I was very concerned last weekend when I put all the evidence together, including complaints from my friend that the bathtub was leaking going back 4 years. I saw the water near the towel bar even if I did not put a wet washcloth there or even step out of the bathtub. I noticed a squishy sound under one of the vinyl planks near the entry way.
I figured the drain was leaking somehow, underneath the tub.
But further investigation has shown this not to be true. I can eliminate the "leak" simply by rotating the hand shower wand (which I never use, so I had been pointing it toward the side of the shower) to the center of the shower, so all the water that comes out of it (even when turned off, a lot of water comes out of it) lands in the tub basin rather on the back wall of the tub/shower enclosure. I figured out that water on the edge flows all around the edges and then to the front on one side right where the towel bar is. I guess that it flows like that because the tub has a slight tilt. An alternate theory is that some tiles on the back are not well sealed and water gets directly into the wall cavity. But that wouldn't explain why the water comes out the way it does.
So it seems the correct fix for this is to replace the lousy shower arm diverter. It lets a lot of water flow through the hand shower wand, even when directed the other way. In fact, it's almost impossibly hard to change the diverter anymore. But I remember that it always "leaked" in the sense that even when the hand shower wand was ostensibly turned "off" it still gets about 20% of the water. I've noticed that in other shower arm diverters I've used in the past also. I figured it was a CYA design so that the unused side doesn't seize up.
Well most of those diverters I've bought in the past, in fact all of them, have come from builder center stores, and they are no-name brand. So I figured I'd dry getting a high quality name brand shower arm diverter, maybe that won't leak water to the unused side. I've ended up purchasing the Delta Faucet U4929-PK. This is solid brass with a polished chrome finish. Many of the diverters I've purchased in the past seemed to be made out of plastic. The Delta gets high marks for ease of use...the handle turns easily and is even ADA compliant.
Since I like high end things, I might have bought the Kohler diverter, but it seems to use the push-pull type control that in cheaper brands has always been faulty. I didn't want to take a chance on that design any more, even from Kohler.
I figured the drain was leaking somehow, underneath the tub.
But further investigation has shown this not to be true. I can eliminate the "leak" simply by rotating the hand shower wand (which I never use, so I had been pointing it toward the side of the shower) to the center of the shower, so all the water that comes out of it (even when turned off, a lot of water comes out of it) lands in the tub basin rather on the back wall of the tub/shower enclosure. I figured out that water on the edge flows all around the edges and then to the front on one side right where the towel bar is. I guess that it flows like that because the tub has a slight tilt. An alternate theory is that some tiles on the back are not well sealed and water gets directly into the wall cavity. But that wouldn't explain why the water comes out the way it does.
So it seems the correct fix for this is to replace the lousy shower arm diverter. It lets a lot of water flow through the hand shower wand, even when directed the other way. In fact, it's almost impossibly hard to change the diverter anymore. But I remember that it always "leaked" in the sense that even when the hand shower wand was ostensibly turned "off" it still gets about 20% of the water. I've noticed that in other shower arm diverters I've used in the past also. I figured it was a CYA design so that the unused side doesn't seize up.
Well most of those diverters I've bought in the past, in fact all of them, have come from builder center stores, and they are no-name brand. So I figured I'd dry getting a high quality name brand shower arm diverter, maybe that won't leak water to the unused side. I've ended up purchasing the Delta Faucet U4929-PK. This is solid brass with a polished chrome finish. Many of the diverters I've purchased in the past seemed to be made out of plastic. The Delta gets high marks for ease of use...the handle turns easily and is even ADA compliant.
Since I like high end things, I might have bought the Kohler diverter, but it seems to use the push-pull type control that in cheaper brands has always been faulty. I didn't want to take a chance on that design any more, even from Kohler.
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