The poster formerly known as Colleyville Alan wrote:

> went to take off a hose bib since the handle was broken and simply
> replace
> the entire unit for about $10 or so. *The thing did not spin in a nice
> rotary fashion as I used the wrench on it. *It was not, as I had thought,
> an iron threaded pipe after all. *The hose bib was soldered to a copper
> pipe and I managed to twist off the bib by twisting the copper pipe until
> it broke inside the wall. *The plumber came and cut out the drywall inside
> the house and $185 later I had a new hose bib and a wall that needed
> repair.
>
This past June, the faucet on the back of the house wouldn't shut off fully.
Thought it just needed a new washer. Turned out the screw that holds the
washer had broken off. Thought I could just replace the stem. Wrong.
Hardware guy sez they don't come that way: replace the whole thing. Like
you did. Right.

I super-glued a new washer into the old stem, put it back together and use
it very carefully. I think it's almost time to move.