Are brands interchangable?

Hi guys,I am nearing final trim out of our new house-my dilema is that our house was roughed in with Delta valves but I am seeing other brands of tub and shower controls I prefer. I have a jacuzzi tub with deck mounted control,it was roughed in with the classic flexible 3 hole kit. I then have a tiled in shower with one showerhead and a preformed shower /tub combo in the other bathroom-both of these used the classic universal t/s valve body.
Would I have any problems going with a price pfister trim in these situations.
Thanks for any help

These bodies are very specific to the trim that fits. They are not interchangable

That is kind of strange-if they stop making that trim style or you decide to update your bath fixtures it involves having to change out all your valve bodies. I would have thought that they would have some industry standard,unless you are getting crazy with the massagers and jets .

Welcome to the world of plumbing.

If you update your trim, you are more than likely going to update your body and make of faucet anyway. I don't get much call for swapping out a trim with another trim from a different manufacturer

I hear that Chevy doesn't make parts for Ford either.
Funny.

Terry....that's a good one! Never heard it put that way!

For poser BJK.....plumbing, possible more than any other trade, is about as non-standardized as you can get. It really started over 100 years ago, and in the beginning, there were no codes, then there were a LOT of different codes, and especially we did not have telephones, much less the internet! The FAX was actually invented in the 20's. One page took several minutes, and the cost for one page from New York to Chicago was I believe $25.00 a lot of money in those days! So small manufacturing companies in each city sprung up to make stuff for the plumbers in that area. It was all different. And it has pretty much continued to evolve like that. There has been some standardization of things like pipe sizes, but you still have choices of ABS,PVC, cast iron, steel, copper, PEX, PE, CPVC....etc. etc.

One critique I have always had of store displays, showrooms, and the people who work in those places.......is that they do NOT make it abundantly clear that what you see must be brand for brand, model for model. You wouldn't believe how many people have purchased a rough valve, installed it, then purchased an expensive trim kit....only to find it doesn't go. I do blame the stores and salepeople for some of this.

SO, after my long tirade here....the bottom line answer to your question is an unequivocable NO. Sorry!

That really stinks. I guess I'm stuck with Delta products for now,not that I have a bone to pick with them. So if you have someone with a broken shower hot cold handle and they want to replace the whole shower fixture set they are limited to whatever make/model the valve was at the time of rough in plumbing . Wow.
I get the Ford /Chevy thing and I am a Electrical Contractor so I understand that not everything is interchangable. I have done alot of remodel work where the homeowner has updated their bathroom fixtures to say bronze instead of chrome and while the Plumber was in there swapping them out I didn't see him getting into tile /drywall to tear out the old valve so that is why I thought it was possible.
Thanks.

Its not really all that limiting.Both Moen and Delta put out fat catalogs of shower,tub shower and roman tub trims that will work with their respective "universal" valves.All in multiple assorted finishes.

The bigger the brand, the more likely that as time goes by they will make some upgraded trims available to keep up with fashion trends. That has been true of PP, Delta, AmStd, and Moen. As more time goes by, if there are fewer and fewer of a particular model still installed in the field, then the supply of alternative trims starts to dry up.

This is one of the reasons that many of us on this forum tend to advise against import, or no-name foo-foo tub/shower valves.

Quite a few manufacturers use OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in wall valves, that is, they buy the in wall from another manufacturer which specializes in such valves. Danfoss, a Canadian company, is one that comes to mind. Their pressure balanced in wall is used by a number of companies. Simmons and Speakman and THG also sell their in wall valves (both pressure balanced and thermostatic) to other manufacturers [but not Delta].

As srdenny mentioned, you sometimes find common valving. That is not always as easy as it seems. If you recognize the valve, that is one thing. But the manuals for the shower set you purchase usually don't jump out and say "use symmons spindle". Parts support for foofoo brands can be spotty. Broadway was a good example. Their single handle press. bal. used some Speakman parts, but the average homeowner or DIY doesn't know that. So he trucks into a store asking for Broadway parts, and gets that sad look like " sorry...you are so screwed!"

All the more reason to hire a pro like you, Jimbo.

Another crazy situation with common parts involves Dornbracht and Jado. The plastic parts that the handle attaches to on some of their thermostatic valves are interchangeable. Had a broken Dornbracht not too long ago and the Jado repair part I had for another job fit like a glove.

parts

If you think it is strange that Price Pfister doesn't make parts that fit Delta, then you will really think it strange that new Price Pfister parts won't even fit older Price Pfister faucets.