We have a faucet on the side of the house that leaks (all the grass is continually soggy) and you cannot replace the valve to shop the leak. We think we just need to replace the entire faucet. That's where it gets more complicated (to us, anyway!)...

The faucet seems to be welded on or soldered on. We aren't sure of the best way (or any way at all) to remove/replace it.

We have very limited soldering experience and one of those little kits from the hardware store. We're willing to try whatever it takes.

Can anyone point us in the right direction? Thanks for ANY help!

 

Unless it is a frost-free with a burst barrel, you should be able to just unscrew the cap around the stem, and replace the washer on the end of the stem.
Turn the water off first, of course.
Good luck!
Mike

 

We unscrewed the cap already. The washer on the end of the stem is unremovable/irreplaceable (cheap faucet). I know I'm not explaining this very well... It is not a frost free.

 

What type of pipes do you have? Copper?
What type of faucet is it? Brass?
Mike

 

Copper piping, brass faucet. Thanks.

 

Easiest Fix (Same cost. Less work. No Soldering): Find a complete faucet exactly like that one, and just replace the stem. I doubt that you'll find just the stem part separate.
Next Best: Get another brass faucet, but with threads, sweat off the old faucet, and sweat a female threaded copper fitting onto the end of the copper pipe that the faucet can screw into. (Easier to change next time.)
Use 2-3 flat wraps of teflon tape on the male threads of the faucet clockwise only as the threaded end faces you.

As for soldering (if necessary), you will need a propane torch, lead-free solder, flux, and sandpaper or emory cloth.
Heat the fitting (not the pipe) to melt solder and pull off old faucet.
(Use a metal heat shield or wet cloths, if near wood or other flammable siding.)
Sand the old solder on the end of the pipe, sand the inside of the new copper fitting, and put flux on both. Slide into place on end of pipe.
Heat the fitting and touch the solder steadily around the edge of the fitting until it pulls the solder in all around the fitting. Do not overheat, or the solder will run out and leak. Once you see that it is done, stop.
When it cools, wrap the teflon tape on and tighten on the new faucet. Turn water on and check for leaks. If the sweated fitting leaks, take it off and do it all again. If it leaks around the threads, take it off and wrap more teflon tape.
(Hopefully, you can just find another matching faucet.)
Good Luck!
Mike

 

Everyone else is giving great info, but not many people tell you to make sure that all water is out of the pipe when sweating, Most pros assume you know to do that. Should you have a pipe you can't get all the water out of and can't get it hot enough to sweat, take a piece of Bread and wad it up and push it into the pipe . This will block the water off and soak up some, then you can sweat the pipe, once this is done open a facuet after you job and flush out the bread.

 

I'm not a pro, and I forgot to mention no water or the old bread trick.
Good follow up, Line Noise.
ALadyNCal:
Use just the white part of the bread. No crust. The bread will dissolve right out of the line as soon as you turn on the water.
Good luck!
Mike

 

We had an 'incident' involving the kitchen sink piping in the Spring. That is when we bought the soldering kit and I read from this website how to use it....and we also picked up the 'bread trick'

Thanks so much for the help We will try to conquer this sometime during the coming week.