The hot water was not working in the guest bathroom. A plumber looked at it, quoted way too much. We replaced the cartridge, and it works just fine. The problem is that now when we turn the handle, it's very hard to turn. The handle is flush against the wall. The other showers in the house have a space between the handle and the backing. I noticed that when I took out the handle/base plate from the other shower (to see how it compared) that the base plate was very easy to screw in. In this shower, the pipe that you screw the baseplate into is very far from the wall. Also, the pipe does not stick out as far into the shower as the one that does not have this problem. Could this be it? Grateful for any help!

Was this tight before when the hot water wasn't working?

I should rephrase that, it turns but it feels like it's almost hitting something. We loosened the screw on the handle today and it turns better, but now it's just loose. I'm thinking that if I get the extension it will help. Was just hoping there was an easy fix since that extension piece is $30.

Thank you so much for replying by the way!

Just behind the handle is a chrome tube stop. If that is not seated all the way in it will bind the handle and make it hard to torn. Check the tube stop. Good luck, n Tom