Outside Tap Not Working: Seasonal Diagnosis
The outside tap lives the hardest life of any fitting on the house — freeze-thaw cycles, UV, knocks and months of disuse — and its faults are strongly seasonal. A tap that died over winter and one that dribbles in August are different diagnoses. Here's the quick tree.
Nothing at all: the two-valve check
A completely dead outside tap in spring is classic: someone (sensibly) closed the internal isolation valve in autumn and forgot. Find the valve on the feed pipe inside — usually near where the pipe exits the wall — and open it. If the valve is open and the tap is still dead in or after freezing weather, suspect an ice plug or a freeze-split pipe in the wall run: open the tap, warm the accessible pipe gently, and watch closely as it thaws — a split announces itself as a leak the moment flow returns.
The post-winter split
Water trapped in the tap body or feed pipe expands on freezing and splits brass and copper alike. The cruel version leaks inside the wall or cavity rather than visibly outside — a damp kitchen unit or a mysterious internal wet patch opposite the tap is the tell. Any outside tap that endured winter un-drained deserves a first-use inspection: run it, then check the internal side of the wall for weeping. Splits mean replacement of the damaged section, and while the job's open, fitting the isolation valve that would have prevented it.
Dribbles and poor flow
A tap that runs weakly usually has a partially closed isolation valve, a scale- or debris-choked check valve (the backflow preventer is a flow restriction by design, and it clogs), or a kinked/furred feed. Hose-end accessories add their own restrictions — test the bare tap before blaming the plumbing. Steady dripping from the spout is a washer job like any compression tap; leaking from the spindle when running is the gland packing, an equally quick fix.
Autumn: the two-minute ritual that prevents all of this
Close the internal isolation valve, open the outside tap, let the run drain, and leave the tap open all winter (an open tap gives any residual ice room to expand). An insulated cover adds margin; it does not replace draining. This ritual is the entire difference between outside taps that last decades and the January split — and if your installation lacks an internal valve, retrofitting one is the cheapest prevention in this guide.
| Symptom | Season | Cause |
|---|---|---|
| Completely dead | Spring | Isolation valve still closed |
| Dead in freeze, leaks on thaw | Winter | Ice plug → split pipe |
| Damp inside wall opposite tap | Post-winter | Concealed split in feed |
| Weak dribble | Any | Choked check valve / part-closed valve |
| Drips from spout | Any | Washer — standard repair |
If the symptoms don't quite match
Faults read textbook-clean in guides and messier in airing cupboards: if your symptoms straddle two patterns above or match none cleanly, that ambiguity is itself useful diagnostic information — tell the engineer precisely that. Intermittent faults deserve a log (time, conditions, what preceded it) because patterns invisible in one visit leap out of a week's notes. And any symptom involving escaping water you can't isolate upgrades itself to the emergency line.
Frequently asked questions
Do insulated tap covers actually work?
As added margin, yes; as a substitute for draining down, no. Trapped water freezes eventually regardless of the cosy — the drain-down ritual is the real protection.
Why does my outside tap leak from the handle when running?
Gland packing around the spindle has dried or worn — a quick repack or a new headgear fixes it. It typically only leaks while the tap is open.
Can I leave a hose connected in winter?
No — a connected hose traps water against the tap and check valve, holding exactly the water that splits them. Disconnect hoses from autumn onward.
My new pressure washer barely runs from this tap — why?
Check valves and long small-bore feeds restrict flow; pressure washers are flow-hungry. Test the bare tap's flow rate — the fix may be a full-bore valve and a better-routed feed rather than a bigger washer.
Sorting it for good
The recurring theme across our guides holds here too: fix causes, not symptoms. A repair that addresses why the fault happened — the pressure that's too high, the scale that keeps returning, the valve that should have been replaced a decade ago — is the one you don't repeat next year. When you book through our network, tell the engineer you want the cause addressed, not just the symptom silenced; it occasionally costs a little more on the day and reliably costs less over the years.