I have a two handle shower/faucet. Recently the hot water would not shut off completely so we replaced the part with the washer in side the handle so it would shut off completely. Now the water pressure is so slow that we can't take a shower or even use the faucet. Even when I turn on both the hot and cold water the entire way the pressure is horrible. This is the only faucet/shower in the house that does not get good pressure.

Hi DC...

First thing I would suggest is that you remove the shower head and clean it of any sediment that may have dislodged when you made the valve repair.

While the shower head is off, run the water and see if the pressure/volume is restored. If it is, clean that shower head and reinstall... hopefully, that fixes it... ;)

Let me know how you make out... OK?

MARK

Hey Mark,
I removed the shower head and did that. Then I removed the faucet and did the same thing, but the pressure is still horrible.
Becky

Becky...

How was the pressure before this... just curious?

Next step is to shut the water and remove parts that you installed. While the parts are out, pulse the water line on to clear it of any sediment that may be clogging the line. CHECK THE FLOW OF WATER AT THIS TIME TOO... if it is poor then the problem could be back at the shutoffs that you are shutting off to work on the valve.

Very unlikely that it is the shutoffs though as it is rare for 2 shutoffs to be an issue at the same time... ya know? Start to disassemble, clear the lines, check flow/volume by running water into the shower with nothing in place and then see what you think

It would probably be a good idea to clear/purge the cold side of the valve as well.

If all that fails to resolve the issue, shut off the main water supply and disassemble the shutoffs going to the shower... purge/clear these with parts out and then reassemble, etc.



Back to you...

MARK

Hey Mark,
The pressure in that shower faucet was always pretty good. Every so often it would run slow. I attributed this to something going on in the city, not necessarily my plumbing within the house.
So, apparently when the valve was replaced (brother) he replaced both the hot and the cold. What do you mean to pulse the water line? I know how to remove the parts, but I don't know what you mean about pulsing the line.
Also, once those parts are off how do I check the flow of the water?
Becky

What Mark means to remove the parts and turn on (pulse) the water to flush out any sediment out of the faucet, good luck.

John

Thanks for the backup John!

YUP! AS John pointed out I want you to turn the hot and cold water back on when the parts are out of the valve body... see if water flows well or is slow. If water flow is slow then the issue is further back than the valve. However, as I said, unlikely it is the shutoffs... ;)

Remove the parts and turn water on to clear things. At the same time really examine the inner valve body and the parts you installed to see what may be causing issues.

Are any other fixtures having issues?

MARK

Hi Mark and John,
I think I was sold the wrong replacement valves. I'm running to Home Depot to try and get exact matches for what used to be in the faucet handles.
I got major water pressure when I removed them and flushed water through.
Becky

Awesome... I was wondering if that was the issue!~

Waiting for the next update!

Thanks.

Hi Mark,
Okay so here's what I did. The new valve parts that were sold to my brother were a different length than the old parts. So, I picked up new washers for the old parts. In the process I took the valves off both the hot and cold handles. Water sprayed like crazy!! I did one at a time so I know that each one has comparable pressure. Then I put on the old valves with the new washers. I did the cold water first. When I turned on the cold water it came out of the pipe that normally houses that faucet and it also began running out of the hot water valve. The pressure was very low again. So then I did the hot just to see what would happen and the hot water ran out of the faucet pipe very slow as well. So, what now?

Perhaps a new faucet or new valves ?

Hi Mark and John,
Anything else that you can think of that might be causing this problem?

Hi DC...

The stem assembly and the washers must be exact replacements. Take the old stem to a PLUMBING SUPPLY STORE and spend a couple minutes with them finding the right ones. Pick up new SEATS and a seat wrench at the same time and change all this out at the same time.

You may also want to try to see if the shower riser is clogged... could be. Take a coat hanger and fish around inside the valve body... see if anything is plugged going to the shower head.

Otherwise, I got to tell you to bring a plumber in on this one as I have exhausted all options on this end... ;)

MARK