Is there a standard thickness for poured walls?

[FS7]

I have an outdoor faucet that froze. I thought I did everything right, shutting off the water and opening to allow for freeze expansion, but it still blew up. When we tried to turn the water back on, we noticed the gigantic wad of putty "holding" it to the wall had sprung a leak. 

I went to pull it out and realized that they must have swapped the faucets - the long sillcock was on the one that only goes through the rim joist, while the stubby one was in the concrete. Somehow the nuts - on the coupling and on the sillcock - are in the middle of the concrete wall so you can't get to them from the inside or the outside. This means I have to do it right - cut a hole in the wall, put in an access panel, and replace the sillcock with a proper length one. The problem now is that I don't know how thick the wall is, and I won't know the proper sillcock length until I cut out the old one.

Is there a standard width/thickness for poured walls? It has no soil load. I think I know the answer (no) but I thought I'd ask just in case.

[Splinter Puller]

I have an outdoor faucet that froze. I thought I did everything right, shutting off the water and opening to allow for freeze expansion, but it still blew up. When we tried to turn the water back on, we noticed the gigantic wad of putty "holding" it to the wall had sprung a leak. 

I went to pull it out and realized that they must have swapped the faucets - the long sillcock was on the one that only goes through the rim joist, while the stubby one was in the concrete. Somehow the nuts - on the coupling and on the sillcock - are in the middle of the concrete wall so you can't get to them from the inside or the outside. This means I have to do it right - cut a hole in the wall, put in an access panel, and replace the sillcock with a proper length one. The problem now is that I don't know how thick the wall is, and I won't know the proper sillcock length until I cut out the old one.

Is there a standard width/thickness for poured walls? It has no soil load. I think I know the answer (no) but I thought I'd ask just in case.

8" is typical

Did you install the freezeproof sillcock with a slope so it would drain when not in use.  I made the mistake of installing one without countering the siding and it froze the first year.  The tapered spacer that comes with the sillcock has to be installed to make the pipe slope out to drain.

[FS7]

8" is typical

Did you install the freezeproof sillcock with a slope so it would drain when not in use.  I made the mistake of installing one without countering the siding and it froze the first year.  The tapered spacer that comes with the sillcock has to be installed to make the pipe slope out to drain.

I will use the spacer when I install one. The builder didn't (of course).

I have one sitting around that I think is 10", so it should work. With an access panel I can easily replace it.

When I did the other one, I bought a fancy quarter-turn ball valve one because there was enough silt in the water to gum up the washer (twice), preventing a seal and causing it to leak. I'd like to get another one of those (from Quarter Ball) to use in place of the standard multi-turn. I also will have to Tapcon (or something) into the wall to get the valve to not twist (the old one wasn't anchored). I have a Sharkbite coupling for the new one, so without an anchor the whole thing would just spin.

[Cooler]

The number one homeowner's insurance claim is water damage.  The number one cause of water damage is the garden hose connection freezing.

My house has an inside valve that I shut off in the winter and I leave the outside valve open.  

They make long reach valves nowadays, and I guess that is what you are referring to.

As far as I know they come in 8" and 12" sizes only, but this diagram shows 6" to 30".  My walls are made from cinderblock and they are 8".

[FS7]

Sigh. I cut the hole for the access panel today and installed that. I cut off as little of the old pipe as I could and pulled out the sillcock.

I do have a replacement on hand, not the one I intend to use, but one of the proper length (8"). The reason it froze was that the hole was not drilled properly - it's angled down slightly (not up or even level) and slightly off-axis, so the reason the joint is in the middle of the wall is because of this - if the sillcock were the proper length, it would hit the stud the pipe is attached to. Nobody can do anything right. I don't know why this is so hard, but I don't fault myself for not finding that during the construction process.

I'm not really sure what to do now. I plan to get a 6" sillcock and make the joint inside the concrete wall again. I'm not really sure what else I can do - trying to chisel out the hole or patching it and drilling a new one is going to be a lot of trouble. It just frustrates me that the builders do stuff like this.

[EdL]

Patch the hole on the outside with hydraulic cement, fill the rest from the inside with sprayfoam.

Go rent a big azz hammer drill, new hole thru wall 6-8" over.

New longer length sillcock, cut the inside pipe back several feet, use sharkbites & pex to join it together, add blocking in the rafter bay to fasten the silcock to.

pita, yup. Worth it to elimate the mess you have now.

Ed

[JosephP]

Patch the hole on the outside with hydraulic cement, fill the rest from the inside with sprayfoam.

Go rent a big azz hammer drill, new hole thru wall 6-8" over.

New longer length sillcock, cut the inside pipe back several feet, use sharkbites & pex to join it together, add blocking in the rafter bay to fasten the silcock to.

pita, yup. Worth it to elimate the mess you have now.

Ed

Wish I saw this thread sooner.  'm no plumber, but exactly what you said makes a lot of sense.  I was reading the OP thinking "where is he cutting an access hole?"  Just drill a new hole.  Cut the old one flush on either end and fill it in.  Glad  you said it first so I don't think I am 'out there'!

[Cooler]

The old fashion method might be the answer. Mount a second valve inside the house. You turn off the water in the house in the winter and leave a conventional valve open outside the house. You can cut the copper tubing to any length you want. It is not as convenient as a single valve, but you only have to deal with it 2x a year.

[Roly]

The sillcock does not have to end just inside the wall, depending on the room you have a 12" one would work.   Sharkbite makes frostproof sillcocks with the fitting already on it.   The proper pitch is critical to drain, but so is the length so the actual shut off area is in the warm area.    The concrete was probably below freezing including the heat transferred from the outside portion of the sillcock which is why it froze.   Roly

[FS7]

The old fashion method might be the answer.  Mount a second valve inside the house.  You turn off the water in the house in the winter and leave a conventional valve open outside the house.  You can cut the copper tubing to any length you want.  It is not as convenient as a single valve, but you only have to deal with it 2x a year.

I already have this, and it was closed. This is why I can't figure out why the sillcock froze and burst open. Other than the pitch being incorrect, at least.