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If you are soldering, solder the bend on the pipe before fixing it in place as it’s easier than trying to solder when it’s just poking through the wall. Likewise this is also the case if using compression joints. Insert and fix the pipe into the bend coming through the wall. This will either be into a compression joint or soldered. In this case, the water carrying pipe (e.g. the pipe running from the supply to the tap) should be allowed to expand and contract naturally through temperature change without fear of erosion or puncture due to it expanding and rubbing on the rough masonry. As it’s highly unlikely that you’ll use the tap anyway through the winter months, this is certainly the best choice. Alternatives to Fitting Outside Taps During the colder months of the year, the chance of the temperature dropping to the point of freezing is quite high and as you probably know, when water freezes it expands.

Outside Taps

Always start with a small drill first to drill a pilot hole as this takes the strain off the drill trying to drill too large a hole in one go and also when it busts through the wall on the other side it doesn’t blow a huge chunk off.

There is usually a tangle of waste pipes and hot and cold water feed pipes under the sink which make connection of an outside tap difficult so in many cases it may be easier to look between the units, or even behind them to source a cold water feed to the outside tap which is a little easier to work with.

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As you can see, all of this has been made using copper pipe and copper compression fittings and this is absolutely fine, but if you have never attempted any plumbing before we would suggest that you use Pushfit fittings as they are much easier to work with. If you haven’t done much plumbing before, cutting water pipes to fit an outside tap may seem rather daunting, however, by following the guide below it’s a job that anyone can do, read on. Parts of an Outside Tap Connect a 90° bend fitting to the end of the pipework running from the drain valve and cut a length of pipe to run through the wall. This should be the total depth of the hole plus enough to run out to a 90° bend at either end. To prevent any such issues with your new garden tap it’s a good idea to trun the water off at the isolation valve and then drain the water out of the supply pipe through the drain plug. Once you have chosen your install location the next job is to tee into an existing water supply pipe. This pipe will have to be cut to allow the introduction of the T-joint needed to branch off.

The easiest way to make a sleeve is by using a length of 22mm plastic or copper pipe cut to the depth of the hole and then pushed through. Depending on the length of pipe you will also need to add some pipe clips to hold it firmly to the wall. Step 8 – Fix Tap In Place and Test As you now know the type of tap you need and all the other tools and products, it’s now time to go through exactly how to fit an outside tap.If it’s not possible to install an outside tap, another way to provide a water source would be to install and use a water-butt. This is a great way to capture and store water, no just because rainwater is pretty readily available in the UK, but also because it is free! Finally, cut another length of pipe so that it runs up to the hole through the wall. It should be around 10 – 15mm short of the hole to allow for a 90° bend to be fitted. A pipe clip also needs to be fitted along this section.

When running a water pipe or indeed any object through a wall you really should run a sleeve through the hole first and then run any pipes or similar through the sleaving. If you intend to use a Power Washer, we recommend you don’t use a self cut tee, use one of our Professional Tap kits.Each installation is different and as we have mentioned, will allow you to use a range of different fittings and techniques so take a look at our projects on how to join copper pipes by either using compression joints, or you can use soldered joints if you’re handy with a soldering iron or you could even use SPEEDFIT® plastic piping and joints. If it freezes and expands inside a pipe it can very easily cause it to burst which can be a nightmare in terms of leaks and also having to repair it. If you are a competent DIY person go for kits with the Isolating T-piece, for the less so inclined go for the Self Cut Tap