Plumbing question

In one of our bathrooms we have a shower that has individual knobs for hot and cold water, you have to mix them manually. Over the past 15 years I have had to replace the knobs probably 5 times because they always strip. I’d like to have a professional come in with higher quality knobs than the crap I have been able to find at Home Depot and Lowe’s. My question is whether a plumber would even be able to do that? I know the current building codes here in St. Paul required the more modern single knob stuff, but that would require tile work and we’re not looking to get into that.

Any advice?

Take a picture of your fixtures. See if you can get a name off them and go to one of the Ferguson showrooms and look there.
There might be somebody that can identify it and Point you in the right direction

They are Gerber fixtures. On the cheap handles, the part that fits over the grooves on the tip of the stem gets stripped repeatedly.

I want a new shower head as well, and want everything looked over. I really want a professional to come out and do this right. So, my question is more about whether they can do this without bringing it up to the current single handle code.

Go to Gopher plumbing supply in st paul or Park plumbing supply in MPLS. Or put in a Moen valve. I believe it’s the Moen Eva that has the larger plate to cover both holes. I might even have one of those in my truck.

Mike W wrote:

Go to Gopher plumbing supply in st paul or Park plumbing supply in MPLS. Or put in a Moen valve. I believe it’s the Moen Eva that has the larger plate to cover both holes. I might even have one of those in my truck.

Thanks for the response. So does that mean you think I would definitely be required to upgrade to a single valve?

Assume you’re talking about something like this photo?

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Call a plumber. They’ll tell you pretty quick what needs to happen in regards to code.

In MPLS it’s a total PIA…not sure if STP is as bad but we had a couple HVAC guys say they won’t work in MPlS anymore.

Matt Moen wrote:

Call a plumber. They’ll tell you pretty quick what needs to happen in regards to code.

In MPLS it’s a total PIA…not sure if STP is as bad but we had a couple HVAC guys say they won’t work in MPlS anymore.

The fact that it’s so tough to get someone out is why I’m posting here first. I know there are a couple pros like Mike here. Last plumber we had out came while I was at work and the wife was home. He was out for a different reason but she showed him the tub and said he couldn’t do it without re-tiling. That was a few years back and this has finally gotten the best of me so I’m circling back to it.

It’s up to you what you want to do.

That moen valve is designed to be installed with minimal tile work. Should be videos on line on what it takes to install. Maybe help your plumber out and cut a good access hole in the wall behind the valve if feasible. Buy the Moen trim and valve to. It seems a lot of our local supply houses don’t have the Eva on hand.

If you want to keep the old valve put it apart and take those parts to one of the supply houses I mentioned.

I’m booked up til maybe sometime this winter but can recommend another plumber for you.

Mike W wrote:

It’s up to you what you want to do.

That moen valve is designed to be installed with minimal tile work. Should be videos on line on what it takes to install. Maybe help your plumber out and cut a good access hole in the wall behind the valve if feasible. Buy the Moen trim and valve to. It seems a lot of our local supply houses don’t have the Eva on hand.

If you want to keep the old valve put it apart and take those parts to one of the supply houses I mentioned.

I’m booked up til maybe sometime this winter but can recommend another plumber for you.

Thanks for the feedback Mike, this is helpful. Will PM you.

If you have a plumber come in you will definitely have to have it brought up to code. I had one out here a year ago and he told me he could touch it unless he was upgrading it and their prices were ridiculous.

If people in Mpls and St. Paul knew how much more contractors charge to work in those cities because of their requirements (or made up requirements) they would be down at city hall with lanterns and pitchforks.

Are the handles hard to turn in the first place, why are they stripping? If they are hard to turn, have you taken the cartridges out and put plumbers grease on them? If there is corrosion inside of the faucet body,(green build up) you can use emery cloth to clean it up. Also, if it happens to be a Kohler faucet, they have a lifetime warranty and are easy to work with to get replacement parts.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

If people in Mpls and St. Paul knew how much more contractors charge to work in those cities because of their requirements (or made up requirements) they would be down at city hall with lanterns and pitchforks.

Lived this nightmare with our renovation. MPLS makes it very hard to want to continue to live there.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
If people in Mpls and St. Paul knew how much more contractors charge to work in those cities because of their requirements (or made up requirements) they would be down at city hall with lanterns and pitchforks.

Lived this nightmare with our renovation. MPLS makes it very hard to want to continue to live there.

We somehow had nothing but smooth sailing when we did our renno recently. I’m sure it wasn’t simple for our contractor but he kept that stuff behind the scenes and never made it our headache, which I appreciated.

I wouldn’t move out of my neighborhood in Saint Paul for anything but a remote cabin. Every place has its benefits and downsides and I love it here. 10 minutes to work, 5 minutes to boat launch on the river and enough wooded green space to escape the city feel, 5 minutes to groceries and any restaurant you could want, etc. Personally I wouldn’t trade the daily benefits for a cheaper rate on the plumbing work I need every few years.