Outside tap not working: why there is no water and what to do
When an outside tap gives no water but the taps indoors run normally, the most common reason is that the valve feeding it inside the house has been turned off, often to protect it over winter. Look under the kitchen sink or wherever the outside tap pipe leaves the house for a small valve on that pipe and open it. If the valve is open, the pipe may be frozen (in cold weather), the tap's washer or cartridge may have jammed shut, or the check valve built into the tap may have stuck. A frozen outside tap should be thawed gently and then checked for a split before the water goes back on, because a cracked pipe inside the wall can leak into the house without showing outside.
Loyal Plumbers · Updated
Discuss your plumbing workFirst, is it just the outside tap?
Run the kitchen cold tap. If that has little or no water too, the problem is not the outside tap at all. It is the supply to the whole house: a stop tap turned down, a burst somewhere, frozen pipes, or a fault on the water company's side. Our guide to no water coming out of the taps covers that situation step by step.
If the kitchen tap runs normally, the problem sits somewhere between the branch that feeds the outside tap and the tap itself. That is usually a short run from under the kitchen sink, through the wall and out to the tap.
The quick checks, in order
Work through these before assuming anything is broken. Most outside taps that stop working are fixed at the first or second step.
| What you find | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Small valve on the outside tap pipe indoors is across the pipe | Isolation valve closed, often for winter | Turn it so the slot or lever lines up with the pipe, then try the tap |
| Weather has been at or below freezing | Ice in the tap or the pipe through the wall | Close the indoor valve, thaw gently, check for splits before reopening |
| A trickle, then nothing, or water only with the hose off | Hose connector, timer or spray gun blocked or shut | Take everything off the tap spout and try it bare |
| Handle turns but no water, valve open, no frost | Jammed washer, broken jumper or failed cartridge | Tap headgear or the whole tap needs replacing |
| Handle spins freely without stopping | Stripped spindle or handle | New headgear or a new tap |
| Water appears indoors near where the pipe leaves the house | Split pipe or joint inside the wall | Shut the valve and call a plumber |
Check the valve that feeds the tap
Most outside taps have their own isolation valve indoors so they can be shut off without turning off the house. It is usually under the kitchen sink, in a utility room or in a garage, on the pipe that heads towards the outside wall. It might be a small brass valve with a screwdriver slot, a lever valve, or an older wheel-head stop valve.
A slot or lever in line with the pipe means open. Across the pipe means closed. A wheel head opens anticlockwise. Many people close it in autumn and forget it by spring.
Once you open it, give the outside tap a minute. It may cough air and spit before running properly, because the pipe has been drained. If there is no isolation valve anywhere you can find, and the outside tap was fitted by tapping into a pipe under the sink, our guide to finding and labelling water isolation valves shows where else to look.
If you turn the indoor valve on and hear water running where it should not, or see water inside a cupboard or on the floor, turn it straight back off. That is a leak on the pipe to the tap, not a tap that has stopped working.
Frozen outside taps
An outside tap is the most exposed fitting on the house, and the water standing in it freezes long before anything indoors does. If the weather has been at or below freezing and the tap gives nothing, assume ice until you have ruled it out.
Close the indoor valve first. Then warm the tap and the pipe gently with a hot water bottle, a towel soaked in warm water or a hairdryer on a low setting, starting from the tap end and working back towards the wall. Never use a blowtorch or any naked flame, and do not pour boiling water over the tap, which can crack a cold brass body or plastic fittings.
When the ice has gone, open the indoor valve slowly and watch both the tap and the inside of the wall where the pipe comes through. Ice expands as it forms, and it can split a pipe or push a joint apart. The damage often does not show until the water is back on. If the tap now drips from its body or water appears indoors, close the valve again. Our guide to an outside tap leaking after frost explains how to tell tap damage from pipe damage, and if pipes indoors have frozen as well, see our guide to frozen water pipes.
To stop it happening again, close the indoor valve before the first hard frost, open the outside tap to let the pipe drain, and fit an insulated cover. There is more on that in our outside tap cover guide.
