I recently had a bathroom remodel and the plumber may have installed the faucet wrong somehow. The handle is labeled on the right for cold and left for hot. But turning it right results in hot and left, cold. The pipes going into the valve assembly are correct. The plumber insists that the problem is with the valve and that it was installed correctly. Can this be right? Can something have been installed backwards or upside down? And what part of the hardware might that be? What will it take to fix the problem?

If this is a Moen faucet the fix is a easy one. Remove the handle and rotate the stem 180 degrees.. Reinstall the handle and see if the cold water's on the right side now. Good luck and thank you for rating my answer. Tom

Hi Groqx:

COuld be an issue with the cartridge. Is this a MOEN faucet? If so, take handle off and rotate the stem 180 degrees, then install handle again and see if that fixed it.

If not, let us know the name of the faucet.

WOW TOM...was writing same thing at the same time as you...;) NEAT!!

Thanks...

MARK

I have seen plumbers have hot on right coming out of the wall and cold on left out of the wall, by accident.
Have seen where they accidentally hooked up Hot water to toilet, Basically just lost track of their pipes.
If they didn't touch plumbing inside walls, then the valve COULD be the problem.
I would turn on the Right side(Hot) for a minute and then feel the supply lines coming out of the wall, see which is hot or warm.
I guess Plumber didn't try 180 degrees out. New plumber?

Turns out it is a Delta Faucet. Though inside the assembly there is some sort of gray cylinder to which the handle attaches. Can this cylinder be simply pulled out and turned around 180 degrees like the Moen faucets? Might that fix the problem?

I would turn on the cold side for a minute and then feel the supply lines coming out of the wall, see which is hot or warm. Let me know what you find.
I like Stratmandos approach. He thinks the plumber may have reversed the hot and cold lines and I'm beginning to myself. Not knowing the model number prevents me from remarking on turning the cartridge 180 degrees. Check the hot and cold npipes first and get back to me with the results. Good luck, Tom

I checked the hot and cold lines and they are correct. The hot is coming in on the left and the cold on the right. I am still trying to figure out how to disassemble the front of faucet to take a look at that cartridge/stem assembly.

I checked the hot and cold lines and they are correct. The hot is coming in on the left and the cold on the right. I am still trying to figure out how to disassemble the the front of faucet to take a look at that cartridge/stem assembly.

Your Plumber likely removed the cartridge when he soldered it to prevent damaging the cartridge and the reinstalled it incorrectly.

Flipping it around should correct the problem.

As for the disassembly process, go to Delta's website and download the appropriate .pdf file for your model number.