How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

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.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On 10/5/19 5:05 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.


Can you access the pipes from the other side of the wall?

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

Unscrew the faucet and redo the spout before ripping the wall.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 05:05:32 -0400, 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.

What is on the other side of the wall? Back in the olden days they
used to have a plywood access behind a tub. That practice may have
gone away by the late 70s tho.

As for the valve, the diverter only plugs up the spout, gravity does
the rest and keeps water from coming out of the shower when the spout
is open. Some designs had the diverter in the spout and nothing at all
on the valves.
You can prove this by sticking your toe in the spout while you are in
the tub with the water running. It will come out the shower. The fire
department knows how to get your toe out if the stick it in too far.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 8:02:14 AM UTC-4, wrote:

What is on the other side of the wall? Back in the olden days they
used to have a plywood access behind a tub. That practice may have
gone away by the late 70s tho.


What he said.

If you don't have an access panel, cut one in. If space allows, make it 14 x 14, then you can get prefab covers.

That said, I have that access panel and it didn't help my leak. I cut the ceiling downstairs so I could watch, and there were more problems than just one.

The drain footjoint leaked. That is a pain in the butt but I got it sealed.

The packing on the hot water faucet let a drip out when turned on. I couldn't get it apart, my plumber replaced the stems. Miracle, they still had parts for this one, unlike my other fixtures.

And then it started dripping only when the bath rather than shower was in use. Hard to diagnose, but my plumber caulked the overflow, we hope that fixed it. Not that water should ever go down there, but it seemed to be the problem.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Oct 2019 06:50:08 -0400, Bob Vila
wrote:

On 10/5/19 5:05 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.


Can you access the pipes from the other side of the wall?

Only by cutting out similar tiles from the shower stall.

I guess I was figuring if I start from the bathtub side there is no
chance I'll aim wrong. I'm certain to find the pipes on the first try.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Oct 2019 04:22:09 -0700 (PDT), Thomas
wrote:

Unscrew the faucet and redo the spout before ripping the wall.

Hmmm. I see your point. It doesn't seem likely but it sure seems
easier.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 05 Oct 2019 08:01:33 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 05:05:32 -0400, 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.

What is on the other side of the wall? Back in the olden days they
used to have a plywood access behind a tub. That practice may have
gone away by the late 70s tho.

If the house were bigger, it might have that.

As for the valve, the diverter only plugs up the spout, gravity does
the rest and keeps water from coming out of the shower when the spout
is open. Some designs had the diverter in the spout and nothing at all
on the valves.

Oh, yeah, I've seen that.

So it's possible that even with the spout open, the water pressure might
not be enough to reach all the way to the shower head, but it might be
enough for the water to go up 8 or 12 inches and then leak out there.
If it's not the spout, though, it's probably a connection, a failed
solder joint** and not the middle of a pipe????

**One piece hot/cold/diverter/with shower and spout outputs still used
soldered joints, didn't they????

You can prove this by sticking your toe in the spout while you are in
the tub with the water running. It will come out the shower. The fire
department knows how to get your toe out if the stick it in too far.

Oh, good. So I should take a phone with me when I do this.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Oct 2019 05:31:10 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

On Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 8:02:14 AM UTC-4, wrote:

What is on the other side of the wall? Back in the olden days they
used to have a plywood access behind a tub. That practice may have
gone away by the late 70s tho.


What he said.

If you don't have an access panel, cut one in. If space allows, make it 14 x 14, then you can get prefab covers.

That said, I have that access panel and it didn't help my leak. I cut the ceiling downstairs so I could watch, and there were more problems than just one.

The drain footjoint leaked. That is a pain in the butt but I got it sealed.

Well it used to leak when my brother took a shower in the tub***, but
that stopped about 30 years. I figure that crud from my body when I took
baths clogged the leak. I hope I don't start it up again (Several
n'bors had a similar leak when their houses were almost new.)

***He only did this when he visited. When I took a shower it was in the
other shower stall off my bedroom.

The packing on the hot water faucet let a drip out when turned on. I couldn't get it apart, my plumber replaced the stems. Miracle, they still had parts for this one, unlike my other fixtures.

I replaced the stems about 7 years ago, but I should have bought stems
for all the other 3 sinks and one shower, and I only bought 2 or 4.


And then it started dripping only when the bath rather than shower was in use. Hard to diagnose, but my plumber caulked the overflow, we hope that fixed it. Not that water should ever go down there, but it seemed to be the problem.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On 10/5/2019 5:05 AM, micky wrote:


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.


Can you be sure it is not the drain?

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 10:09:43 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 10/5/2019 5:05 AM, micky wrote:


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.


Can you be sure it is not the drain?

Excellent point. That should be ruled out.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Sat, 5 Oct 2019 05:31:10 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

On Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 8:02:14 AM UTC-4, wrote:

What is on the other side of the wall? Back in the olden days they
used to have a plywood access behind a tub. That practice may have
gone away by the late 70s tho.


