I am currently in the process of tiling a shower stall, and wondering if I should replace the shower valve as a preventive measure while the wall is open, to avoid a problem in the future, or just leave the original in place because it works fine now, and could work fine for years to come. The house is 16 years old, the water in our area is fairly soft and low in minerals. The shower is in the master bath, and gets light to average use.

Do you have access on the back side of the shower faucet wall? If so, I would leave it alone.

The make and model of your valve would determine whether to keep it or replace it.

if you like the looks and the performance of the valve and you can get replacement trim and innards for the valve, keep it.
if in the future you want to change the look of the valve trim or possibly up the GPM to get a more robust shower, change it now..

There is no brand name on the valves, and yes, I do have access from behind to replace them in the future if there is a problem. So, based on all this information, I will leave the working valves in place and tile over them. Thank you for your responses!

How about a picture of the valve. Some valves are not worth keeping.

Sorry, I am not very camera or computer literate, so a picture of the valves would be tough for me. By way of description, they seem more like hose bibs, a valve in a tube. There is no central flow control of any kind. I appreciate your input.

quote; There is no central flow control of any kind

In that case CHANGE IT NOW to one WITH a central flow control. Having access to the back will NOT help you get rid of the two holes in the tile when you do finally change it.

Judging by how cheaply the house was built, my guess would be that the builder did not use the best available materials for anything, including the plumbing. Somehow they built this custom size-shape shower stall with no pan of any kind, so it leaked, which is why I am stuck with the repair (as the second owner, not the first...). Plus, the wall with the shower comtrols spans 30" with no vertical studs. I had to frame in new studs to provide better support for the new wallboard and tile.

You have just confirmed what I have been suspecting all along, that I should replace those old valves with something better. And, based on other comments on this forum, I will go to a plumbing supply warehouse and not my local big box home DIY store, to get superior advice and product. That, and a plumber for the install. I can do framing, drywall, tiling, etc., but I will let an expert fix the plumbing. Thanks again for your time and advice, HJ.



Edited 1 times.