Mystery Shower Valves HELP

last year

I moved into a prewar NYC apt. I was not able to gut renovate one of the full bathrooms and it has very old hot cold valves and a center one to switch from tub faucet to shower.

They are OLD and DATED. I would like to replace them, but I am told by Ferguson that I can only do so by figuring out the brand of the valves since I am not going in and changing them which would require all new piping and opening the wallls.

There is no indication of the brand on the knob or external fixtures and I can not open the wasll. How do I figure this out??? I can't look at these things!

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Comments (3)

PRO
Zumi
last year
last modified: last year
The valves inside the wall are even older and ready to fail. Save worrying about the pretty bits until you can replace the functional bits innyhe walls. ASAP. They fail in a spectacular leaking fashion. That needs to be top priority.
Seabornman
last year
If you can turn the water off, you can remove the valve stem assembly and take to a good hardware store or plumbing shop. Take the trim too. They can match the style and should be able to guide you in what replacement is possible.
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Jake The Wonderdog
last year
They are very charming - and I'd keep them and try to find the caps for the center.

Generally you can remove the screw in the center and then pull the knob off, without turning off the water. It's probably a pretty standard spline pattern so I wouldn't worry about the brand.

As for the bits in the wall, if it leaks you can replace the washer and seat. If it leaks around the stem you can replace packing or o rings. Doing either of these will require the water to be turned off - but doesn't require opening the wall.