I had a bath renovated and the contractor installed the wrong valve in a tiled shower and could not use the shower handle I bought. He had to switch it out for another one that was compatible with the valve. I had him install a rain type shower head with a separate hand held head. Tonight I go to use the shower for the first time, and I cannot turn on the hot water because the shower handle he installed is blocked by a solid metal piece of the hose that connects the hand held shower head. The shower handle will allow me to turn on the cold water but then it hits the hand held hose and will not allow me to continue turning the handle to the hot water side. IN other words the shower handle is too big and bumps into the hose for the hand held shower. Is it possible to get a smaller shower handle and install it or does the tile have to be ripped out and a new valve and smaller handle installed? Or is there another solution to this problem? Thanks.

The easiest solution Would be to get the contractor back out to correct your brand new shower set up.

some manufacturers offer a variety of handles and some don't.
check the website of yours.

How about a picture, because it sound illogical that the handle would be larger than the trim plate and the handheld attachment would be that close to the valve.

Thanks for the great suggestion. I will try that.

My contractor installed the hand held unit so that it actually touches the top of the trim plate. He really messed things up. He never measured the unit to see where he should install the valve. He assumed it would be "like all the other shower heads he has installed." I just checked and saw that even a smaller handle will not clear the hand held unit. The handle would have to be less than an inch long to clear it. I think I will just have to call a master plumber and have him look at it and advise what the least expensive route would be. Thank you for your help.

I still would like a picture because the more you describe it the less reasonable it becomes. As a last resort, can the handle be "inverted" so it points away from the hand held. I have never seen a shower valve that has such a small trim plate that the handle would have to be 1" long in order to not extend past it.

Sorry, HJ, if I wasn't clear. I cannot post a picture because I do not have a camera that can be used for the computer. The trim plate looks to be standard and is about 7 inches in diameter. The handle is 3 inches long. It rotates counterclockwise first to the cold water and then continuing counterclockwise, it will rotate to the hot water. It can rotate 180 degrees so the handle is straight up facing north. But the handle cannot rotate any farther to the west, because the hand held shower head hose connects to the second shower head, (a rain type shower head) and where they meet, there is a metal pipe that is about 2 inches long and it interferes with the handle when it is trying to turn toward the hot water. The contractor should have mounted the 2 shower head unit so the bottom part is about 4 inches higher than the valve, but as it stands now, this 2 inch long pipe actually hangs over the trim plate by 2 inches so it stops the handle when you try to move it to the hot water side. Sorry if this explanation is confusing.

the best solution would be to hire a properly licensed plumber which should have been done in the first place.

it may not look good but you should be able to spin that pipe to the side to give enough room for the handle to spin

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dlh, i'm glad you comprehend what she is saying. i'm totally confused.
not your fault, michelle, I just can't picture it in my poor little brain..

I would attempt to position the handle at 9:00 when its off, 3:00 should be full hot and the handle should not hit whatevers in the way.

Thanks, NC, that is a good suggestion. That would solve my problem if it can be done. I will talk to a plumber about it.



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