Outdoor Tap Installation in Milton Keynes
Tell Us About the Job
Tell us about the job in two minutes and we’ll come back to you with a clear, fixed price.
An outside tap is the smallest job on this website and one of the easiest to do badly. Done properly it costs very little, takes an hour or two, and gives you no trouble for twenty years. Done as a quick tee off the nearest pipe with a tap on the end, it is a burst pipe waiting for a cold January and a regulations problem in the meantime.
We fit outside taps across Milton Keynes and the surrounding towns, for homes, rental properties and commercial premises. Gas Safe registered, registration number 981362.
- Gas Safe registered 981362
- Fixed price agreed before we start
- Milton Keynes and 20 miles around
- 8am – 8pm, Mon to Sat
Last updated
What a proper installation includes
An internal isolating valve
Non-negotiable, and the thing most often left out.
A valve on the inside of the wall, before the pipe goes outside, lets you shut the outside tap off from indoors. That matters for one reason above all others: in autumn you close the internal valve, open the outside tap, and let the external section drain. An empty pipe cannot freeze and split.
Without it, the external pipe stays full of water all winter, and eventually a hard frost splits it. Because the split is often on the section inside the wall, you find out when water appears somewhere unexpected.
A double check valve
This is a regulations requirement, not an optional extra.
Under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, an outside tap must have backflow protection. The concern is that a hosepipe left in a bucket, a pond, a water butt or a chemical sprayer can, if mains pressure drops, siphon contaminated water back into the supply. A double check valve prevents flow reversing.
An outside tap fitted without one is not compliant. It is also the sort of thing that gets noticed at conveyancing.
Correct wall penetration
The pipe passes through the wall in a sleeve, sealed appropriately so water cannot track back in along the outside of the pipe. On a cavity wall this matters, because a badly done penetration is a route for water into the cavity.
Tapping into the right pipe
The supply should come off the mains cold, downstream of the stopcock, from a point that can carry the flow without starving anything else. On older properties with narrow supply pipes this is worth thinking about rather than teeing into whatever is nearest.
Support and frost protection
The pipe secured properly, and the external section lagged, which reduces the risk in a cold snap even when somebody forgets to drain it down.
Where to put it
Practical considerations that are easier to think about before than after:
- Near the mains cold supply, so the run is short and the flow is good. A tap on the far side of the house from the incoming main works, and it works less well
- Somewhere you will actually use it. By the garden access, not tucked behind a bin store
- Height. High enough to get a watering can under, low enough to reach comfortably
- Away from paths where a running hose becomes an ice hazard in winter
- Not directly above a doorway or an electrical fitting
- Consider a second one at the front if you wash a car, since running a hose through the house is how people end up regretting the position
Winter, which is the whole point of the isolating valve
Every year we attend burst outside tap supplies in the same week, and almost every one of them could have been avoided in five minutes the previous October.
- 1
Close the internal isolating valve
- 2
Open the outside tap fully and leave it open
- 3
Let the external section drain completely
- 4
Leave the tap open all winter, so any residual water has room to expand if it does freeze
- 5
Disconnect and drain any hose, and store it somewhere that is not the ground
In spring: close the tap, open the internal valve, check for leaks.
If your existing outside tap has no internal isolating valve, adding one is a small job and it is the single most useful thing you can do to it.
Outdoor taps in Milton Keynes: the local picture
Frost exposure. The pipes that freeze in this area are the ones in unheated space, and an outside tap supply is the definition of that. Loft runs, garage runs and outside tap supplies are the three that produce most of our winter burst calls. Our burst pipe page covers the wider picture.
Hard water. At around 300 mg/l across the city, and roughly 317 in MK8 against a UK average of 207, outside taps scale like everything else. The visible effect is a stiffening tap and a slowly failing washer. If the tap gets stiff, deal with it rather than forcing it, because forcing a scaled tap destroys the washer seat.
Newer estates, Brooklands, Whitehouse, Fairfields, Oakgrove, Tattenhoe Park and Glebe Farm. Frequently have an outside tap already, often in the garage or on the rear wall. Worth checking yours has an internal isolating valve, because not all of them do.
1970s and 1980s estates, Beanhill, Coffee Hall, Netherfield, Fishermead, Conniburrow, Furzton and Emerson Valley. Older supply pipework where the tapping point needs choosing with a little care, and many properties where an outside tap was added at some point by somebody with a drill and enthusiasm.
Older property in Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Olney and Wolverton. Thick solid walls make the penetration a longer job, and the internal route needs planning.
Checklist for any outside tap
- Is there an internal isolating valve? If not, add one
- Is there a double check valve? It is a regulatory requirement
- Is the external section lagged?
- Is the wall penetration sealed properly?
- Is it in a position you will actually use?
- Do you drain it down every autumn?
- Is the tap left open over winter?
- Is the hose disconnected and drained?
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to fit an outside tap?
Usually an hour or two, longer on a thick solid wall or where the internal route is awkward.
Do I legally need a check valve?
Backflow protection is required under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. A double check valve is the standard arrangement for a garden tap.
Can you add an isolating valve to my existing tap?
Yes, and it is worth doing. It is the difference between draining it down each autumn and hoping for a mild winter.
Will it reduce my water pressure indoors?
Not noticeably when it is tapped in correctly. A poor tapping point on an already marginal supply can, which is why the connection point is chosen rather than assumed.
Can I have one fitted to the front of the house?
Yes. The run from the mains is the main consideration, and it is a common request for car washing.
My outside tap froze and split. Can it be repaired?
Usually yes, and it is worth adding an isolating valve at the same time so it does not happen again.
Do you fit outside taps for commercial premises?
Yes, for shops, offices and small commercial units.
Can I fit one myself?
The regulations apply regardless of who fits it, including the backflow protection. It is a small enough job that having it done properly is rarely worth avoiding.
You may also need
Book one in
Call 07514 312117 or send a WhatsApp with a photo of where you want it and where your stopcock is. Gas Safe registered 981362, CIPHE member, fully insured.