Master shower issues

[tjgrz11]

My girlfriend recently moved into her dads place. For quite some time the master shower had not been used. Now there are problems with the hot water. I'm don't know much about plumbing so I'm hoping you guys can help me out.

When first trying to turn on the hot water in the shower there was just a trickle of water coming out. I noticed the screw on the hot water knob was very rusted. I used a screwdriver to turn it some more and got more water to come out, but it wasn't hot, it was just warm. After this I figured that the stem was probably rusted out and plugged up from it.

Last night she turned the water on again and let it run for a bit, it never got hot and eventually just stopped coming out completely. Now I'm really confused.

Every other faucet in the house including the jacuzzi tub and in the master bathroom and the other shower works perfectly fine and puts out very hot water. It's just the master shower.

My question is if replacing the hot water stem is going to fix this issue. I know i'm going to have to cut an access to the stem. My other issue is where to look for the water shut off. Am I going to need to shut off the main water line or just shut it off at the water heater?

Any advice you can give would be a huge help. I'm planning on getting into this project on Friday.

-TJ

[Maureen]

Hi TJ,

The very first thing I would do is try taking the shower head apart and cleaning the screen. If it hasn't been used in quite some time, it may be as easy as just that.

If that doesn't work, then yes, you'll have to look at the faucet itself. More than likely, you won't find shut off valves. Most of our homes don't come that way from the factory. Even if you do have shut off valves, it's wise to turn the water main off. If the shut of valves are older, they may fail when you try to shut off the water.

You shouldn't need to cut a hole to access just the faucet stem. Take the handle off the faucet and then unscrew the stem from the front of the faucet and inspect it. I don't think that this is your problem though. Normally when a stem fails, the faucet leaks. It then needs to be reseated and a new washer, or replaced.

In my opinion, if this is an older home, I'd go ahead and replace the whole faucet. This will require making an access point or panel. Personally, I like taking down the the panel behind the shower wall to give me free access all the way up to the shower head. This is easy in my home, as I have real wood paneling and it's pretty sturdy. With a lot of care, I can take it down and replace the same panel.

I'm sure that others will come along with their opinions and ideas for you also!

Maureen

[Yanita]

Hi,

I agree with the fixture replacement, shut off valves and creating an access panel if one is not available now.

It may also be possible that since this shower has not been used regularly that there may be debris in the line itself or as Maureen said the shower head, does the cold water flow thru ok?

~Yanita~

[Mark]

My opinion also is if the faucet is old, just replace it. I'll have to admit tho, that older faucets are harder to replace than the newer plastic ones.

Earlier today I stopped by a house who was trying to get their shower head to quit dripping. He was having real trouble finding the right parts to fix it. I said for $25, I can sell you a whole new 8" shower faucet. Well, he didn't want to do that.

8 hours later they called me and said they still hadn't completed the repair. Myself, I value my time. In this case, the new faucet would have taken 20 minutes to replace (plus the 20 minutes to put in an access panel).

I think their issue was that they didn't want to mess with the access panel. To me an access panel is a no-brainer, as that would give you future access to the same faucet.

Mark

[tjgrz11]

Thanks for the info! I'm going over there tomorrow and will probably make an access panel and take a look at what I'm dealing with.

I know it isn't the shower head being clogged, I replaced that already and the cold water flows through perfectly fine. The only issue is with the hot water, which is why I was thinking it was the stem being messed up. Like I said though, plumbing is my weakness so I wanted to get some outside advice.

Also, is there a general place to look for the main water shut off or does it vary alot for each home?

[Maureen]

Folks don't seem to realize how important access panels are to our homes. I know, we all know, that most stick builts don't have access panels in standard bath/shower combos. So why should we?

It all comes back to the fact that water is a huge enemy of our homes. You want access to each faucet! The only way to achieve that is to create access panels near the tub/showers. It's easy with a little creativity to make the access panel a decorative little door.

The most important thing to remember is to install shut off when you install the new faucet. Installing shut offs is really easy! It's added insurance, cheap and like I said, easy. If there is ever a problem, all you need to do is open the door and shut off the valves.

Now, as far as your water main goes, this can be located just about anywhere! If possible, ask your girl friends father where it's located at. If not, and the home is in a park, ask them. Otherwise, it can be a mystery. Look under the home where the main water pipes come into the home. Normally, it's near there. But it can be located just about any where! My main shut offs are buried in PVC sleeves, at the opposite side of the home. I have 2. One for the home and the other for the landscape. If it isn't under the home, then carefully walk around the home and look.

Hope this helps!

Maureen