On 10/5/2019 2:05 AM, micky wrote:
How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?

I have a leak in the bathtub between the hot or cold faucet and the pipe
that goes to the spout.

I'd like to take it apart with the least damage to the tiles that are
there, because they're already cut to fit the valves, and because I have
a little OCC (that's like OCD but not as strong).

The tiles are 4", what looks like plastic, and the grout lines are
narrow. All that comes to mind is using a utlity knife to cut through
the grout and backer board. Will that work? Built in 1979, before
there was green board iiuc so that just leaves sheet rocK????

The way I figure, there is no way to tell in advance if it's the hot or
cold that is leaking other than letting it run and going downstairs to
check if the water coming through the ceiling is hot or cold, and I
don't want any more water to come through the ceiling.

But maybe the leak is in the pipe to the shower head?? When it's
leaked, the diverter was set to the bathtub spout, not the shower head.
Is that enough proof that the leak is not in the vertical pipe to the
shower head? That is, does turning the diverter to one, close off water
access to the other? Or does the valve just open and close the water to
the spout, and when open, it doesn't come out of the shower head because
it's easier to come out the spout?

Wouldn't it come out both the spout and the shower if the pipe were open
to both??

I don't think I'm being clear but maybe I am. I'll try again if you say
I'm not.


You could remove the covers around the pipe/faucet holes or the spout
and use a cheap "endoscope" camera to explore for the leak. It might not
help, but is an excellent tool to aid in analysis of such problems.