pay the plumber to fix the other one. the age of the hidden fixture and
availability and matching of parts by an experienced plumber amazes me
especially on many older fixtures which we can spend hours on without
results except for inconveniencing the shower/tub users.

wrote:
Recently a plumber came and stopped my bath-tub faucet from leaking.
So far so good. The next time I took a shower I noticed that it was
easier to turn the cold water knob than the hot water knob. The hot
water tap required more force to turn than the cold water tap. My
question is: Can a layperson with no plumbing experience like me even
out the taps with just a screwdriver and 15 minutes? How does one
repair this?

---Thanx
---TConrad