Tub Faucets

Old master bath tub faucet has been leaking. For several years now. Lately, it’s been getting worse. Worse in that when you walk into the bathroom, there’s a faint but definite sound of water running through the faucet, as if it wasn’t closed all the way. It’s been this way since we moved back into the house earlier this year, but if I tighten the faucet, or open it all the way then close it tight (to let the valve reseat itself), the sound stops, but comes back later.<br />n<br />nTime to tackle a plumbing job. My favorite.<br />n<br />nI got inside the handles/stem/wall and found that the parts the guy at Home Depot sold me six months ago (yes, it’s been on my radar for a while now) were all correct. Real question was whether I wanted to “rebuild” the stem or simply replace it.<br />n<br />nWhat helped me make up my mind was that the stem is encased in a piece of chrome trim, a tube, really, that takes up the space between the wall and the handle. (This is a three handle set up, one for hot, one for cold, one for the shower diverter.) The stem, or valve assembly, was wedged tight into the tube. Couldn’t make it budge. Replacement stem assemblies are about $10 each, so I just decided to replace them and return the rebuild kits.<br />n<br />nThis project, though not quite finished (I need to install the three new chrome trim tubes), took three trips to the hardware store. There will be at least one more to return some things, like the specialty wrenches I don’t want to keep, but at least the leaking has stopped. The shutoff actually feels really good now, no squeaking when turning the handles, and the water shuts off very solidly. I also took the opportunity to replace the spout, which was getting pretty corroded after years of leakage.<br />n<br />nThere was also some level of internet investigation required to make sure I was doing the right thing. I determined that I have the Price-Pfister set up that’s <a href=”http://www.accuratebuilding.com/publications/recipes/plumbing/bathtub_shower_valve_chp74.pdf” title=”price-pfister”>detailed at this page</a>. This was the one page, after doing several different types of internet searches, that had the best info.<br />n<br />nThough it’s not quite finished, it’s good to have finally addressed the problem.