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Comment on Can I replace my shower controls?

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.

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Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.

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zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.

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- Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.
  
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- bstix@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.
  
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- cedarmesa@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ 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.
  
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  - zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    
    The leak got a lot worse pretty suddenly - so it’s now leaking something like a few gallons an hour I’d guess (Though water is the one utility we don’t pay for here, so it’s annoying but not world-endingly urgent). So I decided it was time to get around to this - but when I got to the point in the images, which is right after the escutcheon you mentioned, I was no longer certain how to proceed.
    
    Based on the images, is this still a relatively simple job that I can do with one or two trips to Home Depot? I don’t really know what I’m looking at here - would I grab the hex bit the white part is sticking out of and start turning with a large wrench? If so, the rest of your advice is still relevant - take the seals to Home Depot and look for as close a match as I can, since I looked and looked and couldn’t find a manufacturer’s name?
    
    As of right now I’ve re-assembled it and turned the water back on. I did get a look at the pipes at least and they seem to be copper. There’s drywall behind the pipes that I would absolutely be willing to let a plumber tear into to avoid tile work. If I did end up calling a plumber, and nothing went wrong, do you happen to know the general ballpark of what it may cost?
    
    Also, sorry. I know I’m asking for a lot of information and advice here. If you’re not up for another round of free advice I’d totally get it.
    
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    cedarmesa@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Thats amazing. You ran into some type 2 fun and figured it out on the fly. I kinda hate plumbing for that reason. Seems like you touch it and 12 other things go wonky. I forget if I mentioned replacing the cartridge potentially. Some have a cartridge, some have seals some have both. But yea, good work, appreciate the update.
    
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