Are you having issues with your shower valve?
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I had a plumber come out to replace the cartridge in my shower, and it broke inside the copper valve. Not his fault. It was pretty stuck in there. In order to fix it, he said he needed to replace the shower head, tub spout, and trim kit along with the valve and it ended up costing a little less than $1000 for less than 2 hours of work. Does that reasonable?
Also, is it customary to replace everything if you have to replace the valve?
Replacing shower valve assembly - DoItYourself.com Community Forums
Shower valve replacement
I may have to replace my shower valve hardware. Can I do this without replacing the whole shower enclosure?
It depends on the make/model. Google for the instructions. On mine, I turned off the water, then was able to disassemble it from the bathtub, replace the washers/gaskets, and re-assemble.
Take your time and be careful.
Do NOT use a large wrench and do NOT over-tighten the fittings. Twist too hard and you may damage the soft copper pipe or break it altogether, and then you are fucked!
EDIT: To be safe, use two wrenches - one on the nut you are working with, and a pipe wrench on the fitting itself, holding it & preventing it from turning. You still have to be gentle, but this will lessen the likelihood of damage to the fixture/pipes.
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