Removing stuck bathtub spout

[Richard Gavle]

Hello all,

Got a call from a realtor I work for on rental properties, this one is a 60s built apartment, now townhouse and the problem I am having is a bathtub spout with a leaky shower diverter.

I have tried penetrant and heat with no luck but I am only using a small pair of channel locks and being fairly conservative with them.

The spout appears to originate at the water valve manifold as it sits between the hot and cold tap and the plumbing appears to be original. My question is how much force can I safely apply trying to loosen this? I have read to put a pipe on the end of an 18" pipe wrench. Do you think that its safe to try an 18" pipe wrench without fear of breaking the manifold? Or should I just give it another try after the soak and go straight to a cut off tool?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Diehard]

NO! If it doesn't come loose first, you stand a good chance of breaking or twisting something with an 18" wrench.
You can use the wrench with a series of meaningful, repeated taps.
Sometimes tapping it will loosen things rather then brute force.

 

[Richard Gavle]

Thanks for the reply, agree on the taps...used to work as a car mechanic and have used a small impact to loosen frozen bolts hundreds of times by rapping very lightly.

I could not believe the thread I read where the guy tried an 12 and they told him to use an 18 with an extension bar....it worked for him, if I tried that stuff the manifold would break in two and the hot side of the manifold would twist and split the copper pipe and flood the unit below .

If I need to cut it off the spout, what is the best way to go about it? Clean slice through the middle to examine what is behind/inside the spout valve, then try to cut through the side of the threaded portion? I have a Fein tool (oscillating cutter) which if I have to make a sideways cut through the threaded portion near the tile should help minimize damage to tile etc.

 

[mike fiore]

make sure it is a threaded spout some are a push on with a set screw somewhere underneath. made that mistake once. had repipe spout after i destroyed it

 

[Richard Gavle]

Thanks for the reply, but sadly its not a set screw deal just old work, likely been there since it was built.

PS. No need for further replies pretty much decided to go ahead and pass on this one and tell the property owner they need to go ahead and hire a plumber.

 

[Diehard]

Good choice!

 

[Richard Gavle]

Yeah I always try to not do plumbing work at all, due to liability issues even in houses.
But when the plumbing is in apartments built in the 60s that have been converted and sold as townhouses by people to cheap to install unit isolating shut-offs at the stacks its a whole different level of hells no. The entire building is a catastrophe waiting to happen, the old closets on the wet wall behind the tub now contain washer/dryer combo's with inadequate space on all sides and undersized vents and no way to stop even a water leak as the supply lines for the washer does not even have an accessible shut-off.