Best Plumber Near Me
We have been in this town for more than 35 years when you need the best plumber near me or plumber near me. You can count on us and we will help you with many issues such as faucets mostly, the faucets contain handles and valves which allow the water to flow in your shower. Whenever these components don’t function properly, you may have to deal with the problems, including temperature changes and irregular water flow.
Repairing or replacing your faulty shower faucet seems to be an impossible task sometimes, but it does not have to be that way. There are a few simple steps that you can follow to replace or repair your shower or bathtub faucet. The process of replacing or repairing your shower faucet depends upon the nature of the damage.
Tools Required (For Shower Faucet Repair, Replacement and Installation)
- Water fittings
- Connectors
- Safety gear
- Cleaning rags
- Reciprocating saws
- Hand saws
- Tubing cutters
- New shower faucet
- Pliers
Steps Required (For Shower Faucet Repair, Replacement and Installation)
The parts of your shower faucets begin to wear down due to the regular use and start leaking. You can fix your shower faucets by knowing simple plumbing techniques rather than calling a plumber. You don’t have to be worried about how to replace your shower faucets; it can be done by following these steps:
Step 1 – Shut off the Water Source
The very first step in fixing any kind of water leakage is disconnecting the water source to avoid distractions while repairing. For this purpose, you have to shut down the water supply to your shower faucet. Turn off the water valves supplying water to your shower faucet if there are any separate valves.
If there is no separate water connection to your shower faucet, shut off the main water connection when you are repairing or replacing your shower faucet.
Step 2 – Remove the Old Valve and Trim
In this step, you will have to remove the showerhead, faucet handle or the escutcheon plate for getting access to the faulty part. Different showers have different handles, but almost all of them can be removed by the standard method.
Sometimes, a different process is required to remove the faucet handles or showerheads depending on the shower faucets’ manufacturer. But most of the time, you can remove the old valves or handle by merely unscrewing or pulling off the different handle parts.
Step 3 – Remove the Clip
After removing the old valve trim, remove the clips if there are any from the wall. With a tile saw, cut a section from the wall for removing the stringer.
For removing the stringer, use a tubing cutter and cut the copper wires connected to the stringer.
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Step 4 – Connect the Pipes
The process of connecting the pipes is known as ‘seating the pipes’. For sweating the pipes, you will need a lead-free solder and a flashlight. For cleaning the pipes, you will need a wire brush and a deburring tool.
The deburring tool is used for cleaning the ends of the pipes while the wire brush will help you clean the inside of the pipe fittings. Once, cleaning is done, it’s time for coating the pipes thoroughly with flux to insure a good solder joint.
Ensure that solder paste is evenly applied on the ends of the pipes and inside the fittings and connect the pipes afterwards. After you connect the pipes, fill up the joint with solder while heating evenly and to the far side of were you apply the solder so that it sets firmly. If you are not comfortable using solder and torch , then you can also go for a solderless method in which you just need to push and lock the pipes.
Step 5 – Install the New Valve
Get a new valve for your shower faucet and make sure that it’s the right one for your faucet. Your valve might have two inlets for both hot and cold water and two outlets for both tub and showerhead.
And if you don’t have any tub in your bathroom, you will have to cover your valve’s tub outlet when installing the new valve. Or in some cases, there is only a single outlet for showerhead so that you don’t need to cover any outlet.
Before installing the new valve, keep in mind that your valve is at the right distance from the wall and mounted to the stringer firmly. If not the trim will not cover correctly and cause a problem having to tear out the tile and start again.
Step 6 – Install a Stringer
For the proper functioning of your new valve, your valve must be set at the right distance. For this purpose, a stringer is required, keeping the valve in place and at the correct depth.
Before mounting the new valve to the stringer, read the instructions carefully as this will help you find out the ideal depth of the stringer.
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Step 7 – Test the Set-up
It’s time to test the assembly the new valve installed and make sure that installation is done correctly. To check that there are no leaks in the set-up, cap off the showerhead and spout connections. Install the test cap onto the showerhead firmly to get optimum result.
Now, just to turn on the water supply to your showerhead, and if you see no leaks, then go ahead and finish the process.
Step 8 – Install the Showerhead
Usually, all the showerheads are installed using the same basic method. For installing the showerhead, you will only need a pair of plyers. Tighten the nuts of the new showerhead on the shower arms and make sure you fix it tightly.
In some cases, Teflon tape is recommended to ensure leak-proof connections.
Step 9 – Install the Trim Handle
For connecting the shower trim handle, you will need a sleeve that is long enough to go over the top of cartridge and shower. If an O-ring is required, then be sure to include it before installing.
In the end, an escutcheon is put back over the shower arm and held tightly in place by screws.
Step 10 – Adjust the Temperature Limit
The last in shower faucet repair, replacement and installation are adjusting the temperature limit for preventing scalding. The optimum temperature for a shower outlet is about 120 degrees.
If the temperature is hotter or colder than it needs to be, turn the clip clockwise or anti-clockwise to meet the desired temperature.
After you are done with installing the new faucet, all you have to do is take a shower comfortably with the content that everything is working well! Hopefully the faucet is not on the outside wall. It makes it difficult to repair and you cause to have problems with frozen water lines.