I don't have a pot filler, so can't answer specific to that, but how would winter pipe fail be any more likely on a pot filler than on a regular sink faucet?

Well the sink faucet will come through the cabinet and countertop, so when it's behind the cooktop it has to come out of the wall...

As long as you have 2x6 walls or thicker you should be ok.

Sorry I'm no help on your question, but just saw the name happyallison and had to say hello. I seriously was just wondering the other day how your kitchen remodel addition was progessing. Would love to hear how it turned out! Reveal maybe? Hint hint! :-)

Ours is through the exterior wall. No problems. We have mild winters in the PNW.

I live in the Midwest. My GC would not put plumbing on an outside wall in the master shower...so in my zone I doubt that I would risk it.

Rebunky! lol oh it's been a ride, it has been slow since we were doing the guesthouse first and were hoping to use a different contractor for the inside....however it was too much for him (we should've known) but were hopeful. So my house is currently gutted down to studs...the entire main living area. Ha! I had many tears over it and the issues and frankly money wasted (thousands) but it's progressing quickly. My cabinets have been ordered for a long time and are in and being held....few last things to decide, pendants, backsplash and one of the last major ones COUNTERTOPS. Main floor vanity and light fixtures...goal is end of Nov. I will try to post pics (on my phone) and I DID take the advice to do the addition and my husband and I can't picture it any other way! This is thanks to you guys!

ILoveRed yes the plumber wants us to sign a waiver and I just don't know if it's worth the risk, I'm Midwest as well.

red and allison-I don't understand what is different between a shower/pot filler on an exterior wall and sinks? I am in the midwest also. Our master sinks are on the outside wall, old house sinks on the outside wall also...but never the shower. What is the difference?

I'm told there is a much increased chance for pipes (or fittings?) to freeze when it's in an exterior wall...it's an older home so I think it's just 2x4s....my contractor suggested spray foam insulation which we are using in some other areas...but I worry it won't be enough.

If you have a sink, the lines don't have to run behind the wall (look into your cabs). The lines go through the floor and cabinets and countertop, but pot fillers are mounted to the wall so the line and fittings are much closer to the exterior. I'm not educated on this, anyone with better knowledge please step in. I'm being told this...however...want a second opinion.

I'm so glad you could do the addition to make more room for the dining room table. I can't wait for the pics! I thought of you because I was actually looking thru my graph paper binder for an unused page and came across a drawing I did for your kitchen. It was my first attempt at helping someone on GW. At first I was thinking, what was this for? It is kinda similar to my kitchen, but then it dawned on me, oh yeah happy Allison! I think that buehl actually did an awesome plan for you, so hopefully that one worked out for you. Thanks for the update!!!

LOL that's funny rebunky! You guys did help me a lot...I did have to keep the sink and cooktop on the same wall, as the other wall is really just way too short to host two appliances, and I really wanted an empty island (no sink/cooktop in it). I know people will hate that aspect, heck I may not like it myself. Hopefully not! But I went over and over with my KD and for the space and what I wanted out of it we settled on it. I will be very excited to show when it is done. Well, hopefully :)

You could use a deck mount pot filler.

Or, using a wall mount pot filler you could bump out the wall behind the range so the plumbing is all on the insulated side of the exterior wall. Then you would have to use extra deep base cabinetry on that wall or pull the base cabs forward and use deeper counters.

Oh please don't second guess, it will be so great!

If you put on outside wall and foam spray, you might still need to leave it dripping at night during an extreme cold streak. Run a few times during the day. With sinks, you can always open the cabinet doors to get more heat to the pipes, but you won't be able to do that with a wall mounted pot filler. They do have deck mounted pot fillers.

At first I wanted a pot filler, but decided against it when I didn't want the backsplash interrupted. With the sink across from the range, it's hardly a big deal to fill pots there first then add water with a measuring cup while cooking. Neither DH or I regret skipping.

Admittedly, I live in the South. My closet contains more sandals than boots. My everyday coat is a Lands End Squall, which some of you would be forced to set aside around the end of October. I don't know cold.

If your plumber is against it, I wouldn't do it. He knows this topic better than you and me. When you hire the expert, you take his advice. In the end, water always wins -- but you can choose to avoid the battle. While a pot filler is a nifty little convenience, I don't think it's worth the potential trouble for your situation.

In my homes in ND and MN, we had problems with freezing pipes even further in than that. I would never put one in an exterior wall. You will need to use heat tape on the entire pipe to prevent freezing in very cold temps.

In one of the aforementioned homes, the water lines running from the basement utility area directly up to the bathroom would freeze because of the deadair space in BETWEEN the basement ceiling and the 1st floor bathroom. Apparently, some nimrod thought that if you stuffed all sorts of insulation round the pipes from the basement side, they would be OK. Well that actually insulated them FROM the heat of the house -- so every time it got to 15 below or more, they would freeze.

In the other house, the kitchen water pipes ran from the utility room, through a bathroom ceiling, then down the wall into the kitchen. They were never less than 2 feet from an exterior wall, but because the ceiling of the bathroom was very well insulated, the outer wall of the house between the floors was cold and combined with the cold outside air migrating down the exhaust vents, a cold air pocket would form around the pipes in the ceiling. We measured the temps on the interior bath ceiling and got 65 degrees. The temp probe registered 25 degrees in the dead space above the bathroom - kinda like it's own private attic! This problem was not discovered in the home until we tried to use it year-round. Previous years we blew out the water pipes by November.

I'm in MD and the drain for our tub periodically freezes - it's on an exterior wall with insulation and inside the house - but right up against the wall, not several inches in.

The difference b/w a pot-filler and a sink on an exterior wall is this:

• With a sink, the faucet & plumbing lines are actually inside the house where there's heat, etc. The plumbing is also usually inside a cabinet and there are several inches b/w it and the wall - so warm air flows around it.

• The plumbing for a pot-filler is usually inside a wall - where there's no heat other than what is transferred through the wall.

The idea of a counter-mounted pot-filler would work in your case - but it will require a hole in the counter, etc.

Pot-fillers usually do not have sinks or drains under them, so you can't really let them drip to keep them from freezing. (I suppose you could put a pot under it...)

Keep in mind that with no drain, there's no place for water overflow and there's no place to empty a pot. In addition, an access panel (or similar) is needed to access the plumbing in case something goes wrong (pipe leak, pot-filler connection inside the wall leaking, burst pipe) - hopefully you will know b/f there's a soggy mess inside the wall.

You can put a separate valve for that one pipe amd place it under the sink...you can then basically winterize your pot filler in seconds

Put a separate valve below sink...then you can winterize your pot filler in seconds whenever it gets really cold

Hi George - can you explain this further? Can I winterize the pot filler with a separate valve under the sink if my sink is on an island and the pot filler is against an external wall (right across front the island sink)?