"In a building with 8 units. Water heater is located in another building. I received this correspondence from my HOA. 'Plumber's inspection of your unit's shower valve has determined it is responsible for a hot & cold water crossover issue affecting the other 8 units in your building. My condo is a corner unit on second floor of the two-story building."

No, this should not be a problem. Each unit should have its own supply line. Does each unit have its own water header? Tell us what you are experiencing.


Please do not start more than one post of this topic. This needs to be merged with your other post. Your HOA and their plumber are wrong, do nothing at this point. Your mixing valve only connects to your shower pipe and shower head. There is no "series" type connection to other pipes or other units. Do your recall this plumber being inside your unit and opening the escutcheon plate in your shower?

He didn't he just turn the hot a cold water taps on to see if the were working properly.

Yes, if you have cross over situation in one shower than it can affect all other showers in the building.

In a building with 8 units. Water heater is located in another building.
One water heater form 8 units?
This means all the units are are supplied hot and cold from a single source.
Milo's correct! Under these conditions a cross connection would directly affect the other seven units. Either clean or replace the cartridge in the faulty valve. Good luck, Tom

Tom and Milo, please talk further on this issue. I can not picture and mixing valve, even a reversed valve affecting any other unit. When the hot water reaches the valve it is traveling in one direction only, toward the shower head. A reversed valve would give hot when you select cold or vice versa but not back fed. Tell me more

Hey Bob,
Mixing valve! Keep that term in mind.

I can not picture and mixing valve, even a reversed valve affecting any other unit. But we're not referring to a reversed valve or cartridge. We're talking about a crossconnection where the cartridge malfunctions and mixes cold water with the hot back into the system.
Ordinarily this would only affect Richards unit but all 8 units are supplied from single source so mixing in cold and hot through a crossconnection would affect the entire building. I once rented a apartment where if you were in the shower and the next door neighbor flushed a toilet you were in a world of hurt. I hoe this explains it. Cheers, Tom

HOA and condo tells me this could be common property not the responsibility of the individual owner. Lot depends on their covenants. It will be interesting on how this plays out. The OP says the HOA notified him but we don't know what they want him to do about it.

HOA and condo tells me this could be common property not the responsibility of the individual owner.
In my area anything outside the unit, such as hallways, sewer mains etc. are considered to be "common area" however I can't consive of a units shower valve being considered in a common area . Could you post more details on this? Thanks Tom

The covenants of the condo my dad lived in basically state you own the painted surface of the walls inward. Anything below/inside the paint was commonly owned by the association. IE, If the toilet broke dad had to fix it, if the drain of the toilet below the wax ring needed rodding the HOA paid. Answers.com - What are examples of limited common property in a condominium complex (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_examples_of_limited_common_property_in_a_ condominium_complex)

Tom and Milo, please talk further on this issue. I can not picture and mixing valve, even a reversed valve affecting any other unit. When the hot water reaches the valve it is traveling in one direction only, toward the shower head. A reversed valve would give hot when you select cold or vice versa but not back fed. Tell me more

Bob, I have just attended similar problem last week. Plumber installed Delta rough-in body valve. This body comes w/o cartridge - just a "plug" inserted into the body. Therefore, hot and cold water channels are fully open. When he turned water back on, neighbors were experiencing hot water fluctuations: Cold water was pulsating hot and hot water was fluctuating between luke warm to boiling hot. After we identified the problem, we have inserted Delta cartridge and problem was solved.

Hope that explains... Best.. Milo

Good to know, however we now should hear more from the OP as to what the HOA wants him to do. My posts wioth Tom may shed light on who pays for, what may be common property. OP you still with us?

Here is what the Delta rough-in shower valve with the Plug looks like:

Bob.
Common sense dictates that if the OP has a faulty valve that impacts the other units then it's his reesponsibility ton remedy the situation at his expense. What Condo Docs would ever designate the OPs shower as a "common area"? Regards, Tom

Tom, it all dependson the covenants. The stairs leading to his front door, common property. His balconey, common property. His driveway, common property. Usually the supply pipes leading to a mixing valve are also common property but the valve itself may be private property. richard091, what do your covenants say on this matter and what did the HOA expect you to do?

I don't know Bob.
But in my area ANYTHING within the confines of the unit, fixtures, appliances such as AC and water heater, all water pipeing from the house shut off 5through out and all them branch drainage,
The maintaining tab at your Dads condo must be sky high If the Condo Association picks up the cost of maintaining all the units,
That would be unfair here because we have so many owners that divide their time six months out of the year. The full time residents would get all the benefits while the winter people would only get 5 or 6 months of benefits. But that's just how it works down here. Regards, Tom