What he said.

If you don't have an access panel, cut one in. If space allows, make it 14 x 14, then you can get prefab covers.

That said, I have that access panel and it didn't help my leak. I cut the ceiling downstairs so I could watch, and there were more problems than just one.

The drain footjoint leaked. That is a pain in the butt but I got it sealed.

The packing on the hot water faucet let a drip out when turned on. I couldn't get it apart, my plumber replaced the stems. Miracle, they still had parts for this one, unlike my other fixtures.

And then it started dripping only when the bath rather than shower was in use. Hard to diagnose, but my plumber caulked the overflow, we hope that fixed it. Not that water should ever go down there, but it seemed to be the problem.


Along those lines I still have a valve set for a US Brass tub/shower
(Stems and seats) free to a good home.

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/American%20Brass.jpg

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 08:50:48 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Oct 2019 06:50:08 -0400, Bob Vila
wrote:

On 10/5/19 5:05 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.


Can you access the pipes from the other side of the wall?

Only by cutting out similar tiles from the shower stall.

I guess I was figuring if I start from the bathtub side there is no
chance I'll aim wrong. I'm certain to find the pipes on the first try.

You should be able to get close just by doing a little measuring and
if it is in a spot where you can live with an access hole (closet,
behind a door whatever) drill through from the tub side with a
straightened coat hanger to center your cut and open up a hole in the
drywall. Go in next to the valve stem or tub spout so you are not
disturbing tile.
You have a drywall patch coming anyway downstairs to fix the ceiling
if you don't want to go with the permanent access idea.

You are probably not going to match that tile so you may be re tiling
the whole shower. That 4x4 screams bell bottoms and leisure suits
anyway so that might not be so bad. ;-)

BTW don't be shocked if this is stucco and metal lath under that tile.
If they didn't know about green drywall, that is what they did.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 08:59:47 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 05 Oct 2019 08:01:33 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 05:05:32 -0400, 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.

What is on the other side of the wall? Back in the olden days they
used to have a plywood access behind a tub. That practice may have
gone away by the late 70s tho.

If the house were bigger, it might have that.

As for the valve, the diverter only plugs up the spout, gravity does
the rest and keeps water from coming out of the shower when the spout
is open. Some designs had the diverter in the spout and nothing at all
on the valves.

Oh, yeah, I've seen that.

So it's possible that even with the spout open, the water pressure might
not be enough to reach all the way to the shower head, but it might be
enough for the water to go up 8 or 12 inches and then leak out there.
If it's not the spout, though, it's probably a connection, a failed
solder joint** and not the middle of a pipe????

**One piece hot/cold/diverter/with shower and spout outputs still used
soldered joints, didn't they????

You can prove this by sticking your toe in the spout while you are in
the tub with the water running. It will come out the shower. The fire
department knows how to get your toe out if the stick it in too far.

Oh, good. So I should take a phone with me when I do this.

My bet is a leak in a valve stem. Have you replaced the packing?
It might be a good idea to take off the stem, clean out the threads on
both sides, wrap it in teflon tape and put it back.
Those guys were pretty good about soldering as a general rule and if
you have pipes going bad I would expect to see it in other places ...
same with bad solder joints.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

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.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Sat, 5 Oct 2019 09:02:04 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 10:09:43 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 10/5/2019 5:05 AM, micky wrote:


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.


Can you be sure it is not the drain?

Excellent point. That should be ruled out.



Since he has a dry wall patch coming anyway it is certainly worth a
look. Maybe I am a little jaded since my wife was in construction and
she thinks drywall patches are trivial but she will take a hammer to a
wall or ceiling in a heartbeat.
It does push back the inspector a little tho ;-)

"You wanna see inside that wall, OK" Wham !

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On 10/5/2019 3:49 PM, wrote:
....

Since he has a dry wall patch coming anyway it is certainly worth a
look. Maybe I am a little jaded since my wife was in construction and
she thinks drywall patches are trivial but she will take a hammer to a
wall or ceiling in a heartbeat.
It does push back the inspector a little tho ;-)

"You wanna see inside that wall, OK" Wham !

Drywall alone patches are...the ole plastic tile matching maybe "not so
much". :)

--

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Oct 2019 17:48:27 -0500, dpb
wrote:

On 10/5/2019 3:49 PM, wrote:
...

Since he has a dry wall patch coming anyway it is certainly worth a
look. Maybe I am a little jaded since my wife was in construction and
she thinks drywall patches are trivial but she will take a hammer to a
wall or ceiling in a heartbeat.
It does push back the inspector a little tho ;-)

"You wanna see inside that wall, OK" Wham !

Drywall alone patches are...the ole plastic tile matching maybe "not so
much". :)

I don't want to retile the whole thing. That's a job I can't do myself.
That's why I was hoping, since only 4** tiles are involved, that I could
save them and reuse them. I know they are glued to the sheet rock or
whatever is behind them, but since there are only 4 or 2, I thought I
could soak and scrape them clean.

