In our bathtub/shower we actually have too much water pressure. What's the best way to reduce that pressure? The lines have ball values on them, can I close them 1/2 way or will that hurt the valve?

Adjust until you are satisfied with pressure. You will also save water.

In our bathtub/shower we actually have too much water pressure. What's the best way to reduce that pressure? The lines have ball values on them, can I close them 1/2 way or will that hurt the valve?

Choking down the supplies is one way, Purchasing a shower head with a water saver is another. If you have high pressure throughout the house consider installing a PRV ,(pressure reducing valve) on the water service. Regards, Tom

You must have an old shower head, most newer ones reduce down to 2.5 gal/min. You can add a reducer or just get a new head. Funny thing, the water savers allow 2.5 g/min and most regular heads allow 2.5 g/min? There are a lot of people out there who want to add multiple heads and would love your problem. If you choke down the supply valves a bit you should check them for a few days. Most valves have perfect seal full open or full closed but some tend to dribble when partially closed. Just tighten the cap on the stem below the knob.

Being able to throttle the flow down is just one of the advantages of ball valves over the old gate valves. Stem leakage is rare rather than common. As Tom suggested, a PRV may be a good idea.

I agree with Tom's idea about the PRV-using this solution also avoids the "screeching" sort of sound you can get with closed-down valves. If you can live with that noise (if you have it at all), well and good. Another positive when using a PRV is that, if you live in a much older house like mine, you get rid of your water-hammer issues without tearing out walls and installing air chambers, unless you just enjoy sweating pipe and doing plaster/sheetrock work that much! Good luck//Dave