Buhata
Login Start for Free

Home › Life Terms

Home maintenance and repairs

Hose bib

An outdoor faucet on the outside wall of a house, threaded so a garden hose can screw onto it. Also called a spigot or outdoor faucet.

What It Means

A hose bib is the faucet on the outside of a house that a garden hose screws onto. The pipe feeding it runs through the wall from inside, so it sits right where cold air reaches the plumbing. For fall, the American Red Cross's frozen pipeFrozen pipesWater pipes in which the water has turned to ice, blocking the flow and building pressure that can split the pipe and flood the house once it thaws. See more guidance gives a routine for hose bibs: take the hose off, close the indoor valve that supplies the outdoor faucet, and leave the outdoor faucet open so it can drain.

Try It: Is This Hose Bib Ready for a Freeze?

Set each part the way it is at your house right now. The steps come from the American Red Cross.

Inside valve that feeds the outdoor faucet

Outdoor faucet (the hose bib)

Steps done

0 of 3

Take off the hose, drain it and store it.

Close the inside valve that supplies this faucet.

Open the outdoor faucet so leftover water drains and has room to expand.

How It Sounds at Home

  • "Did you shut off the outside spigot before the freeze?"
  • "The hose bib by the garage is dripping again."
  • "Leave the outdoor faucet open, the water's off inside."

The Breakdown

Get a hose bib ready for winter (American Red Cross)

  1. Disconnect the garden hose, drain it and store it.
  2. Find the indoor valve that feeds the outdoor faucet, often in the basement or a utility area, and close it.
  3. Go outside and open the hose bib so the water in the pipe runs out.
  4. Leave the outdoor faucet open all winter. Any water still in the pipe then has room to expand instead of splitting it.

Open it back up in spring. Buhata's own suggestion: once freezing nights are over, close the outdoor faucet, open the inside valve again, then turn the hose bib on and look inside the wall near the pipe for drips. A leak there can mean the pipe froze over the winter, which is a job for a licensed plumber.

Short version to try today. Walk around the house, list every outdoor faucet, and find the indoor valve for each one before the first cold night.

Good to Know

Before any repair on a hose bib, shut off the water to it at its indoor valve or at the main water shut-off, and call a licensed plumber for anything beyond a simple fix like a new washer. If a pipe does freeze, the Red Cross says to call a licensed plumber when you can't find the frozen spot, can't reach it or can't thaw it. Never thaw a pipe with an open flame; the Red Cross rules out blowtorches, kerosene or propane heaters and charcoal stoves.

FAQ

Should I leave my outdoor faucet open in winter?

Yes, once the indoor valve feeding it is closed. The American Red Cross says to keep the outside hose bib open so any water left in the pipe can expand without breaking it.

Where is the shut-off valve for an outdoor faucet?

Inside the house, on the pipe that runs to that faucet. It's often in a basement, crawl space or utility room near the wall where the hose bib sits.

Is a hose bib the same as a spigot?

Yes. Hose bib, spigot and outdoor faucet are everyday names for the same fixture: an outside faucet a garden hose screws onto.

Do It in Buhata

Maintenance (Household X) and Reminders

Add "Winterize outdoor faucets" to Maintenance in the Household X add-on on a yearly schedule each fall, and a Reminder in spring to open them back up.

Open Buhata

Related Terms and Categories

  • Frozen pipes

    Water pipes in which the water has turned to ice, blocking the flow and building pressure that can split the pipe and flood the house once it thaws.

  • Pipe insulation

    Foam or fiberglass sleeves and wraps fitted around water pipes to cut heat loss from hot water lines and help keep exposed pipes from freezing.

  • Winterizing sprinklers

    Draining and blowing the water out of an in-ground sprinkler system before freezing weather, so ice can't crack its pipes, valves and heads.

  • Leaky faucet

    A faucet that keeps dripping from the spout or leaking at the handle after it's turned off, usually because a cartridge, washer or seal has worn out.

Home maintenance and repairs

Sources

American Red Cross, "Preventing & Thawing Frozen Pipes"

Last updated .