Hi! Well, I got myself into this situation by simply trying to replace a shower handle. Now let's skip over the series of mistakes I made leading to a headless screw requiring that my stem be replaced. Finally, when a plumber was at my house for an unrelated issue, I asked for advice. Basically, he told me it was simple: I just had to remove the stem, take it into a local shop that sells old/rare plumbing supplies, and then I'd be able to replace it myself. Well, easier said than done. I noticed that my stem has no hexagonal shaped piece for which to attach a shower stem wrench. It's circular for as far back as I can see, where it appears to attach to the pipe. This is almost definitely a dumb question, but how do I remove it? Do I just turn off the water (I already depressurized the pipes when I started this mess), then use a regular wrench or pliers to twist it off? I have no idea and I'd rather not bring the plumber back just to do something that could be simple.
I'm attaching two photos, including one with a flash that shows about all I can see in the wall. Thank you in advance for your help!
I'm attaching two photos, including one with a flash that shows about all I can see in the wall. Thank you in advance for your help!