Home Repair Question: bathtub runs while shower is on.

[gwilks98]

I'd like to try to fix a problem myself, but I don't know enough about the plumbing terminology to start researching through google.

The problem: The bathtub faucet runs (heavily) while my shower head is on. I have the type of bathtub where you turn on the water, then pull on a plug on the bathtub spiggot to get the water to come out of the shower head.

It's really tearing into my hot water tank and my water bill is high for a 1 person house.

I heard that this can usually be fixed by replacing a washer, but I haven't had any luck researching this.

Can anyone help?

[hoey222]

the whole fawcet assembly should be made by the same manufacturer, look for the brand name moen, delta, american standard....and see if you can then look up washer replacement for the model type

[WhiskeyPapa]

You need a new tub spout with shower diverter. They screw on. Just take yours off and take it to Home Depot and ask for a replacement. It'll probably cost $15.

[johnnymk]

For a short term solution, you could probably stick something up the bath faucet and wire or plastic tie it to mostly prevent the water from coming out while taking a shower. Maybe a small rubber or plastic ball?

[molecularfire]

You need a new tub spout with shower diverter. They screw on. Just take yours off and take it to Home Depot and ask for a replacement. It'll probably cost $15.
:stupid: Take off your bathtub spiggot and look for the mechanism that blocks the flow of water to your tub. Take that whole thing out and bring it to a hardware place and they will get your a replacement. There isn't really a need to do research and figure out what to order. If they don't have it and need to order it then just reinstall it... no harm done.

[gwilks98]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't realize how easy it was. I also took the time to buy a nice shower head. (My last one was a handheld that could not be mounted on the wall...I had to hold it throughout my shower.)

My g/f and I enjoyed a nice hot shower this morning, with no tub leakage. Thank God I had my hands free...

I also replaced the flapper in my toilet. Yet another cheap easy fix.


BTW: Thanks Mods, for correcting the spelling mistake in the thread title.

[JackHammer]

Dude you need a new shower diverter thingie. FOrgot what they are called. It's an brass piece with a rubber boot. WHat yo uneed to do is take that off and go to home depot to get a new one. How do you take it off? Well it depends on what kinda of handle your shower has. Take a pic of it and I might be able to help you more. I changed mine last year. Changing it was a cinch. I had to make like 5 trips to Home Depot to get the right tools and diverter.

Edit: Remembered the name. These $hit are called stems. So what you need is to replace the shower stem diverter. Looks somehting like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/jsearch/product.jsp?pn=488425

Edit #2:
Nevermind. You fixed it.