Hand held shower adapter issues....

[cgilley]

I'm looking for ideas that might help me to avoid opening up a wall. Context - I've completed a master bathroom/bedroom renovation that I am VERY happy with. I just have one issue with the handheld shower head adapter to solve.

This is what I have:



and this is the little beasty causing the trouble:



Note the male adapter that screws into the adapter in the wall.



The problem is that the hand adapter male fitting won't reach the female wall fitting, so what was attempted was the old male to female to male adapter game, and the combination is just too long. The current plumber is standing his ground that he told the tile guy what he needed, the tile guy is pointing at the plumber, and the guy in charge is working with them. What I need is a custom female to male section of pipe with a specific depth.

Does such a thing exist? Two supply houses just blinked at me with no solutions.

 

[Twowaxhack]

What’s the measurement from the face of the female threads in the wall to the face of the tile ?

What’s the measurement of the threaded male portion of the handheld holder that protrudes out ?

I know exactly your issue and I always set my female threaded ell in the wall very deep to allow me to have room to adapt.

 

[cgilley]

Thanks - this is not rocket science, but what is rocket science is the wisdom accumulated over the years of dealing with issues like this.

I'll get the measurements in the morning. The issue is that the ell in the wall is too deep to go directly to it with the shower fixture. The common solution is to toss generic adapters at it making the depth to shallow. Unless I or some shop can craft something custom, I'm going to have to open the wall. Well, not me, the GC. I've told him to wait for the moment.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Thanks - this is not rocket science, but what is rocket science is the wisdom accumulated over the years of dealing with issues like this.

I'll get the measurements in the morning. The issue is that the ell in the wall is too deep to go directly to it with the shower fixture. The common solution is to toss generic adapters at it making the depth to shallow. Unless I or some shop can craft something custom, I'm going to have to open the wall. Well, not me, the GC. I've told him to wait for the moment.

Yes, this is a fairly common problem for plumbers who did not prepare or if the wall thickness has changed without the plumber being notified.

Its most always best to set the female fip fitting deep in the wall to allow room for adapters or extensions

 

[wpns]

If it ends up being too long with an adapter can you make up a brass shim to cover the difference? Or source another one of those square pieces and just use two?

 

[wpns]

What’s the thread size? I’ve used 3/4” male-female adapters that could probably be ground down if they are too long, though at some point you could probably have a machine shop make you something, though you’d want to match the brass alloy for corrosion protection.

 

[cgilley]

wpns - standard 1/2" pipe.

I'll get the measurements tomorrow. As for brass shims and what not, the bracket must (my expectation) be completely flush with the tile. I'll have the contractor open the wall before a muck up the other side.

 

[Twowaxhack]

The problem is the fit must be perfect.

To make it perfect I like to set the fip deep so I have room to make a custom copper adapter nipple.

In order to have enough room to fit this nipple in, I like to set the fip ell as deep as possible in a 2x4 stud wall.

The plumber screwed it up unless the tile guy changed the wall thickness.

 

[Twowaxhack]

This fitting is about as close as you can get. But still, what are the chances it’ll provide a perfect fit ? Not likely.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/FPPI-08...MI19yLpY6Z_gIVvgOzAB3R4AuCEAQYASABEgJoz_D_BwE

 

[turdchaser2000]

https://www.amazon.com/SUNGATOR-Fit...sprefix=1/2+male+to+1/2+female,aps,219&sr=8-4
This could be the best chance you have. Although the threads are not tapered

 

[wpns]

I’d be real nervous about a hidden leak if this isn’t done right. Best to have the contractor do it right.

 

[cgilley]

Thank you for the links, my google fu fails from time to time. All depends on how nicely you ask I guess. Those are exactly what I am looking for. Why the big box stores don't stock these...

wpns - please explain how it would be done "right", since I'll have to live with this. It would be nice if the fitting screwed directly into the wall receptacle, but even if it did, I'd still have one threaded joint with PTFE tape just like the shower head. Now I'd just have two with the extension.

 

[wpns]

Tape or dope, and which kind, those straight threads make me nervous, other experts will have better thoughts.

 

[turdchaser2000]

Tape or dope, and which kind, those straight threads make me nervous, other experts will have better thoughts.

Tape and dope. Tape it a couple extra wraps. I wouldn’t worry much water is flowing past. It’s not
Under a ton of pressure unless you cap that wand

 

[cgilley]

Ironically,, I was cleaning the garage and found the shower hardware installation instructions. The plumber clearly did not read them

 

[Twowaxhack]

Ironically,, I was cleaning the garage and found the shower hardware installation instructions. The plumber clearly did not read them

No surprise there. I use to do service work for a large fixture showroom when the customer complained to the sales girls that their $10,000 shower system doesn’t work correctly.

9.9 out of 10 it was installed wrong by the plumber.

I’d get 3-4 calls a year to check a custom shower and correct the piping errors. Cutting huge holes in the walls of brand new homes….

 

[cgilley]

Don't even get me started on brand new homes. We had a local guy having a house built in a subdivision. The wall plates didn't match the foundation. They were off by 4" at the corners.

But it's okay. I tried the easy thing, we're going to open up the wall, fix the location and move on. As for you, you're just there to help right? )