Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - When shower is on, half of hot water leaks out of bottom

hey when I have my shower on, some water leaks out of the bottom, its only the hot water, and it seems to be the water than should be comming out of the spout at the top, because the water cannot get that hot. I am thinking of buying a new faucet, is this the right approach?

You don't say what brand of faucet you have, but some brands, like Moen, will courier to you the parts you need to repair the faucet at no cost to you. Otherwise, probably replacement is your best option.

I would think you need to fully expose the valve set and physically see where the water is leaking before any determination is attempted.

I had a plumber come by, they said it was something that needed to be soldered on something like a "shower divider" I am assuming that is jargon, because I couldn't find anything on a google search. so idk, but how difficult is it to put a new set in, is there a tutorial somewhere on this?

Bobby

Prabably "shower diverter". Im not a plumber but these things can usually be repaired. Replacement parts can usually be found at a plumbing supply house. That would be the way to go. Why didnt you let the plumber fix it since he was already there? Replacing the whole fixture will likely require busting a hole in the wall as well. It will certainly be a lot more work and more costly than repairing what you have.

I had a plumber come by, they said it was something that needed to be soldered on something like a "shower divider" I am assuming that is jargon, because I couldn't find anything on a google search. so idk, but how difficult is it to put a new set in, is there a tutorial somewhere on this?

Usually, the shower diverter as Johnny said, is the third knob that directs the water from your tub up to the shower. From the sounds of it, a pipe has come un-soldered and needs to be re-soldered. If you don't do that often it is a job for a professional, else you will be re-addressing the same problem again soon.

However, there are faucet sets available that are one-piece sets, but they may or may not fit the existing holes in the wall. A trip to your local big box hardware store will help you out with how to do it.

I just replaced a shower faucet and it was no piece of cake even with the wallboard taken off completely. I removed a tub and put in a shower so the wallboard all had to come off.

To replace the entire faucet is a big job that will require a substantial hole in the wall and subsequent repairs, and soldering to several copper pipes (depending on your set up).

I would look into repairs to the existing faucet to see if that fixes the problem, before embarking on a major project like that.

The shower diverter would be the knob that directs the water to the shower spout or the floor spout, depending on its position, and it seems to me that is a mechanical device that is not soldered!

I purchased a shower and tub faucet set and left out the tub spout, so I have no diverter to contend with in the future as a source of trouble - turn the water on and it has only one way to go. The diverter on that set was on the tub spout. But I do have another shower that has the diverter on the faucet; I've never looked at that one, but it appears to be a mechanical device to me.

I'm having the same problem and I cant tell what brand my faucet is.....its pretty old.

I'm wondering, can I try and find another faucet set that will fit in the same hole so that I dont have to open up the wall.....is that even possible?