Faucet and fixture installation
Sinks and taps, usually done in the same bathroom visit.
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Shower and bathtub plumbing: valves, drains and the wall behind them
Shower plumbing lives inside a wall, which is why small faults get ignored and why the repairs are more involved than they look. A dripping valve, a failed diverter or a leaking shower pan all deserve attention before the framing gets involved.
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(833) 472-2088
Dripping shower? Usually a cartridge, through the trim.
Cartridge first
Most drips and temperature faults are one part.
Anti-scald matters
Pressure-balance and thermostatic valves are code now.
Access done neatly
From behind where possible, tile untouched.
Leaks found properly
Pan, valve, drain or grout, each looks the same.
Symptoms
Seven complaints and where the fault sits
The shower drips constantly. A worn cartridge or seats and springs in the valve. Cheap part, and the drip is also slowly staining the tub or wearing the finish.
Temperature swings when a toilet flushes or the washer fills. The valve is an old two-handle or non-balancing type. Modern pressure-balance and thermostatic valves are designed to prevent exactly this, and it is a genuine scald hazard rather than an annoyance.
Not enough hot water at the shower, or you cannot get it hot. A cartridge with a limit stop set wrong, a failing cartridge, a mixing valve on the water heater, or a genuine hot water supply problem. See water heater repair.
Water keeps coming out of the tub spout while the shower runs. A failed diverter, either the tub spout type or a valve-mounted one. Common, and it wastes hot water constantly.
Weak or uneven spray. Scale in the shower head, which is a five-minute job in Idaho water, or a restricted valve.
Slow draining tub or shower. Hair and soap in the trap and the branch, usually, and occasionally a venting problem or something further downstream.
A stain on the ceiling below the bathroom. The one that matters. It can be the valve, the drain connection, a failed shower pan, or water getting through failed grout and caulk. Each has a different repair, and finding out which is the first job.
Where the access will be
Shower valves are serviced from the front through the trim, or from behind through the wall on the other side. Where a valve body has to be replaced, an opening is needed, and going in from a closet or a bedroom wall behind the shower is usually far cheaper than cutting tile. We look at both sides of that wall before deciding, and we tell you where the hole will be before making it.
Scalding on a flush is a safety fault worth fixing.
The valve
What is behind the handle, and what gets replaced
Cartridge replacement
The standard repair. Most drips, stiff handles and temperature problems are a worn cartridge, and on mainstream brands the part is available and often warranted. Done through the trim without touching tile in the great majority of cases.
Seats, springs and O-rings
On older valve designs these wear rather than the cartridge, and rebuilding is inexpensive. Hard Idaho water shortens their life considerably.
Pressure-balance and thermostatic valves
Anti-scald protection is required for showers and tub-showers under the plumbing code. A pressure-balancing valve compensates when pressure drops on one side, the toilet-flush scald. A thermostatic valve holds a set temperature and is the better experience, particularly for multi-outlet showers. Replacing an old unbalanced two-handle valve with either is a genuine safety improvement and is what a code-compliant replacement looks like.
Whole valve body replacement
Needed when the body is corroded, when the brand has no parts available, or when the existing valve is an obsolete type. This requires access to the plumbing behind the wall, and it is the point at which the job goes from a service call to a small project.
Trim and handles
Escutcheons, handles and shower arms, replaceable, and finish matching is worth checking before ordering. Trim kits are brand and model specific, so a valve of one make cannot generally take another’s trim.
Shower heads and arms
Descaling or replacement, hand showers, slide bars and rain heads. Note that a rain head with a low flow rate on a house with weak pressure is a disappointing combination, worth discussing before buying.
Drainage
Slow drains, waste and overflow assemblies, and leaks below
Hair and soap. The ordinary cause of a slow tub or shower. Cleared mechanically at the fixture and through the branch. In houses with hard water, soap scum binds hair into a solid mass that resists a plunger entirely.
Waste and overflow assemblies. The linkage behind a tub, trip lever, plunger or pop-up, corrodes and jams, so the tub will not hold water or will not drain. Rebuild kits are inexpensive. The overflow gasket behind the tub face is also a frequent slow leak: water escapes only when the tub is filled above the overflow, which makes it a puzzling intermittent stain on the ceiling below.
Tub shoe and drain seal. The connection under the tub, sealed with putty and a gasket. It fails with age and movement, and the leak shows up as a stain below the tub rather than in the bathroom.
Shower drains and pan connections. On a tiled shower the drain assembly clamps to the waterproof pan membrane. If that connection was made badly, or the membrane has been punctured, water bypasses the drain entirely and travels into the floor.
Venting. A tub or shower that gurgles and drains slowly with a clear trap may be badly vented, which is a common outcome of DIY remodels and additions.
Access. Tub drain work needs access to the underside, a basement, a crawl space, or an access panel behind the tub. Where none exists, an opening has to be made, and it is worth knowing that before the tub is filled again. See crawl space plumbing repair.
Recurring blockages in several fixtures. Not a fixture problem. See drain cleaning.
Ceiling stain below the bathroom needs testing, not guessing.
Diagnosis
Five sources, and how each is identified
A stain on the ceiling below a bathroom, or a soft spot in the floor outside the shower, has a limited number of causes, and identifying which one it is saves opening the wrong thing.
1. The valve or supply pipe. Leaks whether or not the shower is running, and generally shows a constant or worsening stain. Confirmed by isolating the fixture supply and watching.
2. The drain connection. Leaks only when water goes down the drain. Tested by running water into the drain with the shower head off, or filling and releasing a tub.
3. The overflow gasket. Leaks only when the tub is filled to the overflow. Very commonly missed, because ordinary showering never reveals it.
