Hose Bib Replacement Cost: Spigots & Frost-Proof Sillcocks
Swapping an outdoor hose bib like-for-like runs $150 – $400, while upgrading to a frost-proof sillcock costs $200 – $500. The price hinges on access: a threaded spigot unscrews in minutes, but a soldered one means opening a wall. Here is what each version costs and when the frost-proof upgrade pays for itself.
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| Job | Range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Like-for-like spigot swap | $150 – $400 | Standard outdoor faucet, accessible |
| Frost-proof sillcock upgrade | $200 – $500 | Longer valve body, shutoff inside the heated wall |
| Add a vacuum breaker | $20 – $100 | Anti-siphon protection at the spigot |
| Soldered (sweat) connection access | +$100 – $300 | Opening a wall or working in tight space |
| Add an interior shutoff | $100 – $250 | So you can winterize the line |
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What sets the price: how it connects
A hose bib is a simple valve, so the part is cheap and the labor is everything. If your spigot threads onto a male fitting or connects with a union, a plumber unscrews the old one and threads on a new one in well under an hour, landing the job at $150 – $400. That is the common case on homes with accessible connections.
The price climbs when the bib is soldered (sweated) onto copper pipe inside the wall. Now the plumber has to reach the joint, often by opening drywall or working in a cramped crawl space, heat the connection to break it, and sweat the new one in. That access adds $100 – $300. When you call, say whether you can see threads behind the spigot or whether the pipe disappears straight into the wall; it changes the quote.
The frost-proof sillcock upgrade
A standard outdoor faucet holds water right at the wall, where it can freeze and split in winter. A frost-proof sillcock solves that with a long valve body that reaches back through the wall, so the actual shutoff seat sits inside the heated part of the house and the exposed section drains empty. Upgrading runs $200 – $500.
The upgrade earns its keep anywhere winters dip below freezing. A split standard bib often does not announce itself until spring, when you turn on the water and it pours inside the wall. If you have ever had a spigot freeze, or you keep forgetting to disconnect the hose in fall, the frost-proof version is the fix that ends the worry. It pairs naturally with the habits in our frozen pipes guide.
Vacuum breakers and code
Modern code requires anti-siphon protection at outdoor faucets so a hose left in a pool, a bucket of chemicals, or a soapy car-wash sits cannot siphon back into your drinking water on a pressure drop. Most new sillcocks have a vacuum breaker built into the top; on an older bib, a plumber can add a hose-bib vacuum breaker for $20 – $100.
It is a small item that does the same job as the larger devices on our backflow preventer cost page, scaled down to a single spigot. If your outdoor faucet has no anti-siphon cap and you connect hoses to anything other than a clean spray nozzle, adding one is cheap protection.
Repair vs replace, and winterizing
Not every leaking spigot needs replacing. A drip from the spout is often just a worn washer or packing, a minor repair rather than a new bib. Our guide to an outdoor faucet leaking walks the diagnosis, since the fix can be a quarter-turn on a packing nut instead of a $300 job. Replacement is the answer when the valve body is cracked, the threads are stripped, or a freeze has already split it.
Whichever way you go, an interior shutoff on the line feeding the bib is worth having, $100 – $250 to add. It lets you cut water to the outdoor faucet and drain it each fall, the single most effective way to keep a standard spigot from freezing if you are not upgrading to frost-proof.
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