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A glass shower enclosure with a wall-mounted shower head

Behind the Handle

Shower Valve Replacement for Newmarket Homes

The valve hidden in the wall decides whether your shower is too hot, too cold, weak or dripping. Replacing an old or failing valve brings back safe, steady water and often a new look.

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  • The fault shown to you at the pipe before any work starts
  • A plumber on the line when you call, not a call centre
  • Options explained before anything is cut or replaced
  • Parts for common repairs carried on the van
  • Licensed trade plumbers
  • 7-day call line
  • Newmarket & York Region
  • Residential & commercial
Service
Shower Valve Replacement
Category
Fixtures and appliances
Where
Newmarket and nearby York Region
Booking
By telephone

Clues that point to shower valve replacement

  • Temperature leaps when someone flushes a toilet.
  • The head keeps dripping however hard you turn the handle.
  • The handle is loose, stiff or turns too far.
  • No parts are available for the existing valve.
  • You want a new trim style that needs a different valve.

Our method, in order

We first try the simplest repair. Many valves just need a new cartridge, and if parts exist we fit them. When the valve body itself is worn, obsolete or not pressure-balanced, it needs to come out of the wall.

  1. Shut off the water and drain the lines.
  2. Open the wall from behind, through an adjoining closet or room, if access allows. This saves your tile.
  3. Where the only access is through the tile, cut the smallest opening that the new trim plate will cover.
  4. Install a new pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve, set at the correct depth for the wall finish.
  5. Test under pressure before the wall is closed.
  6. Set the anti-scald limit stop to a safe maximum.

Bench note

Pressure-balancing valves protect against sudden scalding when another fixture is used. Most homes built before the 1990s did not have them, and they are a worthwhile safety upgrade.

Newmarket houses and this job

Tubs and showers from the 1970s and 1980s often have two-handle or three-handle valves with no scald protection. In homes around Gorham-College Manor or Huron Heights, these are common. A conversion to a single-handle valve usually requires a wider trim plate to cover the old holes, and we can recommend trim kits designed for that purpose.

Many newer homes have valves from a handful of large brands whose cartridges are easy to find, so a repair is often quick. The model can usually be identified from the trim, and a photo sent ahead of time helps us bring the right part.

Valve types

TypeWhat it does
Pressure-balancingKeeps the hot and cold ratio steady
ThermostaticHolds a set water temperature
DiverterSwitches flow between spout and head

When to call

Call us if your shower drips or swings in temperature. If you are redoing the whole enclosure, bathtub and shower installation covers that work.

Phoned-in questions

Do you have to break my tile?

Not if there is access from behind. If there is not, we cut only what the new trim plate will cover.

How hot should a shower be?

Most guidance suggests keeping hot water at the tap below about 49°C to reduce scald risk, while the tank itself is kept hotter to limit bacteria.

Keep reading

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