4. The pan or waterproofing. Leaks only when the shower is used, and often takes a while to appear. Tested by plugging the drain and standing water in the pan for a period, a flood test, which is the definitive check on a tiled shower.
5. Failed grout, caulk or a gap at the tub-to-wall joint. Water travelling behind tile at a specific spot. Not a plumbing failure, and it is worth saying so plainly rather than opening a wall: it is a tile and sealant repair, and it is a common cause of the stain people assume is a pipe.
What that means for the fix. Numbers one to three are plumbing repairs. Number four is a tiling and waterproofing job, a leaking pan on a tiled shower generally means the shower has to be rebuilt, and no amount of sealant fixes it properly. Number five is sealant. We will tell you which you have and not sell you a pipe repair for a grout problem. Related: leak detection.
Bigger projects
Tub-to-shower conversions, walk-ins and the plumbing they need
Tub to shower conversion. One of the most requested projects we see, and the plumbing side is real: the drain usually has to move, because a tub drain sits at one end and a shower drain sits at the centre. That means opening the floor, working from below where a crawl space or basement allows, and re-piping the trap and branch to the new position. The valve is normally replaced at the same time with a code-compliant anti-scald type.
Curbless and walk-in showers. Excellent for accessibility and demanding on drainage and waterproofing. Linear drains, correctly sloped and properly waterproofed pans, and a floor structure that can accommodate the recess. This is a coordinated job with the tile and waterproofing trades, and the sequencing matters.
Ageing in place. Grab bars anchored into blocking rather than drywall, hand showers on slide bars, thermostatic valves so temperature does not surprise anyone, comfort-height fixtures and a curbless entry. Worth planning as a set rather than adding piecemeal, and worth doing while a bathroom is already open.
Multi-outlet showers. Rain head plus hand shower plus body sprays need a valve rated for the total flow and a supply that can deliver it. This is where houses with older or restricted distribution disappoint, and it should be checked against measured flow before the fixtures are chosen. See whole home repiping.
Old cast iron tubs. Heavy, durable and awkward to remove. Removal usually means breaking them up in place, and the drain and overflow beneath are frequently corroded solid.
What we need from other trades. Valve rough-in position set before tile, trim after. Pan waterproofing flood tested before tile. We are used to working within that sequence and will say what has to happen when.
Slow tub? Mechanical clearing beats a bottle of chemicals.
How it runs
From a drip or a stain to a solved bathroom
Most shower faults are a cartridge. The rest start with finding out which of five things is leaking.
1. Identify the fault precisely
Cartridge, diverter, drain, overflow, pan or sealant, established by isolating and testing rather than by opening a wall on a hunch.
2. Repair through the trim where possible
Cartridges, seats, diverters, shower heads, waste and overflow linkages and drain seals, without disturbing tile. Where a valve body must be replaced, access planned from the least destructive side.
3. Test properly before closing up
Pressure and temperature checked at the outlet, drains run under load, flood test on any pan work, and any opening left ready for a clean patch.
Coverage
Bathroom work statewide
Shower and tub work runs across all 82 communities we cover. Hard water makes cartridge and shower head scaling routine, older housing in Boise, Pocatello and Coeur d’Alene brings obsolete valves and cast iron tubs, and tub-to-shower conversions for ageing in place are among the most requested projects we handle statewide.
Questions
Shower and bathtub questions
Usually not. Most drips are a worn cartridge or seats and springs inside the valve, and on mainstream brands the repair is done through the trim without disturbing tile.
It is worth fixing promptly, a constant drip stains the tub, wears the finish and wastes hot water.
Because the valve is an older type that does not compensate for a pressure change on the cold side. It is a scald hazard, particularly for children and older residents.
The fix is a pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve, which is what the plumbing code requires for showers now. Replacing the valve body needs access behind the wall, which we plan from the least destructive side.
Cartridges, trim, diverters and seats, yes, through the front, tile untouched. That covers most repairs.
Replacing the whole valve body needs access to the pipework, and the cheapest route is usually an opening in the wall behind the shower, a closet or a bedroom wall, rather than through tile. We look at both sides before making a hole and tell you where it will be.
One of five things: the valve or supply pipe, the drain connection, the tub overflow gasket, the shower pan waterproofing, or failed grout and caulk letting water behind the tile.
They are distinguished by when the stain grows, constantly, only when the drain runs, only when the tub is filled high, or only after showering. Testing that sequence is how we avoid opening the wrong thing.
A failed diverter. On many tubs it is built into the spout, in which case replacing the spout fixes it. On others it is part of the valve and the cartridge or diverter assembly gets replaced.
Worth doing rather than living with, it diverts a continuous flow of hot water down the drain.
We would rather it did not. Hair bound with soap scum resists chemical cleaners, and the product then sits in the trap making the job hazardous for whoever opens it.
Mechanical clearing at the fixture and through the branch is quicker and more reliable, and while the waste and overflow assembly is apart it can be cleaned and rebuilt if the linkage is jammed.
Yes, and the plumbing is genuinely part of the job: the drain almost always has to move from the end of the tub to the centre of the shower, which means opening the floor and re-piping the trap and branch.
The valve is normally replaced with a code-compliant anti-scald type at the same time. Waterproofing and tile are coordinated with those trades, and the pan gets flood tested before tile goes on.
If the supply can deliver the flow. Multi-outlet showers need a valve rated for the total demand and distribution pipe sized to feed it, and in older houses with restricted or corroded pipe the result is a disappointing trickle.
We measure flow at the bathroom before recommending fixtures, so the specification matches what your plumbing can actually deliver.
Planning a walk-in shower? The drain has to move.
Fixed through the trim where we can
And when a wall has to open, from the side that costs you least. Call any hour, anywhere in Idaho.
(833) 472-2088