Water – What could cause low water pressure in tub and no water coming out of shower head

bathtubwater

Water pressure in tub has suddenly dropped and water will not come out of shower head at all. I can hear what sounds like water running up the pipe to the shower head when I have the tub faucets on, but when I pull up the diverter for the shower, no water comes out of the shower head. Fixtures are about 20 years old. Will I have to tear out the tub surround to find the problem?

Best Answer

It sounds like one of your valves is not working correctly. It could be that the handle is slipping or that the valve is clogged. Does it feel like the handle is turning the valve, or is it slipping? If its slipping you can probably just tighten the screw.

As far as replacing it, you might get lucky and find a replacement valve, but in the event you don't, they make remodel plates which allow you to relatively easily replace a 3 handle setup with a 1 handle faucet. The remodel plate covers up the area in the wall/tile you'd need to remove to swap it out; you don't have to tear out the entire wall. If you can get in behind the shower you can probably do it without the remodel plate.

Plate Picture