The fixtures for the shower are Delta Champagne Bronze. I think the color is a nice complement to the dark brown tile. The style name is Lahara which is a very plain style. I couldn’t find the diverter trim in Lahara so I bought the Classic style.
Champagne bronze hand shower
I purchased the faucets in August of 2016 which was a long time ago. When I was installing the diverter trim, I couldn’t find the knob. I looked all over and was pretty sure it should be in with the other pieces, but I didn’t know exactly what it looked like. After looking for some time, I happened to see a new set for $24 so I bought it. Turned out that I found the knob in with the shower trim and I didn’t need the knob but the extra base plate came in very handy. The hose connection did not fit flush against the tile wall so I used the second base plate to help fill in the space.
In order to get the shark bite connected for the hose spigot, I had to pull the loose connection as far towards the surface as possible. I looked up the photo of how the pipes were configured.
Diverter Pipes
I was able to pull the pipe connection forward with a piece of hanger wire.
Hanger wire looped on pipe behind wall
Then I had to hold the shower hose connector and it’s plastic backing, and the backplate from the extra diverter valve and push the shark bite on while the pipe was pulled as far out as I could get it. This was to get everything mounted as close to the wall as possible. It looks ok but it is loose so I’m thinking caulk will tighten it.
The next job was to install the main shower valve trim. I ended up leaving the wall guard on the shower valve when the tile was done and when trying to screw on the face place, the holes in the valve were covered up! It seems that the shield was just a little off center.
Black valve shield covering screw hole
I used my handy multitool with a narrow blade to cut off the plastic covering the screw holes. Then I was able to attach the face plate.
Face plate and valve cartridge control
I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to connect the shower valve. There are two inner plastic gears that control the temperature setting. The first is placed to meet the gear teeth in the volume control handle. The instructions say that this should be placed to not allow the hot water to get over 120 degrees. We have a whole house temperature regulator so I just wanted the piece to be set at the hottest temperature. But it wasn’t clear at first what part of the gear was up and what part made the handle stop at the hottest temperature.
Water Temperature Gear Diagram
The instructions skipped placing the gear inside the handle, then added this direction to control temperature.
If the water temperature is above 120°F, remove the temperature control knob (1) and rotate the limit stop (2) clockwise one tooth for every 4°F – 6°F (approximate) change in temperature. If water temperature is cooler than desired, rotate the limit stop counterclockwise.
Eventually I realized the center white knob could be rotated with a pliers all the way back and forth. So all the way to the left was hottest and all the way to the right coldest. The center of the cap fit over this knob. So to get the water as hot as possible the gear underneath had to have the limit stop in a position relating to the knob that allowed the cap to rotate to full hot. I screwed in the set and tried turning on the water.
Well, then I realized I had not opened the screw stops on the valve. That meant taking it all apart and taking off the face plate and opening the stops with a screwdriver. Nothing like doing the assembly all over again.
I first tested the hand held shower and found that I had left out a rubber gasket as it sprayed me from the bottom of the handle. After changing my shirt and finding the gasket and installing it, the leak stopped. Then I tried the shower head. It worked! But when I turn off the water it drips for a bit. I supposed that is from the long shower arm. The next task was to test the hot and cold water settings. I could not get hot water to flow from the hot side! I tested the hot water in the sink and it was definitely hot, then I realized that I may have connected the pipes the wrong way! I tried the cold side and the water got hot. This is a problem I seem to have frequently. So fixing that was another exciting adventure. But at least the faucet trim was completed.
Shower control and trim installed