Shower & Bathtub Repair Across the Bay Area
Most shower problems are the valve, and most bath problems are the drain and overflow. We repair leaking shower valves, worn cartridges, failed diverters, tub spouts and waste connections across 15 Bay Area cities, and deal with the grout and caulk failures that let water get behind the tile in the first place.
Replacing the whole thing rather than repairing it? See shower installation for new showers and full replacements.
- Leaking and dripping shower valves
- Cartridge, balancing spool and stem replacement
- Diverters that will not switch cleanly between spout and head
- Tub spouts, shower arms and head connections
- Bath drain and overflow leaks into the ceiling below
- Grout and caulk failure letting water behind tile
- Slow shower and bath drains cleared
Shower and Bath Faults We Repair
Catching these early is almost always cheaper than waiting for the failure.
The Shower Drips When It Is Off
A head that keeps dripping after the valve is closed means a worn cartridge or damaged seats, not a faulty shower head. It wastes water continuously, and if the drip is hot it is pulling from the water heater too. On most valves this is a contained repair with no tile disturbed.
Water Comes From the Spout and the Head Together
The diverter is worn or scaled and no longer sealing. On a tub spout diverter that usually means replacing the whole spout. On a three handle or valve mounted diverter it is a stem or a cartridge. Either way, running both outlets at once halves the pressure at the head.
Temperature Swings When Another Tap Runs
A pressure balancing valve that no longer compensates has a seized balancing spool, usually scaled up. That is a safety issue as much as a nuisance, since the entire point of the valve is to prevent a scald when somebody flushes a toilet. It is repairable on most valves.
A Stain on the Ceiling Below the Bathroom
Almost always the bath waste or overflow rather than pipes in the wall. The overflow gasket hardens and shrinks, and water passes it whenever the bath is filled high or somebody showers over the tub. It only leaks in use, which is why these take so long to find.
Loose Tiles, Dark Grout or Soft Areas
Failed grout and perished caulk in the internal corners and along the tub edge let water get behind the tile. Once it is in the wall it stays there, softening the substrate and eventually growing mould. Discoloured grout at the corners and any tile that sounds hollow are worth acting on early.
The Bath or Shower Drains Slowly
Hair and soap bind together in the trap and across the crossbars of the strainer. In a shower it builds where the pipe leaves the trap. Standing water around your feet means it is already significantly restricted, and clearing it at that point avoids a full blockage later.
Valve Types We Repair
Pressure Balancing Valves
The most common single handle valve, using a spool that compensates when cold pressure drops so the outlet temperature stays roughly steady. When that spool seizes with scale you get temperature swings and reduced flow. Most brands are repaired with a cartridge or spool kit without touching the tile at all.
Thermostatic Valves
These hold a set temperature using a thermostatic element and are usually paired with a separate volume control. More precise, more expensive and more sensitive to scale. Repairs involve the thermostatic cartridge and the check valves on the inlets, which foul first on mineral heavy supplies and are easily missed.
Two and Three Handle Valves
Older arrangements with separate hot, cold and sometimes diverter handles. They use stems and seat washers rather than a cartridge, and parts remain available for most of them. They offer no scald protection, so where a valve body has to be replaced, current code takes you to a balanced or thermostatic unit.
Tub Spout and Wall Diverters
The lift knob on a bath spout, or a separate wall diverter sending water up to the head. Both wear at the seal and both scale up. Spout diverters are generally replaced as a complete unit, and the connection type, threaded or slip fit, has to be matched to the pipe stub.
How We Repair a Shower or Bath
Identify the Valve and the Fault
Photographs of the trim plate and handle usually let us identify the make and the cartridge before we arrive, so the right part is on the van. Where a valve is unbranded or very old, we open it up and match the cartridge on site rather than guessing.
Quote Before We Start
You get the price for the repair, including whether the trim has to come off and whether any tile is at risk, before anything is dismantled. If we open up and find something different from what was expected, we stop and re-quote rather than pressing on.
Isolate and Dismantle Carefully
The supply is isolated and the trim and cartridge removed without stressing the valve body in the wall. Scaled cartridges seize hard, and pulling one badly cracks the body, which turns a contained repair into opening the wall. This is the part of the job that rewards patience.
Repair, Reassemble, Reseal
New cartridge, seats and springs, with the valve body cleaned out and the integral stops checked. Trim goes back with fresh sealant behind the escutcheon, so water running down the wall cannot get into the cavity through the very opening we have just used.
Test Hot, Cold and Mixed
We run the valve through its full range, check the diverter switches cleanly, confirm the shower stops completely when closed, and check temperature stability with another fixture running. Then we check the ceiling below where there is a room underneath.
Repairing Showers and Baths Without Tearing Out the Tile
The fear with any shower repair is that it means opening the wall. In most cases it does not. The valve body stays exactly where it is, and the cartridge, seats, springs and trim all come out through the front. What forces a wall opening is a cracked valve body, a leak in the pipe behind, or a valve so obsolete that no cartridge exists for it. We establish which of those you have before quoting, so nothing comes as a surprise.
