Leak behind shower at faucet connections: access to fix?

[jreich888]

We've got a slow leak at the PEX hot water connection to the shower faucet.  So the good news is I've found the problem, and if I climb under the kitchen sink I can see the fittings, verify the leak, see all the hard water deposits, etc.  The question is: how to actually get the plumbing?  To get to them from the kitchen slide I'd need longer arms, preferably with a couple extra elbows added.  Has anyone dealt with this? 

I've got a 2003 Windsor with the 40PST layout (floorplan below) so there is some access to behind the shower from the kitchen side (see photo below), but nothing easy to reach or anything.  The three options I see are:

1. Go under the sink, find a way to reach up and get the plumbing disconnected, replace fitting, etc.
2. Perhaps disassemble the pantry cabinet in the wall and get access that way.  Anyone done that?
3. Remove the entire shower (and probably the vanity beside the shower).  Huge ugly job.

Any advice from anyone?

 

 

 

 

[Dr4Film]

We have a wall mirror beside the double door pantry in our 2002 Windsor which I think may give access to the shower plumbing. Don't know for sure as I have not needed to get in that area as yet.

[DavidL]

I am educated guessing that remove the sink and clean and fix is the most efficient way if you / someone else can't reach from underneath and re-secure the connection.  Might be cut off the Pex crimp with diagonal cutters and put a worm gear clamp on with a longer screwdriver / nut driver / socket extension.

sink:  Cut the silicone with a razor between the backsplash / counter top. 

Disconnect the sink plumbing.  Put some plastic wrap in the drain to minimize smells.

Empty the drawers

Unscrew the counter top

The hard part will be breaking any glue / silicone holding the countertop / sink down without damaging the counter.  Go easy.

Unscrew the cabinet and remove

You should be able to access the fittings that you can see.  You might need to open up the wall a bit.  A reciprocating saw generally does this easily.  Don't overdo it.

That's a half day of work for someone who is DIY experienced.

Is there other clean / upgrade projects that make sense to do since it will be opened up?  That's usually what gets me motivated.

[Jim McGarvie]

I'm thinking the access to the back of the shower faucet is probably a removable panel in the rear wall of the pantry. Wouldn't that be about the right height?

[Scott 61]

I bet you there's a false wall behind that upper cabinet 

 

[Frank Bergamo]

I am with Jim,

if there is no removable panel, then I would cut one out to access the back of shower. Hope this helps.

[DavidL]

Actually thats a good point...Might be easier just to cut the backsplash out to the right corner of the sink.  Do the plumbing fix and then replace the entire blacksplash with an upgraded material (glass tile, whatever).  Then the project is also an upgrade 😉

[jreich888]

Well I started to dig into the cabinet, and it was easier than I thought.  There was a cut panel on the end, right at the height of the shower valve.  And not even stapled in, just held by two screws for the shelf brackets, basically fell out when removed the screws.  So that offers close (but blind) access to the valve and connections.  

Now I need to decide if we'll just repair the fitting, or do a full replacement of the shower control with an upgraded thermostatic faucet.

thanks for the input
Jason.

 

[Frank Bergamo]

Nice. I love it when a plan comes together!!

[Guest Ray Davis]

Jason,  I have the same identical coach.   On top of that I did the same shower faucet repair.  I did mine some time ago so memory may be missing a little bit in details      I removed the upper section of shelf supports and the false panel behind them too.  Hopefully you have a larger access hole there , I had to use my reciprocating saw and make the hole large enough to actually work through. It was still a tough repair, my hands were skinned up pretty good.  I think what you may find is a cracked plastic fitting.  Monaco used some real junk fittings.  The large hole will at least let you see where and what is actually leaking.                                                                                  I would love to have a thermostatic shower control too, but I'll just keep what I have, it's just too hard at my age to work in such tight places.  👨‍🦳 

Good luck

[dlelsner]

I have a 2004 Camelot PST,. I had a PEX fitting break where the shower wand hose comes out into the shower area. The point where it broke was at the nylon thread fitting, the reason it broke was because Monaco dressed the PEX line with a p-trap at the bottom. This created a water pocket that could not drain out from the shower hose. Had a freeze one night when not at home and it froze that trap causing the fitting to break. After a great deal of looking at the problem I concluded the only fix was to remove the shower and repair from behind it. That meant removing vanity cabinet and the shower enclosure. I can tell you it can be done but it is a lot of work, I did it myself so I know. When I replumbed the line I made it so the line from the faucet to the shower wand did not have a trap in it, just a straight drop. 

I can tell you that if you need to do such a repair you will need to get fittings to also reconnect the drain from the shower to the gray tank. In all it took me about a week of work and I would not want to do it again. 

To the idea of accessing the back of the shower faucet thru the wall it might be doable but will also cause a lot of damage to the cabinet. The panel between the shower and cabinet is one piece of plywood. 

I did this job about a year ago and unfortunately I was not smart enough to have taken pictures.

Good Luck with your fix...    

[Chuck B 2004 Windsor]

I had the same issue.  What I did was to cut a hole in the back of the cabinet large enough for easy access at the correct height and make repairs.  Lowes has 1/4 inch cabinet grate plywood that can be used to cover up the hole.  Take the cut out wood with you and Lowes will match the stain in a 1/2 pint can.  

Good luck,  Chuck B

[millionroy]

OMG.  I'm through.  2001 HR Endeavor for sale.  Just eagerly anticipating the next problem!!

Cheap.

 

Roy

 

[dl_racing427]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:19 PM, jreich888 said:

We've got a slow leak at the PEX hot water connection to the shower faucet.  So the good news is I've found the problem, and if I climb under the kitchen sink I can see the fittings, verify the leak, see all the hard water deposits, etc.  The question is: how to actually get the plumbing?  To get to them from the kitchen slide I'd need longer arms, preferably with a couple extra elbows added.  Has anyone dealt with this? 

I've got a 2003 Windsor with the 40PST layout (floorplan below) so there is some access to behind the shower from the kitchen side (see photo below), but nothing easy to reach or anything.  The three options I see are:

1. Go under the sink, find a way to reach up and get the plumbing disconnected, replace fitting, etc.
2. Perhaps disassemble the pantry cabinet in the wall and get access that way.  Anyone done that?
3. Remove the entire shower (and probably the vanity beside the shower).  Huge ugly job.

Any advice from anyone?

 

 

 

 

Extra elbows would be handy sometimes.
I had a girlfriend who was extremely double-jointed.  She was a big help when changing spark plugs on the big V8's, where they were buried between the head and shock towers. LOL
I should've hung onto her, she was real handy to have around. 😉😉🤣