I replaced all my outdoor hose bib with 1/4 Turn Ball valve ones. They don't have any washers that need to be replaced. they are the best. I also replaced all my shut-off valves inside the house with 1/4 turn ball valves.

A shut-off previous to the hose bib is a good idea if you don't have one already. Make sure the shut-off valve is also 1/4 turn ball type. They don't cost much - between $5-$10 for each of these 1/4 turn ball valves. The hose bib itself is probably like $11. They look same on outside but inside you will see a metal ball turning as opposed to washers. No more washers to replace ever.

Sweating is not that hard with some practice and a propane or mapp torch. There are tons of video on how to sweat copper on Youtube. but if you really are uncomfortable, yes please use a plumber.

Installation of one ball shutoff valve and one ball hose bib should not be more than $40 parts (valves, flux, no lead solder, copper sandpaper, short pieces of copper) and I'm guessing $100 labor. who knows what they will charge you - might take 1-2 hours and that includes setup and cleanup time.

Brick - I live in California. we don't even have to think about freezing, we only worry if the pipe will crack in an earthquake. the copper pipes coming from outside wall to inside all the houses in my neighborhood don't even have any insulation wrap on them.

My shut-off and hose bib are just inside at the entrance to the garage - many houses here are like that. I guess it is to prevent strangers from turning the water on since it costs so much here. but the garage is the same temp as outside since we all have suicide vents on our garage doors so it wouldn't matter much temperature wise if it was inside or outside.

but you are right - I missed that they needed the freeze-proof hose bib.

First off, there is no such thing as a "Freeze Proof hose bibb". They do make "Frost proof hose bibbs" which are a type of hydrant valve where the actual valving action takes place inside the house in the heated space but even that would not work in this situation.

The valve in question is mounted on an outside wall, outside a vented crawl space, so the ambient temps in that crawl space will be at or very near the outdoor temp, thus negating the purpose of a "Frost proof hose bibb" and subjecting the valve to freezing in mid winter.

Medeivil18 is also concerned about hiring someone to do this job because he does not know how to solder. While soldering the line would definitely be the preferred method, in this case the line in the crawl space is not concealed so he could easily use a "comression fitting" instead of soldering.

Per code there should be a line stop valve inside the house before the line drops into the vented crawl space. In winter the line stop is closed and the hose bibb is left open so that if any water should happen to leak past the line stop it could still drain out through the hose bibb.

Care should be taken to insure that the horizontal line in the crawl space is properly supported by pipe hangers to insure it will maintain a downward pitch and not sag.

"The valve in question is mounted on an outside wall, outside a vented crawl space, so the ambient temps in that crawl space will be at or very near the outdoor temp, thus negating the purpose of a "Frost proof hose bibb" and subjecting the valve to freezing in mid winter. "

All you have to do is make sure the insulation is placed to keep the inside end of the frost proof heated.

Moving it from under a floor against the flooring to the bottom of the joist space the water line is in allows enough heat to prevent freezing.

That might work in Virginia,,but I can assure you it won't work here.

Thank you for the kind respones.

"Per code there should be a line stop valve inside the house before the line drops into the vented crawl space. In winter the line stop is closed and the hose bibb is left open so that if any water should happen to leak past the line stop it could still drain out through the hose bibb. Care should be taken to insure that the horizontal line in the crawl space is properly supported by pipe hangers to insure it will maintain a downward pitch and not sag."

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Lazypup, your very knowledgable. I am young and inexperienced but trying to do the best i can. This is my Mom's home and she is a parapalegic, so I try to fix what I can for her and if I can't do it I make sure she don't get ripped off by repairmen since she can't even acess the areas the work is in.

I don't even think the plumbing meets code. It's over a hundred year old house with many additions and jerry-rigged workmanship. Had to insulate the pipes to stop them from freezing a few winters ago, but the last 2 winters where very mild. Majority of the plumbing is under the house in the crawl space. The copper pipes, pvc, and ducting are all barely hanging to the floor joists with rusty wire and nails. I spent countless days with a full repirator breathing mask clean this crawl space out. It was filled with trash, car parts, old waste building materials, and a bunch of mold rotted fiberglass insulation. It was a real pain, especially consider I had to crawl through holes at points only 2' x 2' wide! I think the previous occupants used the crawl space as a free landfill.

The only 2 ways to shut off the water is either at the street or in the crawl space where the main water line comes out of the ground vertically rising to the plumbing in the floor joists. There is a very old gate valve in this main line and I have to crawl through 2 different holes in the labryinth that is my crawl space to the deepest part to shut off the water which is a big hassel.
Whereas the pipe to the faucet is more easily acessible with minimal crawling so it would be nice to have a shut off valve prior to the outside bib.

I like the idea of ball valves, thanks Kisu. I should probably have the gate valve at the main water line replaced with a ball valve as well.

I want to have an encapsulated crawl space eventually, but I got huge water issues with runoff, yard grade, gutters, downspouts, leaky faucet, ect. Until i take care of exterior water issues there is really no point to addressing water and moisture problems in the crawl space.
So that is why the crawl space is vented for now, but I digress off topic.

"First off, there is no such thing as a "Freeze Proof hose bibb". They do make "Frost proof hose bibbs" which are a type of hydrant valve where the actual valving action takes place inside the house in the heated space but even that would not work in this situation."

Thanks for setting me straight Lazypup. The frost proof faucet wouldn't work in this situation because the faucet's valve could be comprimsed being at relativly the same temp as outside in winter.

So i should just have a traditional sillock bib on the exterior and have a ball valve in the interior prior to the bib. When winter comes close the ball valve and open the hose bibe to let the water drain out inbetween the stop valve and hose bib. Insulate the water lines in the crawl space and hope for no subzero temps this winter.

Maybe I could have all this work done by winter and have the crawl space enclosed, but it doesn't seem likely.

Sorry about being longwinded but the added explaination may help you guys help me understand the best potential solution.