I rent an apartment to use as an office so the shower is rarely used. After about ten years, the push-pull knob stopped working and would not move no matter how hard I pulled. I was told it was clogged up because the water here is so hard. The landlord replaced the shower valve used by the old push-pull shower knob. Less than two years later the valve clogged up again and this time the landlord had me pay for the repair. Now, just over a year later, the valve has clogged again, even though I was running the water in the shower once every two weeks per the instructions of the plumber. Does it make sense for me to have the push-pull type valve repaired again? Or is there another type of valve less likely to clog up that I should replace it with? Finally, how often should I turn on the shower to prevent future clogging? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!

If the push/pull did not move, it was because it was corroded, not because it was plugged up. What is the problem now? Doesn't it move or will water not flow even when you pull it?

if you truly believe the valve is plugged up, turn the water off, take the valve apart and scrape out whatever is clogging it. send that sample to a lab to have analyzed.

The knob will not pull out no matter how hard I pull. When this happened twice before, the landlord and his plumber both told me that the water here is so filled with chemicals that the valve got clogged because I wasn’t using the shower often enough to flush it out. Right now, since the knob is stuck, no water is coming out. So should I just have the valve repaired(the third time in three years)? Or would it make more sense to have this old push-pull system replaced by a lever system? By the way, clogging may be the wrong word. The knob is stuck in place. The shower doesn’t operate. I need to hire a plumber to deal with this, but I don’t know what to ask to be done.

Are the shut off valves on the hot and cold piping supplying the rough in valve that can be shut off when the shower is not in use
3 repairs in 3 years is a little ridiculous
If you don’t use it why do anything at all

I also use the apartment to put up out-of-town guests so I need the shower to work. It would be great if I coild shut off the water to the shower when it’s not needed, but I don’t think that’s possible. The apartment is yon the twelfth floor of a huge building dating from the 70s and any time a plumber has to work on an apartment, water has to be turned off for an entire vertical block of apartments.

it is the landlord's problem

NOT yours




this will soon become a legal issue beyond the scope of this forum

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

It won’t become a legal problem. The landlord replaced the valve the first time it clogged up. But the reason it clogs is that I don’t live at the apartment and don’t use the shower daily. It’s my fault that it has clogged up again so my responsibility to fix it and this time turn it on more often so it doesn’t clog again. I live a few blocks away in a house built around the same time with the same water and my shower has never clogged in 37 years. So should I simply have a new cartridge put in? Or would it be better to change the valve from push-pull to lever?

geesh.. you first find out what kind of substance is clogging the valve,

then address the issue.

What is the brand and model of existing shower valve ?

If you don't know post a picture.

Quote

It’s my fault that it has clogged up again ...........................

NO, IT IS NOT, REPEAT NOT, YOUR FAULT


unless your lease prohibits the current apartment usage,

THEN

it becomes your responsibility to repair but still not your FAULT.


MERRY CHRIST MASS

and/or

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638



Edited 1 times.

Especially if you did as his plumber said and run the shower once every 2 weeks as instructed

Thanks.

The past two times it was mineral deposits caused by the hard water here in Cambridge, MA. We won’t know the cause this time until the building’s water is turned off and the valve can be removed, but there’s no reason to doubt it’s the same cause this time.



Edited 3 times.

tell the slum lord to put in a filter if the water is bad, sounds absolutely absurd to have the tenant pay.