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I tried to remove my garden hose from the spigot on the side of my house and the whole tap came off the copper pipe it was attached to. I had to turn off the water at the mains and cannot turn it back on until it is capped. To this end, I bought a couple of SharkBite end stops. The 3/4" is way too big; the 1/2" is way too small. Baffling.

The pipe itself protrudes just may an inch or an inch and a half from the wall and getting to the piping inside the house would mean putting a hole in the wall. I'm struggling to get a plumber to look at this, so I'm looking for a fix that I can do which would allow me to turn the water back on while we wait for a plumber.

Beyond SharkBites, is there another solution? Alternatively, should I tape up the pipe and then try and fit the 3/4" SharkBite over it? I'm at a loss for solutions.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Pipe

enter image description here

Dan
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  • Are you sure you are dealing with just plain copper pipe or could there be some of the tap still on the pipe? A picture will help. – crip659 Nov 20 '21 at 23:57
  • @crip659 Thanks for your reply. There's definitely no tape. I've added a photo. – Dan Nov 21 '21 at 00:03
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    We're probably looking at what's left of a antifreeze silcock. Picture of the thing you pulled off? Which I'm guessing has a weird length of pipe sticking off it, or there's another pipe inside that pipe. – Mazura Nov 21 '21 at 00:20
  • @Mazura I've added a photo of what came off. (The hose is still attached and the long part was inside the copper pipe.) – Dan Nov 21 '21 at 00:29
  • sometimes these outdoor bibs come off the water line where it enters the house. if that is the case you could cut the 1/2" line that is coming off the service line and cap that and then have a plumber out when you can. – Fresh Codemonger Nov 21 '21 at 00:29
  • it might be worth removing the piece that came off from the house, opening the valve and then trying to insert it back into that pipe. Once it is inserted close the valve and secure it back to the house - of course that would be temporary until you can get a plumber who will likely have to cut open inside to replace the hose bib. – Fresh Codemonger Nov 21 '21 at 00:33
  • Thanks @FreshCodemonger. It just is pushed off by the water pressure when I put it back on and try to keep it there by closing the value. And it's good to know that it's not a small job so that I can plan accordingly. – Dan Nov 21 '21 at 00:38
  • Copper comes as pipe and as tubing ; they are different sizes. Apparently youre water line is tubing . You can seal it with a tubing size compression fitting with appropriate valve or plug. – blacksmith37 Nov 21 '21 at 17:07

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Buy an access panel. Cut a hole for it. Buy 1/2" and 3/4" pipe cutters that look like Pacman. Cut the pipe. Put which either shark-bite cap fits. Place access panel.

When you have a plumber come fix this, have them put a valve behind the panel before the anti-siphon valve that you turn off every winter and leave the silcock open (frost proof my ass). Do a good job on the access panel because it's going to be permanent.

Mazura
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  • Alternatively, you could unscrew the silcok and put a NPT iron plug, but that's asking for trouble. If you're going to go that far, might as well buy a new silcock *that's the exact length as your old one* (and some Teflon tape and two crescent wrenches). Which usually ends up meaning buying one of each that they have and getting lucky. – Mazura Nov 21 '21 at 00:42
  • Thanks for this! You're suggesting that one of the SharkBites will fit the pipe in the wall when it doesn't fit the pipe outside. Is that because the pipe outside is different? Do they put some sort of valve in to separate the outside and inside pipes? (Apologies for my total ignorance on the subject.) – Dan Nov 21 '21 at 00:44
  • Solution that *will* freeze but doesn't require much plumbing and no hole: buy one of every compression adapters that they sell, one of them should get you into a nominal pipe size that you can find a cap for. Insulate it somehow. – Mazura Nov 21 '21 at 00:46
  • @Lyngbakr - Anti-siphon vales are basically just a really long valve; keeps the water all the way inside the wall. I suppose the pipe in the ceiling could be 1" but it's almost assuredly 1/2 or 3/4. It's a weird size because it's a valve/fitting, not a piece of pipe. They *didn't* put a "valve in to separate the outside", which isn't required by code but I always put one and why I suggest it. – Mazura Nov 21 '21 at 00:53
  • Awesome. Thanks for the explanation. – Dan Nov 21 '21 at 00:57
  • Update: Your advice was spot on. The pipe in the wall was indeed 3/4" and the plumber agreed with you that there should be a ball valve before the anti-siphon valve. Much appreciated! – Dan Nov 25 '21 at 16:40