucet to shut the water off and felt a snap. Water started coming out of where knob goes on. I shut the main water off and removed the valve inside. It appears that the stem busted off just before the the threads that screw the valve into the fitting, leaving the piece that busted off still threaded inside and the rest of the stem I was able to get out. It is 12 inch frost free faucet. I am wondering how to replace faucet. My question is, in most cases does this type of faucet screw onto the fitting inside of wall or are they usually soldered on? I am afraid to try and turn the fitting for fear of it being soldered on and busting it
Plumbing – Replacing a frost free faucet
faucetplumbingreplacement
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In all likelihood you probably don't need to turn it off, but I would still recommend that you do so, if only because you might inadvertently hit the cold side of the faucet when working in the area.
You know the saying - if it can go wrong, it will. What's easier - cleaning up lots of water, or turning the valve off and back on?
The purpose of the extension on a frost free faucet is to get the valve itself in a heated space inside of your home so that it could never freeze (see the below diagram). If you only have an inch or so of insulation that's being penetrated by these plumbing pipes, it's likely that the valve would still reach the freezing point inside of your wall. So any type of build out on the outside of your home to mount the faucet is defeating the purpose of the extension. The proper way to use this type of faucet would be to build out something on the inside of your home, which I'm guessing isn't possible, or at least unattractive in your situation.
Therefore, I'd recommend getting in the habit of shutting off the water on the inside, possibly replacing the shutoff valve with a quarter turn ball valve so that it's quick, easy, and obvious when it's been done. You want to open the outside faucets when the water has been shut off so that the lines are empty when they do eventually freeze. After they've been left to drain for a day, I cover my outdoor faucets with insulating covers. This is also a good time to drain the hoses and bring them into a protected location (e.g. a garage or shed).
Best Answer
Worst case is that you bust a soldered fitting (very difficult) and have to open the wall up, which you would have had to do to replace a soldered fitting anyway. Since your water is already shutoff, give it a hard turn and see what happens.
Personally, I'd open the wall up even if it's threaded and sealed with pipe dope. Because after you replace the faucet, you want to check for leaks. It's much easier to do a little drywall patching and painting than it is to cleanup the water damage from a slow leak that goes unnoticed for days. You can also make sure the insulation is tight around the pipe so that there isn't a chance it will freeze in the winter.