james wrote:
The 25 year old faucet in my backyard is near failure. It squeaked
when turned and it's not a metalic squeak, but
twisting-the-cork-off-a-bottle kind of squeak, and water drips out of
the handle at certain point. I have managed to adjust it so that
water is shut off and is not dripping out of the handle.

This sillcock goes into the house in between a wall. On one side of
the wall is a kitchen cabinet, on the other side is the living room.
I have to choose one of the walls to cut an opening for repair.

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/12296239_88hEN

On the cabinet side, the height of the pipe is 1 inch from the middle
shelf, and the shelf is not made to be removable. Even if the middle
shelf is removed, it would still be a tight space to work in.

On the living room side, it is easy to cut the hole to work on the
pipe, but repairing the drywall may leave a sign of repair due to
slightly mismatched paint and texture.

Any words of wisdom?

I haven't dealt with that particular spigot, but I would expect there to be
some provision for removing the cartridge without cutting the wall. Take
off the handle and see if there is a way to remove it.

If you have to cut into the wall, I would lift the siding up with a Superbar
to gain access. You will need some caulking and nails and primer to finish,
of course.

Jon