Everything you didn’t want to know about shower mixing valves..

[rayinpenn]

The Mrs was using the shower two days ago when the single lever shower mixing valve started to fail. It required two hands to shut off. The thing is she failed to mention it to me. So when I went to take my morning shower (before 9AM lest I become a bum) this manly man gave it a good twist I felt something let go.. I thought to myself now you’ve done it. Guess what? Now it wouldn’t completely shut off. After my $7,000 boiler last month I began to question the sanity of owning a home. Frustration yes!

I’m pretty handy -faucets, toilets no problem they all have shut offs. A shower mixing valve means turning the house water off, getting a cartridge puller, finding instructions on youtube. This time however I really thought I broke something. Oh and one other thing the Moen label on the cover plate was so tiny neither the wife or I saw it. So I didnt know the manufacturer which is critical.

There was a time when faucets, shower valves and even toilets guts were all brass. They had replaceable parts like stems, seats and rebuild kits. When I sold plumbing supplies years ago while in college I could just look at the common varieties and know them by brand by sight. Today everything is plastic and there are replaceable cartridges. Now don’t get me wrong tons of that brass stuff is still out there but my bathroom was remodeled a few years ago.

My plumber Anthony who installed two frost free spigots for me lived around the corner has passed away a while ago. So we called a plumber in the better business bureau and I convinced their dispatcher that i need help post haste. 2 hours later a plumber and his apprentice (a girl about 19) were in my shower. He glance at the unit and said Moen and he knew the model. Impressive. The apprentice tells me that something letting go sensation was normal and just how they failed. Removing the cartridge wasn’t easy it didn’t want to be extracted and there was all kinds of yanking by both plumbers finally they had it out and pieces of it fell to the shower floor. This time Im glad I left it to the professionals.

Funny thing the cost was quite reasonable- also that day when i took the mail in there was a rebate check from the utility company for my new efficient boiler.

I choose to think of it as being net positive for the day. Normal home maintenance can be a pain.