Please Help! Dripping Tap Apocalypse

Gav_Z'Nuff

Hi all,

I'm totally stuck here.... i have a mixer tap in the bath , in the middle of the back wall - it's started dripping...(picture attached)

- i've had 2 plumbers down - one as part of my Homeserve policy - He took one look and said there was nothing he could do as they don't do mixer taps and i would need to remove the tbath AND tiles or they would have to knock through my daughters bedroom wall to get to the back of the tap... goodbye - thanks for nothing...

I've called a 2nd plumber out who said he might be able to fix it - he had a play about with it and now the small drip is now a hot water flow - he's tried to pull one of to bend the handle to the right and it's not really worked .... he said he had to "go home and have a think about it"... i doubt we will see him again...

does anybody have any ideas? surely they can pull out the bath ... not sure how these things work but the tiles are above the bath - the bath panel comes off - the bath has been there 7 years - happy to pull it out and replace if needed - the floor tiles only go up to the bath so is this the solution or will they have to knock through the wall or rip out the whole bathroom??

Does anyone have any advice?.... i'm happy to put another similar bath in - surely there must be a way to do this without destroying everything....? i can't post an image due to being a new user...

Best Regards

Gavin

phill99

I run a property maintenance company and have come across this scenario more times than I care to mention.


There is one solution and that is to remove the bath, and change the taps that way. It would be sensible to put a proper (non-stupidly designed) bath in its place. Some tiles will have to be removed and will need replacing (do you have spares?) Allow £1000.


Baths with the taps at the back arethe most stupidly designed things in the history of mankind.

Norman_Castle

If you're lucky you might find an isolation valve by removing the bath panel.

Bettie

A false tiled wall built to the side of my bath means a plumber is unable to get to the nuts under the taps to change them. I changed the innards glands etc to stop the dripping but if it started to leak underneath then like you I will have to demolish a wall or remove tiles and bath.

HomeServe_company_representative

Hi Gavin,

I’m sorry to learn of the issues you’re experiencing. We’re passionate about helping our Customers and we’d very much like to take a look into this further.

If you could please email us your policy details we’ll be in touch to discuss. You will find our contact details on our profile page and we hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

Alison
Here To Help Team

I_have_spoken

Picture ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5gMZtiGqf4

phill99

Norman_Castle wrote: »

If you're lucky you might find an isolation valve by removing the bath panel.

But that still doesn't mean you can change the taps without removing the bath.

Norman_Castle

phill99 wrote: »

But that still doesn't mean you can change the taps without removing the bath.

Did I suggest it would? Would it help with this?

"I've called a 2nd plumber out who said he might be able to fix it - he had a play about with it and now the small drip is now a hot water flow"

d0nkeyk0ng

phill99 wrote: »

Baths with the taps at the back arethe most stupidly designed things in the history of mankind.

I didn't spot this when we bought our house. The bathtub is walled and tiled in on three sides. The long side next to the external wall is where the taps are. On one of the narrow ends, there's an electric shower, and on the otherside is a small shelf and window.