A leaky outdoor faucet wastes more water than most homeowners realize. A slow drip from a garden spigot can lose 3,000 gallons or more per year, which shows up as a meaningful addition to the water bill every month and compounds into a much larger problem if the faucet is not properly winterized before the first freeze. A faucet leaking from the spout or the packing nut can be repaired by most homeowners in about 20 minutes with basic tools.
Before you do anything else, figure out where the leak is coming from. Outdoor faucets leak from two places: the spout (dripping when the faucet is off) or the packing nut area just behind the handle (leaking around the stem when the faucet is on). Each has a different fix.
Spout dripping when the faucet is off: washer replacement
A faucet that drips from the spout when turned off has a worn washer. The washer is a rubber disc at the end of the stem that presses against the seat inside the faucet body to stop water flow when the handle is closed. When the washer wears out or gets damaged, it no longer seals properly and water drips through.
Turn off the water supply to the faucet. This is either a dedicated shutoff valve inside the house on the pipe leading to the outdoor faucet, or the main house shutoff if there is no dedicated valve. Turn the faucet handle to open and let any remaining water drain out.
Remove the handle by unscrewing the handle screw, usually under a decorative cap on top of the handle. With the handle off, use an adjustable wrench to unscrew the packing nut, which is the hexagonal nut directly behind where the handle was. Pull the stem straight out of the faucet body. At the bottom of the stem, you will see a rubber washer held in place by a brass screw. Remove the screw, pull out the old washer, and take it to the hardware store to match the size exactly.
Install the new washer, reinstall the brass screw snugly, slide the stem back into the faucet body, hand-tighten the packing nut and then tighten one-quarter turn with the wrench, reinstall the handle, and turn the water back on. The drip should be gone.
For the adjustable wrench, pliers, and screwdrivers this repair requires, HOTO Tools makes compact starter kits that cover everything for this type of job. Replacement washers and full outdoor faucet repair kits are available on Amazon.
Leaking around the stem when faucet is on: packing replacement
If water leaks around the base of the handle when the faucet is running, the packing is worn. The packing is a graphite-coated string or rubber washer that seals around the stem where it passes through the faucet body. When it wears out, water escapes along the outside of the stem.
Sometimes this is fixed by simply tightening the packing nut a quarter turn with an adjustable wrench while the water is still on. If that stops the leak without making the handle too stiff to turn, you are done. If tightening does not stop it, the packing material needs to be replaced.
The replacement process is the same as for the washer: shut off water, remove handle, unscrew and remove the packing nut, pull the stem, and replace the packing material around the stem. Replacement packing string and packing washers are inexpensive and available at any hardware store.
When the faucet is frost-free and still leaks
Frost-free outdoor faucets (the type where the stem extends far back into the heated portion of the house) can also develop washer problems, but they are slightly more involved to disassemble because the stem is much longer. The process is identical, just with a longer stem pull. One important note: frost-free faucets fail to drain properly and can burst in freezing temperatures if a hose is left attached. Always disconnect garden hoses before winter, even from frost-free models.
Preventing winter damage
The most expensive outdoor faucet problem is a burst pipe from freezing. After making any repairs, confirm that your indoor shutoff valve for the outdoor faucet works, shut it off before the first hard freeze, and open the outdoor faucet handle to drain the residual water from the pipe section that is exposed to cold. This takes two minutes and prevents a repair that costs several hundred dollars.
For related plumbing repairs that follow the same basic process, see how to fix a leaky indoor faucet and how to fix a running toilet for the repairs that catch most household water waste before it adds up on the bill.
For the full picture of seasonal home maintenance that keeps small problems from becoming expensive ones, the spring home maintenance checklist covers the inspection points worth checking every year. And the Broke Mom Home Reset ($17) is the guide for tackling these repairs with confidence and a budget-first mindset.