Scale is the main enemy of a shower valve. Mineral in the supply crystallises inside the cartridge and around the balancing spool, and the valve gradually loses its ability to compensate. That is why a shower that used to hold temperature starts running cold when the washing machine fills. Where the supply is particularly mineral heavy, cartridges become a wear item, and running the valve through its full range now and then genuinely helps.
Bath leaks are misdiagnosed more than any other fixture. Water appearing on a ceiling below is usually the waste and overflow assembly rather than a supply pipe, because supply leaks run constantly while these only leak in use. The overflow gasket is a rubber washer squeezed between the tub and the overflow plate, and it hardens and shrinks with age. Replacing it needs access behind or below the bath, which is why the panel matters.
Grout and caulk are not decoration. Caulk belongs in the movement joints, meaning every internal corner and the line where tile meets the tub or the tray, and grout goes everywhere else. When somebody grouts a corner it cracks with normal movement and water goes straight into the wall. If your corners are cracked or the caulk has lifted, water is already getting behind the tile, and that is worth dealing with before the substrate softens.
What Affects the Price
We quote every job up front, so you approve the price before anything starts. These are the things that move it:
- Whether the fault is a cartridge and trim repair or needs access into the wall
- Make and model of the valve, and whether parts are still produced for it
- Type of valve, since thermostatic units carry more expensive internals than pressure balancing
- Whether the tub waste and overflow can be reached from a panel or need access from below
- Extent of grout and caulk failure, and whether any tile has to be cut out
- Access behind the valve, which is easier on a stud wall than on a slab or a shared wet wall
- Whether a slow drain is a simple clear or needs the trap opening up
Most quotes are free and can be done from photos or video you send us. Some on-site estimates carry a fee based on distance, and we tell you that before we come out.
Keeping a Shower Working
Every so often, turn a shower valve from full cold to full hot and back again. It keeps the internals moving and slows the scale that seizes a balancing spool. Showers only ever used on one setting are the ones that seize.
Unscrew the head and soak it in vinegar when the spray pattern starts wandering. Blocked nozzles are the earliest visible sign of mineral in the supply, and clearing them restores pressure without anybody touching the valve.
The line where tile meets the tub or tray is a movement joint with a limited life. Cutting out tired caulk and resealing every few years costs almost nothing and keeps water out of the wall behind.
A cheap strainer over the shower waste stops the single biggest cause of blocked bathroom drains. Emptying it weekly is far easier than augering a trap that has been building up quietly for two years.
If there is a room under the bathroom, glance at the ceiling occasionally, especially after a bath rather than a shower. A faint ring that comes and goes is the overflow gasket, and it is far easier fixed than a collapsed ceiling.
Shower and Bathtub Repair — Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers, without the sales pitch.
Do you have to break the tile to fix a leaking shower valve?
Usually not. Cartridges, seats, springs and trim all come out through the front of the valve, so the tile stays where it is. Opening the wall becomes necessary when the valve body itself has cracked, when the leak is in the pipe behind it, or when the valve is so old that no replacement cartridge is made.
How do I know whether the leak is the shower or the bath?
Timing tells you. A leak appearing only after somebody has bathed, particularly after a deep bath, points to the waste and overflow. One showing after a shower with no bath run points to the valve, the pan or the tile. A stain present constantly with nothing running suggests a supply leak instead.
Why does my shower go cold when the toilet is flushed?
A pressure balancing valve is meant to compensate by cutting the hot in proportion to the lost cold. When it stops doing so, the balancing spool inside has seized with scale or debris. It is repairable on most valves and well worth fixing, because the same failure can produce a scalding surge instead of a cold one.
Can you match my existing trim if the valve needs work?
In most cases the trim stays and only the internals are replaced, so nothing changes visually. Where the trim itself is corroded or damaged, replacements are usually available if the brand is still trading. If the line is long discontinued, we will tell you what the options are before anything is taken apart.
Is a slow shower drain a plumbing problem or just hair?
Start with hair, because it accounts for the great majority of them. If a proper clear at the trap does not restore full flow, or several fixtures in the bathroom slow down together, the problem is further along the branch line or the main drain and needs looking at properly rather than repeatedly cleared.
My grout is cracked in the corners. Is that serious?
It usually means grout was used where flexible sealant belongs. Internal corners and the tile to tub joint move slightly with use and temperature, and rigid grout cracks there every time. Water then runs behind the tile. Cutting it out and sealing it properly is a modest job that prevents a much larger one.
Do you charge extra for nights, weekends or holidays?
No. We do not add overtime charges, ever. The rate you are quoted is the same whether we come out on a Tuesday morning or at 2am on a holiday weekend.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. Power Plumbing USA holds California contractor license #1082507 and carries full liability insurance. All work is performed to California Plumbing Code, and we pull permits where the job requires them.
Where We Provide This Service
We cover 15 Bay Area cities from our Union City base. See the full service area →