Sue wrote:
:: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
::
:: Sue

Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary as any water
which remains inside it will expand out of the tap if you leave it in the
'on' position.
If it is connected directly to the mains and doesn't have it's own stop tap,
the above is obviously impossible...in this case you will have to lag it and
hope for the best, you can buy pipe lagging from any d.i.y place, make sure
it's the thick walled stuff (don't worry about the diameter of hole in the
middle) and you will have to cut it to shape to go completely around the
tap..if you have any pipework outside you'll have to do this as well but you
will struggle as it's nearly always butt up to the brickwork meaning that
you can't lag the back of it.

Or!!
If you are handy or know someone who is, you can buy a washing machine valve
and fit it to the pipe inside the house, before it goes through the wall and
turn it off from here...it should take no longer than 30 minutes to fit one
of these and no soldering is required, they simply tighten up with spanners.
http://snipurl.com/9ibf about a fiver!


Turn water off at mains.

drain cold water by turning on downstairs taps (and outside tap!)

cut through the copper pipe leading to outside tap, you may need to take
about an inch of pipe away.

fit valve and tighten nuts.

turn water mains back on s l o w l y ! - half a turn at
a time...when your sink tap starts running again, stop and check the valve
for leaks etc...use a piece of kitchen roll to check for minute drips.

HTH