The tap has seized or failed
If the valve is open, the weather is mild and there is still nothing, the tap itself is the most likely culprit. A traditional outside tap shuts off with a rubber washer on a jumper. Over time the washer can harden and stick to the seat, or the jumper can break away, so turning the handle lifts the spindle but not the washer. The tap stays shut however far you turn it.
Some newer outside taps use a quarter-turn ceramic cartridge instead, and these can jam with limescale or grit. A handle that spins round and round without resistance usually means the splines have stripped on the handle or the spindle.
Replacing the headgear or the whole tap is often the simplest fix, and an outside tap is not an expensive part. It is also the moment to check that the tap has proper backflow protection. An outside tap in England should have a double check valve so garden water cannot be drawn back into the drinking water supply. Many modern outside taps have one built in; older ones often do not. Our guide to garden hose backflow protection explains why that matters.
Low flow rather than no flow
A tap that runs, but weakly, is a slightly different problem. Check the hose fittings first: a quick connector, a hose timer or a spray gun with a blocked filter will cut the flow to a trickle. Take them all off and run the tap bare.
If the bare tap is still weak, the check valve inside the tap or in the pipe may be partly stuck, the isolation valve may only be half open, or the pipe may be undersized or partly blocked with scale. If every tap in the house has lost pressure at the same time, the cause is on the supply side instead. Our low water pressure guide covers that.
When the pipe is the problem
Where the pipe runs through a cavity wall, or along an unheated garage or utility room, it can freeze and split out of sight. The signs are damp patches on the inside wall around where the pipe comes through, water in the kitchen cupboard, a musty smell, or the water meter still turning with every tap in the house shut. If you have a water meter, our guide to a water meter moving when the taps are off explains how to use it to test for a hidden leak.
A split pipe inside a wall is not a DIY repair: the wall may need opening and the pipe replacing with a properly insulated run. Close the indoor valve so the leak stops, and keep that section isolated until it is repaired.
When to call a plumber
Some outside tap problems are ten-minute fixes. Others involve a pipe hidden in the fabric of the house. Get a plumber in if any of these apply.
- There is no isolation valve for the outside tap and you would have to turn off the whole house to work on it
- The indoor valve is seized or will not stop the water
- Water appears indoors, or damp shows on the inside wall, when the tap supply is turned on
- The tap body or the pipe outside is visibly split after a frost
- The tap has no double check valve and you want it brought up to standard
- You want an outside tap moved, added or replaced with a frost-resistant type
Get your outside tap working again
Loyal Plumbers covers London and everywhere inside the M25, 24 hours a day, with 10 vans on the road. We repair and replace outside taps, fit isolation and double check valves, and trace and repair frost-split pipes. Call 020 4652 8585 and tell us what the tap is doing, whether you have found the indoor valve, and whether any water has appeared inside.
Our call-out charge is £60, and the engineer explains what they have found and what the repair involves before starting. If water is coming through a wall or ceiling, our emergency plumbing and burst pipe repair pages explain what we do first, and our general plumbing page covers the everyday repairs.
Common questions
- Why is there no water coming out of my outside tap?
- Usually because the isolation valve feeding it indoors has been closed, often for winter. If that valve is open, the tap or pipe may be frozen, the tap washer or cartridge may have jammed, or a hose fitting may be blocking the flow.
- Where is the valve for my outside tap?
- Normally on the pipe that runs to the outside wall, most often under the kitchen sink, in a utility room or in a garage. It is a small valve with a slot, a lever or a wheel. In line with the pipe is open; across the pipe is closed.
- How do I unfreeze an outside tap?
- Close the indoor valve, then warm the tap and pipe gently with a hot water bottle, warm towels or a hairdryer on low. Never use a naked flame or boiling water. Once thawed, reopen the valve slowly and check for leaks indoors and out.
- Should I leave my outside tap on in winter?
- No. Close the indoor isolation valve before the frosts, open the outside tap to drain the short length of pipe, then close it again and fit an insulated cover. Remember to reopen the valve in spring.
Sources and further reading
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