As much as I've wanted to leave them alone, both baths have been slowly working their way up my priority list, until this last week when one shot to the top. Since day one, the hall shower/bath fixture has bothered me. The fixture holes were poorly cut... at least for the current fixture. The fixture itself was not secured to anything but the plumbing pipes and then sandwiched against the wall with the little decorative bits around the handles and the tub spout- so it felt loosey goosey. Also, the cold water valve had a small leak from day one- drip, drip.
This week, my kids told me that the water was no longer working properly. As it turned out the diverter valve that you use to send water to either the shower or tub was leaking badly.
I opened the valve to do a quick check and see the damage. The valve had a boot gasket inside that was shredded.
I first had to find the make of the fixture. I had noticed that the brand was not plastered in large letters on the handles or really anywhere like you almost always see. The only thing I could find were the letters ccf on the valve itself. I thought this was a model or something, but no, it's a company called Chung Cheng Fixtures. That was the first sign of things to come.
I did some calling around and after describing the gasket, I got nothing. I took the gasket to the plumbing desks at a couple plumbing stores and none had ever seen the like. By this time I had realized that even if I could find the parts, it wouldn't just be the gasket and would probably cost half as much as the total fixture did. Also, if I was going to spend the money and get a new fixture, I didn't want to replace the fixture with another three handle fixture... I'm not a fan.
My personal favorite for shower fixtures are single handle ball valves with tilt on/off. The most surprising thing to me is that the only company I could find that made that type of valve was American Standard. All the rest are valves that you rotate to turn on and control temp or you have to pull out to turn on and then rotate.
This repair was not to be a full remodel, just a patch for the time being. Someday, I'll complete the remodel, but not now. So I wasn't looking to get some sleek, modern, $300 valve and trim kit. Luckily, HD had just what I wanted at a price that was good enough for me. I got the American Standard Cadet series tub/shower valve and trim - $79. Then I started making a mess.
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| Here's where the old fixture was. The holes were not entirely covered by the fixture, especially the bottom tub one |
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| I cut out eight tiles as can be seen to raise the fixture up so that is easier to grasp when showering. To do this required cutting through the tile cement board and concrete block. Also here's a do as I say and not as I do- put plywood over your tub so you don't bung it up. I can't say I really cared enough to cut plywood for the cover, but if you do, now you know. |
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| I decided since I was going through the work with the shower valve, I should add a couple things to help with keeping the bathroom tidy. One is this cut out for a soap holder. |
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| Two, is this cut for a shower shelf. |
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| Here is the opening all framed up, Held in place with masonry screws and then blocking is installed to reinforce the valve body and the tub spigot. I did end up getting some threaded/pex 90 elbows since I was working in limited space. |
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| Here's the hole with the cement board that has been shimmed to match the existing wall. |
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| This is the concrete board used to form the soap holder. This was kind of difficult reinforcing due to the size of the opening and the fact that I had to work around the concrete block. I ended up both gluing and screwing in wood to provide backing for the concrete board pieces and then used a wire mesh for the sides with pvc wrapped around to keep it water tight. |
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| The shelf rough opening was more straight forward. New blocking around the perimeter, concrete board, PVC, wire mesh, then again concrete board. |
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| The tiles have been set in mortar here. I ran into a bit of a problem. I thought I had 1/4" spacers for the tile, but I did not. So I had to quickly cut a bunch of them after I had already started mortaring the tile. I made the spacers out of wood. To do this you take a miter saw and place a block of wood 1/4" from the saw blade as a stop and clamp in place. Then cut as many as needed, the stop will ensure that every cut will be the same. |
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| Mortared soap thingy |
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| Mortared Shelf |
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| Grout around shower valve and tub spigot. |
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| Grouted soap thingy |
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| Grouted shower shelf |
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| Little project complete |
The real lesson though is to not buy cheapo no-name fixtures unless you're positive you can get the parts easy. Although everything's nice and secure and what not, if I could have gotten a cheap part to do a quick fix, would I have just fixed it? You bet.
Project Parts and Costs:
Valve and trim - $79
Tile - $8
Mortar and Grout - Had some leftover
Threaded/ pex 90s - $10
Copper 90 with anchor - $4
Threaded copper ends and copper pipe - had some leftover
Teflon tape - had some leftover
40 mil PVC sheet - had some leftover
Wire mesh - had some leftover
Cement backer - had some leftover
Masonry anchors - had some leftover
2x4 wood for framing - had some leftover
Screws - had some leftover
Clear silicon caulk - had some leftover
