Hello, how do I fix the bathtub valve stem in my bathroom if it was not installed straight? When we bought our house there was a new valve stem (for cold water knob) in one bathtub, and no knob handle installed over it. We thought that perhaps they hadn't found the correct face plate/knob size. Upon further inspection, it seems that the valve stem is not perpendicular to the tub wall, which is preventing the faceplate and knob from being installed properly. It looks like they even tried to break the plastic flange nipple and glue it back together at an angle in an attempt to fix it... So now there is also some kind of excess super glue or caulk on the crooked stem. What do you think we need to do to fix this? Is there a way to do it without cutting into the wall?

I also welcome your thoughts on whether it is more cost-effective in the long run to make repairs to this tub or replace the whole thing. The tub needs to be refinished, and we would eventually like to add a shower head. We had thought about perhaps putting in a suction cup shower head attachment and doing a DIY refinish, but if we need to cut into the wall to fix the tub valve stem then perhaps it would be better in the long run to add a permanent shower head at that time, or replace the whole thing with a new tub/shower set-up. Thank you for any suggestions and ideas!