How to Fix a Leaky Outdoor Faucet (Spigot Repair Guide)
A leaky outdoor faucet wastes water and can damage your foundation. The step-by-step fix for the four most common causes, washer, packing nut, valve seat, and frost damage.
Quick answer: To fix a leaky outdoor faucet, first identify where it’s leaking, from the spout when off (worn washer at the bottom of the stem, the most common cause), around the handle when on (worn packing or O-ring), or from the wall around the faucet (frost-cracked pipe, more serious). Shut off water at the dedicated indoor valve, unscrew the packing nut, replace the failed part, and reassemble. Always disconnect garden hoses before winter to prevent freeze damage.
A leaky outdoor faucet (also called a spigot, hose bib, or sillcock) is louder than its actual difficulty. Nine times out of ten the cause is a worn packing washer behind the handle, a $3 part you can swap in twenty minutes once you know what you’re looking at.
What You’ll Need
- An adjustable wrench
- A flathead screwdriver
- A Phillips screwdriver
- Replacement washer (bring the old one to match, about $1)
- Replacement packing/stem (if needed, about $5)
- Plumber’s tape (PTFE)
- A bucket
- A clean rag
- Optional: penetrating oil for stuck parts
Step 1: Figure Out Where It’s Leaking
Walk up to the faucet and turn it on. Watch closely. The fix depends entirely on which of these you see:
- Leak from the spout (when off), the washer at the bottom of the stem is worn. Most common fix.
- Leak from around the handle (when on), the packing nut or O-ring under the handle is worn. Second most common.
- Leak from the wall around the faucet, a frost-damaged pipe inside the wall. Bigger problem.
- Faucet won’t turn off at all, valve seat damage. Less common but happens.
Now you know which fix to focus on.
Step 2: Shut Off Water to the Faucet
Most outdoor faucets have a separate shut-off valve inside the house, usually in the basement, crawl space, or utility room directly behind the outdoor faucet. Look for a small valve on a copper pipe heading toward an exterior wall.
- Close that valve (clockwise until it stops).
- Go outside and open the faucet to drain remaining water and confirm shutoff.
- Leave the faucet handle open during the repair.
If you can’t find a dedicated shut-off, you may need to shut off the main water to the house. More disruptive but works.
Step 3: Fix a Leak From the Spout (Worn Washer)
This is the most common leak. The washer at the bottom of the valve stem has compressed or cracked.
- Use a wrench to unscrew the packing nut, the large hex nut right behind the handle. Turn counterclockwise.
- Unscrew the stem assembly by turning the handle counterclockwise. The whole stem comes out of the faucet body.
- At the bottom of the stem you’ll see a small washer held in place by a brass screw.
- Unscrew the brass screw and pry off the old washer.
- Take it to the hardware store. Match the exact size, washers are not universal.
- Put on the new washer, replace the brass screw, reinsert the stem, tighten the packing nut. Hand-tight plus a quarter turn with a wrench.
- Turn the water back on. Test.
If still leaking at the spout: the valve seat (the metal surface the washer presses against, deep inside the faucet body) may be pitted. You can buy a valve-seat reseating tool, or, easier, replace the whole faucet.
Step 4: Fix a Leak Around the Handle (Worn Packing)
Water seeping around the handle when the faucet is on means the seal between the stem and packing nut has failed.
- Tighten the packing nut a quarter turn first, sometimes that’s all it needs.
- If still leaking, fully remove the packing nut, replace the packing washer or O-ring on the stem (bring the old one to the store).
- Modern faucets use an O-ring; older ones use string-style packing material.
- Reassemble and test.
Step 5: Fix a Wall Leak (Frost-Damaged Pipe)
A leak coming from the wall around the faucet (not from the faucet itself) usually means the pipe inside the wall has cracked from freezing. More serious.
Signs:
- Water visible only when the faucet is on
- Water staining inside the wall, basement, or crawl space
- Faucet works but reduced pressure
What to do:
- Shut off water to the outdoor faucet immediately.