**Only 2 if I choose the right side on the first try.

It could be the stem I suppose. I repacked the stems when I replaced
the valves but maybe I did a bad job on one. I will check before
anything bigger.

It's not the drain. How I know: I was going to partially fill the tub
with a bucket, and then drain it, to be sure.

But carrying buckets would have been more effort than what I did. I ran
a hose from the bathroom sink to the tub and used that to partially fill
it, then went downstairs when the water was draining. Not a drop.
Also, I took a couple real baths, for the first time in months, and not
a drop.

I bought a connector at HD and the one they had was a quick disconnect.
I filled the tub and left the hot running a little bit as I always do,
so the water doesn't seem to get cold, but later turned it off at the
sprayer thing at the end of the hose in the tub. Everything was fine
for 10 minutes when the hose shot off the faucet with a big bang. Hose
landed on the floor but no water came out for some reason.

At the next bath I turned the water flow low before getting in the tub
but never turned it off. However, the quick disconnect didn't lose a
drop of water the first time, but after the explosiion, it sprays quite
a bit out of it. So I cover it with a washcloth so it doesn't spray
over the counter.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 05 Oct 2019 12:41:49 -0400,
wrote:


Oh, good. So I should take a phone with me when I do this.

My bet is a leak in a valve stem. Have you replaced the packing?

I did that when I did the stems 7 years ago, but maybe I did a bad job
on one.

What if I took off the decorative chrome tube that goes between the
decorative handle and the wall? If the stem is leaking, instead of
running down that tube into the wall, it would just drip straight down,
near or into the tub, right? And I'll see that.

That is, if it's the stem packing, the water gets back to the wall
through that 2" chrome tube, right?

It might be a good idea to take off the stem, clean out the threads on
both sides, wrap it in teflon tape and put it back.
Those guys were pretty good about soldering as a general rule and if
you have pipes going bad I would expect to see it in other places ...
same with bad solder joints.

That makes sense, but I'm afraid if it's not leaking there I'll make it
worse rather than better.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 23:41:18 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 05 Oct 2019 12:41:49 -0400,
wrote:


Oh, good. So I should take a phone with me when I do this.

My bet is a leak in a valve stem. Have you replaced the packing?

I did that when I did the stems 7 years ago, but maybe I did a bad job
on one.

What if I took off the decorative chrome tube that goes between the
decorative handle and the wall? If the stem is leaking, instead of
running down that tube into the wall, it would just drip straight down,
near or into the tub, right? And I'll see that.

That is, if it's the stem packing, the water gets back to the wall
through that 2" chrome tube, right?

It might be a good idea to take off the stem, clean out the threads on
both sides, wrap it in teflon tape and put it back.
Those guys were pretty good about soldering as a general rule and if
you have pipes going bad I would expect to see it in other places ...
same with bad solder joints.

That makes sense, but I'm afraid if it's not leaking there I'll make it
worse rather than better.

Take the knobs and the bezel off, stuff the holes with paper towels,
getting them way inside past the packing nuts, put the knobs back on
and run some water. Pull out the paper towels and see if one is wet.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 06 Oct 2019 02:00:41 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 23:41:18 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 05 Oct 2019 12:41:49 -0400,
wrote:


Oh, good. So I should take a phone with me when I do this.

My bet is a leak in a valve stem. Have you replaced the packing?

I did that when I did the stems 7 years ago, but maybe I did a bad job
on one.

What if I took off the decorative chrome tube that goes between the
decorative handle and the wall? If the stem is leaking, instead of
running down that tube into the wall, it would just drip straight down,
near or into the tub, right? And I'll see that.

That is, if it's the stem packing, the water gets back to the wall
through that 2" chrome tube, right?

It might be a good idea to take off the stem, clean out the threads on
both sides, wrap it in teflon tape and put it back.
Those guys were pretty good about soldering as a general rule and if
you have pipes going bad I would expect to see it in other places ...
same with bad solder joints.

That makes sense, but I'm afraid if it's not leaking there I'll make it
worse rather than better.

Take the knobs and the bezel off, stuff the holes with paper towels,
getting them way inside past the packing nuts, put the knobs back on
and run some water. Pull out the paper towels and see if one is wet.

Tbanks. That sounds good, and easy.

How to open bathtub wall, with least amount of damage?
 

I bought a connector at HD and the one they had was a quick disconnect.
I filled the tub and left the hot running a little bit as I always do,
so the water doesn't seem to get cold, but later turned it off at the
sprayer thing at the end of the hose in the tub. Everything was fine
for 10 minutes when the hose shot off the faucet with a big bang. Hose
landed on the floor but no water came out for some reason.
At the next bath I turned the water flow low before getting in the tub
but never turned it off. However, the quick disconnect didn't lose a
drop of water the first time, but after the explosiion, it sprays quite
a bit out of it. So I cover it with a washcloth so it doesn't spray
over the counter.




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John T.