I have an antique claw foot tub. There is a pipe that goes up from the faucet to the shower head. This morning when I went to turn the knob to allow a shower, water began coming out of that joint where the pipe goes into the faucet. The link was loose there, but when I tightened it, water still came out. I also saw a black rubber thing, but it looked OK, not rotted or anything. Do you think that I could just replace that rubber thing and tighten the link? Also, if you know of a place to get a new pipe and shower head, let me know. Lowe's doesn't carry that sort of thing.

Remove that Black rubber (gasket) take it with you to Home depot or Lowe's they will help you to find you a match one, install the new gasket and tighten it good, I hope you will be Ok.

Thanks,
John

Hey Barb...

If the rubber washer looked OK then it makes me wonder if the threaded adapter is cracked somehow. Inspect the adapter again and see if you see anything obvious.

If no obvious cracks then you can try to wrap some TEFLON TAPE around the threads of the shower riser, install the rubber washer back into place and then try to tighten all this up again. You will need a pair of pliers for this.

If that fails to work you may need a whole new faucet... or at minimum a replacement washer/riser as you suggested. The only place you will find a replacement part for this will be either online or at a local plumbing supply company... ;)

Worst case, a plumbing supplyhouse may not have it in stock, but they can definitely order it for you!

Let us know if you want to discuss more...

MARK

Good answers above: just replace the washer and you are back in business. You can do it yourself...

This is a compression joint, (see image) Make sure the nut isn't cracked or crossthreaded when you start it and simply tighten the joint. Good luck, Tom

I'm picturing a tub faucet more like my pic. Tom... :) This one has a black rubber washer or ORING (missing in pic.).

MARK