It seems like every shower has its own unique way of controlling water temperature and pressure. Of all the showers I’ve ever used, no two of which have ever been alike, I like my controls the least. Plus the faucet has started dripping lately.
Is this likely to be something I can replace on my own, without a plumber? To me, that means: Can I likely do this without damaging the wall, without having to mess with pipes, and without needing to do anything involving words like “hacksaw”, “weld”, or “plumbing torch”?
Basically I believe in my ability to buy a faucet and control thingie from Home Depot; to use screwdrivers, allen wrenches, pliers, and regular wrenches; to use things like plumbing tape, lubricants, and caulk; and to remember to turn the water off to the house.
Would a project like this likely require anything more complex than that? I tend to prefer shower controls that have separate knobs for hot and cold, but I figure going from a one-knob setup to a two-knob setup is definitely going to require reconfiguring the plumbing. Should sticking with a one-knob solution be okay?
I don’t know if it matters but I live in Florida in the US, and this place was built in the 1980s. I doubt this matters, but my current controls work by turning the larger knob left or right for temperature, and the smaller knob for pressure.
Thanks for any insight.
cedarmesa@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I was a kitchen and bathroom remodeler for years. This is a shower valve. You will either have to tear out the wall with tile in picture or cut an access panel into the wall behind the plumbing. You will have to shut off the water main and cut 3-4 pipes. You will have to solder in a new shower valve with a torch in a tight space within the wall. Often you will find crappy old galvanized pipe that is rusted through and will find yourself replacing more pipe than you expected. I once changed a shower valve and wound up crawling through a crawl space a replumbing an entire customers house. You will have to close the wall, depending on which wall you opened up you have drywall work or tile work to do. Often when replacing a shower valve people just install all new tile, tub, or shower pan, etc. I wouldnt consider this a homeowner friendly repair unless its a homeowner with fairly extensive experience and a pretty well rounded tool box. If youre feeling froggy, dont mind buying tools, willing to watch a lot of youtube videos, etc. you could do it. My biggest concern would be sweating in new pipes without creating leaks, melting the internals of a new shower valve, or starting a fire inside your wall with a torch.
Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world 9 months ago
This comment sums it up pretty much, also depends where the hot and cold water supply connects to the valve behind the tiles you might need to remove more tiles around it or make the cavity for the valve bigger to re-route the pipes. Some concealed valves have the connection points on the sides, some on the bottom, etc. Also they can be different size from the current one. Best case scenario of you can access it from the other side of the wall, that makes things probably a bit easier and less mess in the bathroom.
Good news is once you remove the old valve you can fit pretty much any type of valve: thermostatic or manual mixer depending on what you are looking for.
I would definitely not call it an easy DIY project, but everything is doable.
zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Thank you for the detailed response.
Is there any way I could accomplish part of my goal without getting into the complex work you described? For example, what if I left the controls alone but tried to replace just the faucet, for the drip issue? Or if I were able to locate the exact same controls, would it still require all of that work to replace them? I ask that question because the pressure knob is slightly broken, after being overtightened in an attempt to slow the drip. I’m concerned it may eventually break more completely.
Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The drip is the reason of the valve failure. It can be a limescale issue or just simply an old valve. Whatever part is controlling the waterflow (control unit, cartridge, etc) can be replaced if its still available.
Contract the manufacturer for spare parts advice and they should also have instructions on how to replace it.
bstix@feddit.dk 9 months ago
If you have the same thermostat control, it should be (relatively) easy. You probably don’t need to swap the faucet. It’s dripping because of the thermostat.
cedarmesa@lemmy.world 9 months ago
You can replace internals on your shower valve. Im not sure what brand that valve is but…first shut off your water at the main. Open your hot and cold side on your sink faucet. Go outside and open a spigot. This will drain down your pipes. Underneath the handle will probably be a tint set screw which is probably a small allen screw. Loosen this and remove the handle. Then there may be a decorative ring over the valve body (an escutcheon). Remove this if it has one. There will either be a threaded ring or the whole valve body will rotate. Unthread this assembly. Now the guts of the valve will be in your hand. Typically youre going to find 2 small black seals held in place by 2 small springs. These being worn out is whats causing the leak. They sell replacement seal and spring sets at the plumbing repair section at you local orange big box store. Reverse procedure after installing new springs and seals. Its helpful to know the brand and model of your shower valve to get the right seals. If not, take the old ones in and match them up. Id consider this to be a homeowner friendly repair and if you get confused or shit looks weird put shit back together and call a professional. Discretion is the better part of valor.