dkaoboy
Sep 13, 2006, 09:19 AM
I have a shower downstairs where a 6" shower arm comes out of a wall that was connected to a 90 degree threaded joint inside the wall. My roommate without my permission took out the 6" arm and installed an 'S' arm. She did a poor job (did not take out the old thread/puddy, didn't put in new pipe thread, didn't caulk the metal circle that covers the hole in the wall). Although the concept is simple, a leaky threaded joint in the wall will cause a lot of damage, and is unnoticable until its too late. I took the 'S' arm out, got a new 6" arm, tried my best to take out old tape (the hole in the wall is only 1.5" by 1"), wrapped the pipe thread 3~4 times on the arm thread going into the wall, HAND tightened the arm, and checked for leaks on the threaded joint with the water on WITHOUT a shower head on. Caulked the donut plate with silicone caulk.
My regrets:
I read installation of arms online, and it says to use a pipe wrench to tighten. I only used my hand. Although it was really tight according to my hand, I don't know if I could have done another rotation with a wrench to make it better
I didn't put the shower head on the pipe when checking for leaks. The water was just free flowing like a hose so I don't think it was a good test of the threaded joint. Should I have capped the arm and then checked the joint? The metal donut is on now, so I can't see into the wall.
When putting weight on the arm, I notice the silicone caulk in the hole of the metal donut flexes with the arm slightly. Maybe up to a mm. Should I have used a caulk that dries hard to keep the arm firm?
I'm afraid of leakage I can't see in the wall, and a plumber would cost $75 to $85. What should I do to install this arm right? Since a plumber will undo what I did anyway, I'd like to try again.
My regrets:
I read installation of arms online, and it says to use a pipe wrench to tighten. I only used my hand. Although it was really tight according to my hand, I don't know if I could have done another rotation with a wrench to make it better
I didn't put the shower head on the pipe when checking for leaks. The water was just free flowing like a hose so I don't think it was a good test of the threaded joint. Should I have capped the arm and then checked the joint? The metal donut is on now, so I can't see into the wall.
When putting weight on the arm, I notice the silicone caulk in the hole of the metal donut flexes with the arm slightly. Maybe up to a mm. Should I have used a caulk that dries hard to keep the arm firm?
I'm afraid of leakage I can't see in the wall, and a plumber would cost $75 to $85. What should I do to install this arm right? Since a plumber will undo what I did anyway, I'd like to try again.