Outside tap installation in London
An outside tap is a couple of hours’ work and one of the most useful things you can add to a house. It does need doing properly: a check valve to stop garden water being drawn back into the drinking supply, an isolation valve inside so it can be shut off and drained each winter, and a neat run through the wall.
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What this includes
- New outside tap fitted, front or rear
- Double check valve to meet water regulations
- Isolation valve inside for winter shut-off
- Frost-proof taps where the run is exposed
- Garden and patio standpipes further from the house
- Replacing leaking or seized existing taps
Worth knowing first
Some of this may save you a callout entirely. We would rather tell you than not.
A check valve is a legal requirement, not an upsell
Water regulations require backflow protection on an outside tap, because a hose left in a water butt or a bucket of garden chemicals can otherwise siphon back into the drinking supply. Any tap fitted without one is not compliant.
Turn it off and drain it every winter
Close the inside isolation valve and leave the outside tap open over winter. Water left in the exposed section freezes, expands and splits the pipe — and you find out in spring, usually behind the wall.
Getting through the wall is the job
The tap itself is quick. The core drill through a solid wall, in the right place, missing the cables and the pipework on the other side, is the part that takes the care.
Flats and leaseholds may need permission
Drilling through an external wall in a leasehold flat, or on a listed or conservation-area property, may need the freeholder’s or the council’s consent. Worth a check before we come out.
Common questions
Do I need permission to have one fitted?
In a freehold house, normally not. In a leasehold flat, or a listed or conservation-area building, check with the freeholder or the council first — it is drilling through the external wall that needs the consent.
Can it feed a hose reel or an irrigation system?
Yes. Tell us what it is feeding, because a permanently connected irrigation system needs a higher level of backflow protection than a hose used occasionally.
Will it freeze in winter?
Not if it is isolated and drained, which is what the inside valve is for. Frost-proof taps add more protection where the run is particularly exposed.
Can the tap go at the far end of the garden?
Yes, as a standpipe with a buried run. It is a bigger job than a tap on the house wall because of the trench and the frost depth, but it is a common one.
Part of our water supply & treatment work
If the job turns out to be a repair rather than an installation, these are the pages that cover it.
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General Plumbing
Taps, toilets, radiators and pipework. The jobs that never quite get done.
More on General Plumbing -
Emergency Plumbing
Burst pipes, major leaks and no water. We take calls around the clock and get an engineer moving.
More on Emergency Plumbing
Other appliance work
Need outside tap installation in London?
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