- Look from inside (basement / crawl space), can you see the broken pipe? If yes, you can either patch with a slip coupling and clamps as a temporary fix, or call a plumber.
- If the broken section is inside finished wall and not accessible, this requires opening drywall. Plumber territory unless you have experience.
Prevention going forward:
- Install a frost-free faucet (also called a frost-free sillcock, a long-stem faucet that puts the actual shutoff valve deep inside the warm part of the house, where it can’t freeze). A 12-inch model is $30, takes basic plumbing skills to swap.
- Each fall, disconnect hoses and drain the faucet. Hoses connected to standard outdoor faucets through the winter trap water in the pipe, which freezes, expands, and splits the line.
Upgrading to a frost-free sillcock is the long-term fix if you’ve had any freeze damage. Cut the copper feed about ten inches back from the rim joist, dry-fit a 12-inch frost-free sillcock, sweat the joint with a propane torch. The shutoff valve is now inside the warm part of the house. Winter could hit hard and the new spigot wouldn’t even know it was cold.
Step 6: Test and Prevent Future Leaks
After any repair:
- Turn water back on slowly at the shut-off valve.
- Open the faucet fully and let it run 30 seconds.
- Close and check for drips at the spout and around the handle.
- Check inside the house for leaks at the joints you disturbed.
For prevention:
- Disconnect garden hoses before winter, a connected hose traps water in the faucet, which freezes and expands, splitting the internal pipe
- Insulate outdoor faucets in fall with a foam cover ($3 each from any hardware store)
- Drain the line annually if your faucet doesn’t have a frost-free design
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Cranking down too hard on the packing nut. A too-tight packing nut binds the stem and prevents the handle from turning smoothly. Hand-tight plus a quarter turn is right.
Using the wrong washer. Outdoor faucet washers come in slightly different diameters and thicknesses. Wrong size = leak in days.
Skipping plumber’s tape. When you reinstall the stem and packing nut, wrap fresh plumber’s tape on the threads. Old, dried tape no longer seals.
Trying to fix a frost-damaged faucet from outside. The break is inside the wall. You can’t reach it through the spout.
Connecting a hose right after the repair. Test first with no hose. Hose attached = pressure differential that can mask a slow leak.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my outdoor faucet only leak in the spring? Almost certainly frost damage from winter. The internal pipe cracked when frozen, but the leak only shows when you turn the water back on in spring.
How much water does a dripping outdoor faucet waste? A slow drip can waste 20+ gallons a day. Over a month that’s 600 gallons, plus the risk of foundation damage from constant moisture against your house.
Should I replace the whole faucet? For a standard outdoor faucet: $15 part. For a frost-free sillcock: $30 part. If yours is older than 15 years and you’ve already had one freeze problem, the upgrade is worth it.
What if the handle won’t turn at all? Mineral buildup has seized the stem. Spray penetrating oil around the packing nut, wait 10 minutes, try again. If it still won’t budge, you’ll need to disassemble the faucet body, see Step 3.
Can I do this in winter? You can, but a freezing faucet repair is miserable. Better to wait for a thaw or shut off the outdoor line for the winter and repair in spring.
My outdoor faucet has a small dome cap at the top. It drips when the water is on. Do I need to fix it? Yes. That dome is an anti-siphon vacuum breaker (also called a backflow preventer), required by plumbing code in most jurisdictions on hose bibs. When the rubber disc inside wears out, the cap drips while the faucet runs. The repair is simple: unscrew the cap counterclockwise and thread on a new vacuum breaker assembly. They run $5-8 at any hardware store. Beyond the annoyance of the drip, a failed vacuum breaker creates a real backflow risk. Leave a hose end sitting in a bucket of pesticide or fertilizer, drop the household water pressure during a high-demand period, and that solution can pull back into your drinking supply through the failed preventer. The $6 fix is worth doing.
An outdoor faucet leak gets uglier the longer you ignore it. Drips turn into foundation issues. Frost cracks turn into flooded basements. a 20-minute washer swap solves 80% of cases. Spend the $3 today, save the water bill (and the wall) tomorrow.