How to Change a Shower Faucet - Mistakes Can Be Very Expensive

The air of despair surrounding you can be attributed to the shocking headlines in newspapers around the world. 'Spain cooks Russia's Guus' cried out one, in a scathing attack on Russia's football coach after his team was ousted rather unceremoniously from Euro 2008.

But in your case, it's something more banal that's responsible for the palpable sense of deflation. Is the very ponderous task of how to change a shower faucet the cause for your consternation? If it is, here are tips that would obliterate your trepidation completely.

Before You Get Down To Some Serious Business

Every task, no matter how straightforward, calls for some amount of preliminary spade work. This one's no different, so make sure you don't gloss over these initial steps:

Make a detailed estimate of the work to be accomplished. If you're required to remove the fixture from behind the wall, you better steel yourself for a lot of sweat and toil.
Consider yourself providential if there's an access panel located on the wall behind the fixture. If not, you can only make some headway by cutting the wallboard.
If the faucet is attached to an antiquated piping system, treat it like an inefficient relic of the past only to be replaced by copper pipes.
Does the rationale behind the accurate measurement of the fixture require any elucidation?
Remember the saying, 'a bad workman always blames his tools?' So make sure you have 2 pipe wrenches, box wrenches, copper pipe cutter, adjustable wrench, vice grips in addition to safety goggles, propane torch, flux and solder ready and raring to go.
Now, The Transformation
With your high level of groundwork, you can now deal with this seemingly Herculean task on a war footing. Here's how:

The knobs and front retaining nut are the first to fall.
The water feed pipes are next in line. If, much to your delight, they're made of copper, they'll come off without affording much resistance. But your glee is sure to be short-lived if they happen to be of an older variety. What exacerbates your agony is the fact that they may also be severely corroded. Take them out cautiously, without twisting them.
There may also be need to replace the lead pipes with their copper counterparts. This is achieved with the help of a mechanism calls transition fitting, wherein the amalgamation takes places underneath the foundation.
The directions of the manufacturer of the new shower faucet must be considered earnestly.
Above all, make sure you complete the replacement procedure without a hitch, or else this refreshing new change could actually prove counterproductive.



By Yoga Priyakara
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1296658