How to Tighten an Outdoor Faucet Handle

Outdoor faucets are a wonderful plumbing convenience for your home, making garden work, watering pets and lawns and washing vehicles easier. But over time, that faucet handle can get loose and cause great aggravation. Sillcock is another word for the on and off valve of the faucet.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Tighten an outdoor faucet handle by looking at the screw that's on top of the valve in the center of the handle on your faucet. Often, all that is necessary is to use a screwdriver and tighten the screw.

2. Check to see if the screw is stripped out. If it is, instead of replacing the whole valve, you may want to drill and tap for a larger screw. Drill and tap means to cut new threads in the shaft that will accommodate a larger screw. In some cases, you can use a Teflon tape on the screw if it is stripped out. Using Teflon tape actually increases the size of the screw and makes it grab better, resulting in a tighter fit.

3. Learn that there is another type of sillcock/faucet handle. This type has threads on the top of it where the handle slides over a tapered square. After the handle is placed on the square, you have threads showing. This type of sillcock takes a washer and a nut. Use a wrench to tighten this kind when the nut is loose.

4. Use locktight (a type of bonding agent that prevents screws or nuts from loosening) when you are securing the handle on a sillcock or outside faucet.