Quote:
Originally Posted by Riley.
Right before I went to the gym tonight, I checked on my question and many of you had provided helpful feedback on my Delta bathtub faucet issue. I've come back to thank you all but can't find the thread anymore. Hmmmmm. but THANK YOU!!!! I really appreciate your help, which was primarily that I should try the valve/cartridge first before I let the guy who looked at it cut a hole in the wall behind the shower. And that is what I am going to do. Didn't seem right to me to go right to the hole cutting.
Someone mentioned that you have to use Delta products if that's what you have and I appreciate that heads up. Our guy seemed to know that...plus he said they were cheaply made, maybe that's why he wants to cut in the wall. Put something else in that is higher quaility? Why would you not be able to just replace the faucet mechanism? Even if you used a different brand....
Harry Chickpea.....you said it would be the better way to go.....can you give me some insight.
As I mentioned, Hubs doesn't know much about plumbing and doesn't want to deal with it, which I understand, but I also wanted to understand the issue and what needed to be done and they were shoo'ing me off, cause I guess women folk aren't welcome in plumbing discussions 
Well, they are if they are writing the check! LOL |
Before anything - the responses about the cartridge are right on. It pays to do the simple stuff first, and more often than not it works. I just have a mind that always has a plan B, plan C, plan D, and sometimes more, depending on the potential for disaster.
Making an opening in a wall to access the infrastructure of a house is not usually a big deal. If, as one poster had, there is a tiled wall, then one tries to avoid, and then learns about grout abraders and thinset qualities. Drywall is an easy open and easy fix - although, as was suggested, a door or access panel is common.
OK, so why open up the wall and "do it right?" Some plumbing products are less than wonderful. The easy one that many can relate to are the cut-off valves that rarely get used. Cheap construction, scale build-up, and aged washers and O-rings make them fail when you need them. Delta products are not great. Replacing them rather than trying to fix problems can be more cost and time effective.
With the wall open, it is easy to cut lines, solder if needed, and do a job that will last. Working within a tight confined hole and stuffing parts in and trying to make connections is a PITA and sometimes the work is less than optimal.
Better to focus on the problem at hand than the esthetics of a wall in a laundry room. I have some very nice 16 x 20 photographs that would easily cover such a hole and look upscale.
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