Our house is about 40 years old and in our master bathroom we have only a stand-up shower and I just started hearing a leak from the shower head unit. I am going to assume that something has happened which is preventing me from being able to completely turn off the hot and/or cold water.

About 2 years ago I both the faucet stems replaced, the old ones were original to the home and due to leaking at the faucet my plumber suggested replacing both. Finding the right stems was tough, but we found the eljer 10C-5H and 10C-5C and we haven't had any problems since.

I will add that this new problem started just in the last few days, which also includes some recent sounds in our pipes when we are adjusting the temperacture of the shower by increasing the flow of cold water. I've never heard this sound in the 8+ years we've lived in the house and we do not get any sounds from any of the other 2 bathroom, or any other place we use water.

Lastly, since the weather is getting a little cooler, I have recently adjusted (increased) the temperacture on our tankless hotwater heater since the water must travel the full length of our house through our crawl space. I do this every winter and have never had any issues in the 5+/1 years we've had the tankless system.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

You have loose washer in one of your shower valve / stems. The vibrations and consequent noise is caused by water by-passing loose washer. This is also why you cannot close water all the way.

You have to remove the stems and replace washers. It is a good practice to replace both h/c at the same time.

Hi mugsy,

Milo is correct any loose washer will cause the noise in the pipes, shut off water to the shower valve and remove both stems, inspect the seats inside the faucet for scratch marks if any you will need to replace them the seats, take the stems to a hardware sotre (plumbing supply) buy new wahers and replace them. One other thing you need to do is to flush the faucet before installing the stems.
To flush the faucet turn on the water for a few seconds whe the water flows, shut off the water and install the stems, Good Luck.

John

Thanks for the answer guys, the fix sounds easy enough.

The only problem I think I will have is actually being able to remove the stems. As I mentioned, this is an older house and when the did the tile, they 1st put metal mesh and then about 1/2" to 3/4" of cement.

So I think I will have to get some type of wrench that will extend into the wall to be able to loosen and remove the stem.

Fortunately I did keep the package for the stem that was put it and I know where it was purchased, plus it came with the specs for the replacement parts.

Hi mugsy,

Click on the link below it may help you though your shower has no tub the procedure are the same and it will show what tool do you need, good luck.

John

http://www.accuratebuilding.com/publications/recipes/plumbing/bathtub_shower_valve_chp74.pdf

Mugsy: take a small chisel and hammer and gently remove about 1/4" of wall float around each stem. Then, get socket that fits the stem and remove it in counter-clock-wise motion. Stems are made of brass. Brass never "bites" in and is easily removed years after installation.