slow shower leak from supply/valve

Users who are viewing this thread

nc8861

New Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
North Carolina
I have no clue about plumbing, which you may notice from my lack of proper terminology and poor explanation, but I'm relatively handy and hope I can do this myself. We're redoing our bathroom and I've redone electrical and framed out a wall, and put in a pocket door.

Anyway - after removing all wall material and tile, etc., there is a small drip-every-half-hour-or-so leak coming from where the hot water supply hooks into the shower valve/assembly/thing-a-ma-jig that the shower handle used to attach to. This is upstairs - I have of course a hot & cold coming up through the plate, then they bend towards each other and join at this valve/assembly/thing-a-ma-jig, which heads up towards the shower head.

First - does the whole valve thing need to come out for new shower fixtures (the old one is about 30 years old).

Second - if not, then what is the best way to stop the drip leak?

I'll post another question in another thread regarding the drain/flange.
 

Redwood

Master Plumber
Messages
7,335
Reaction score
13
Points
0
Location
Connecticut
Allrighty then we'll be watching for it. What was the problem with the drain? You don't really need to start a new thred on that.
 

nc8861

New Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
North Carolina
The old shower was tiled, and the drain/flange just has so much concrete & crap around it. I was just going to play it safe and have a nice new drain put in since everything else in the bathroom is going to be new. I wasn't sure how hard this was.

I know part of the floor will have to come up to get to everything, if I choose to do this. This is OK, though - I have to get part of the floor up to make sure there's no mold from the leak anyway.
 

Redwood

Master Plumber
Messages
7,335
Reaction score
13
Points
0
Location
Connecticut
Ohhh.... If that tile floor comes up we are talking big time job. That floor is a mud base with a pan and it is very normal to have cement around the drain. Here is sort of what you have although I'd be willing to bet you might have a lead pan instead of the membrain.

shwrpn1.jpg


I'd see about opening up the wall behind the valve and see about drying out below from there. If you take the pan up I'd just replace the leaking valve. You are in a sense heading for a bath remodel job.
 

nc8861

New Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
North Carolina
Oh maybe I didn't explain fully - we have ripped out everything already. Down to the studs and subfloor, including the shower pan. It was indeed a mud base - there didn't appear to be a membrane in it, however, hence the shower leak. The grout lines had disintegrated, and the mud wasn't solid anymore and was wicking water.

So - we are down to the subfloor. And yes there is concrete around the drain.
 

Redwood

Master Plumber
Messages
7,335
Reaction score
13
Points
0
Location
Connecticut
Then pick out a nice new shower mixer and install it in your new bath.
May I recomment a Moen or, Delta pressure balanced unit?
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,770
Reaction score
1,190
Points
113
Location
New England
Don't try to use a valve that old. It almost certainly doesn't meet current codes, and since you've torn out the shower, the inspector may very well require a new one anyways - plus, whenever you sell the house, it would be a ding by the inspector (well, should be anyways!).

Even if you don't plan to put the new shower in yourself, check out www.johnbridge.com. They specialize in showers and tiled stuff.
 

nc8861

New Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
North Carolina
Here is the thingamajig. Also pictured up close is the area where the leak is - you can actually see a small bead of water if you look closely.
 

Attachments

  • Picture 002.jpg
    Picture 002.jpg
    38.4 KB · Views: 464
  • Picture 005.jpg
    Picture 005.jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 460

Redwood

Master Plumber
Messages
7,335
Reaction score
13
Points
0
Location
Connecticut
I'm partial to Moen & Delta myself. The Delta 1700 series is a good one and the R-10000 universal mixer is a good choice as well.
 

nc8861

New Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
North Carolina
Thanks for those recommendations - can anyone offer any guidance on how to switch this out for a rookie? Or should I just call a plumber?
 

nc8861

New Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
North Carolina
After reading some stuff elsewhere, watching some youtube videos on sweating pipe and practicing a few times, I feel like I can tackle this. I certainly respect the knowledge & advice here, but to be frank, I'd rather not settle for the just-call-the-plumber answer.

If it's harder than this, or I'm missing something, please let me know....

All outside the wall....
1 - disassemble the guts of the valve so as to not damage it with heat
2 - with proper measurements of course, fit two short pipes coming out left & right with the proper threaded fittings
3 - sweat the 90 degree elbows on each side to bend down towards the supply
4 - sweat a short extender pipe down from each elbow (vertically)
5 - sweat a coupling on the bottom of each cold/hot pipe to attach to the cold/hot supplies
6 - on the top of the valve, sweat/thread the supply that goes up to the shower head
7 - reassemble the valve.....now my preassembled stuff looks like below

|
| shower supply
|
|valve
/--O--\elbows
| |
| | down to cold/hot supply



Now.....working in the wall...
1 - cut the water supply off (at the main, b/c I don't have a shutoff valve at the shower)
2 - cut the cold/hot supply lines, using my pre-assembled vavle/elbow assembly to measure where
3 - sweat the assembly at the cold/hot coupling to the cold/hot supply coming out of the floor.
4 - let the solder cool
5 - turn the water on.
 

Redwood

Master Plumber
Messages
7,335
Reaction score
13
Points
0
Location
Connecticut
LOL Well you have seen the damage a small leak can do inside a wall.
What the heck? Go For It!

I've seen a few of these videos people post on many plumbing how to tips...
In fact on many of these forums people post links to them Usually as a check this idiot out and then we get into a discussion on the lack of skills stc.
Why not post a link to the video so we can look and tell you what he is doing that you shouldn'i do...

Frequently people do run into trouble as the end up finding that this is indeed over their head, The problem is many times there is no way to isolate this fixture so the whole house is shut off. Not a good thing to do going into a holiday weekend...

My tip to you is stop at Big Orange Box and buy a couple of 1/2" Sharkbite end caps. That way when you figure out that you have screwed the pooch you cab just cut the supplies and push on the end caps and you will heve water on again without an emergency call charge.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks