Strange situation with new home shower...

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mamacotti

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Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and I sure hope someone can help me with this. We've bought a new home, and it has several tankless electric water heaters. The one for the master bath works fine for the shower, and this what I'm asking about today. Our shower is a tiled walk-in with a ceiling mount shower head. The faucet control is a single handle Delta 1400 Series. AND THEN...there is a tub spout with a diverter stem 9" off the floor. This makes no sense to me. What could be the reason? Bucket filler? Foot Washer? I would love to have a handheld shower put in place of the tub spout, but what do I do about the diverter? It would certainly come in handy for washing dogs, etc. Some have said it's just a matter of having a plumber replacing the rough-in with one that will divert. I have no problem with that, but I was able to take a peak behind the faucet trim, and can't imagine how it could be changed without the tile having to be torn out and replaced? Any thoughts?
 
They used a tub/shower valve instead of a shower valve. We do that on outdoor showers here so we can winterize them. To have a hand shower you need a different setup. Who knows why they did it but you cant change it without rear access to the plumbing.
 
It’s a toe test for temperature. You turn on the valve, put your foot in the water coming out the spout, when it’s the right temperature you pull the diverter and take a shower. That way you don’t get blasted by cold water if you were to step in the shower and turn on the valve with water only coming out the shower head.
 
OK. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and answer! I appreciate it!
 
yes, a shower valve can be switched out with out ripping out the tile

you have to do it from the room behind the shower

a bedroom wall, closet, hallway...Sheetrock is easier to patch than tile

or.....

install a chrome elbow where the existing spout is
install a 3' long chrome 1/2'' pipe, with chrome stand off brackets
use the pipe as a hand held slide as seen in this picture
with water connection on the stand pipe with diverter knob

hand_held_.png
 
To amplify what Rickyman said, I just built a new shower and didn't put in the tub spout, and regret it deeply. But if you truly want to get rid of it, just take off the spout, cap off the supply line (if you're lucky it goes back to a drop-eared ell which can be plugged) and repair the hole in the wall (you're on your own here).
 
Frodo! YES!!! That is exactly what I want to do, except I need the elbow to have a diverter on it, as the tub spout does! I haven't found one yet, and I wasn't even sure it's possible to replace the tub spout with anything?

As far as tearing out from behind...ugh. That would mean going in the wall from the outside, and the exterior walls of this house are thick, styrofoam forms filled with concrete.

Also, keep in mind the shower head comes out of the ceiling. I wish I knew how to post pics here...
 
I think a substantial amount of water will be diverted to the old shower with this scheme, though, so the old shower will dribble all the time. But you could put a shower shutoff valve in that line to address that:

Chrome_Shut_off_Valve.jpg
 
I think a substantial amount of water will be diverted to the old shower with this scheme, though, so the old shower will dribble all the time. But you could put a shower shutoff valve in that line to address that:

upload_2019-2-11_15-21-47.png
 
Thanks, Mikey! So, just to clarify... it IS okay to put an elbow on in place of the tub spout. And just as an extra piece add a diverter before the handheld shower? That (kinda) seems simple enough!

Part of my concern is that someone told me that with the electric tankless heater, you HAVE to have a tub spout w/diverter because it serves as a......I forget...vacuum breaker, maybe? And for whatever reason that is a necessary part. I'm sorry, I'm not a plumber. So I don't see why your recommendation wouldn't serve the same purpose?
 

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