Skip to content
Pickering Plumbing Company markPickeringPlumbing Co.Call now(365) 334-6645

Trade entry ยท Fixtures

Shower Valve Repair in Pickering

A shower that scalds when someone flushes, drips all night, or has a handle you need two hands to turn usually has a valve problem behind the wall. Most can be fixed without retiling.

  • On the truck: basin wrench, cartridge puller, PEX crimp tool and PTFE tape
  • First look: the shut-offs under the fixture and the supply lines
  • No permit usually needed for a like-for-like repair
  • Booked within the week, often sooner
  • A price range on the phone, a firm quote before work
Call now(365) 334-6645

A plumber answers.
No forms, no waiting list.

Stylish shower with white subway tiles and a striking black patterned accent wall for a modern touch
Stylish shower with white subway tiles and a striking black patterned accent wall for a modern touch.

Open 7 daysEmergencies any hour

  • Licensed plumbers, details on request
  • Quote before any work starts
  • Pickering and Durham Region
  • Residential and commercial

What you can do first

  1. If it drips badly, close the bathroom shut-offs or the main to save water.
  2. Snap a picture of the handle and trim plate.
  3. Look for an access panel behind the shower in an adjoining closet.
  4. Avoid forcing a stiff handle; it can snap the stem.

Planning a fuller update? Read about bathroom plumbing.

Signs you need shower valve repair

  • Sudden hot or cold bursts when another tap or toilet is used
  • A steady drip from the shower head after it is turned off
  • A stiff, loose or grinding handle
  • The water never gets fully hot, or never fully cold
  • Water staining on the ceiling below the bathroom

The trim tells us the valve make and type; then the water to that bathroom, or to the house, gets turned off.

How we handle the work

The trim tells us the valve make and type; then the water to that bathroom, or to the house, gets turned off. Most problems are inside the cartridge: worn seals, a pressure-balance spool crusted with minerals, or a thermostatic element that has drifted. Replacing or rebuilding the cartridge is usually all that is needed, and the trim goes back on the same day.

Where the valve body has cracked or the maker vanished long ago, the options are a new valve through the wall behind the shower, through an access panel in a closet, or from the tiled side with a larger trim plate that covers the opening. We explain the choices and what each means for your tile before cutting anything. We also check the stops inside the valve, if it has them, and set the hot limit stop so the water cannot reach scalding temperature.

Pickering homes and this problem

Pickering's water comes from Lake Ontario through Durham Region's treatment plants and is moderately hard. Over years, that hardness leaves scale on valve cartridges, which is the most common cause of stiff handles and poor temperature balance we see. Homes built in the 1970s and early 80s may still have older two-handle valves without pressure balancing at all; those are worth upgrading for safety, especially with children or older adults in the house. Newer homes typically have pressure-balance valves that simply need their cartridge serviced.

Job note: note the brand name on the trim or escutcheon before you call. Matching the cartridge is far quicker when we know whether it is Moen, Delta, American Standard, Grohe or another maker. See also hard water in Pickering.

What affects the cost

Availability of the right cartridge, whether the valve body needs replacing, access from behind the wall, and the age and type of the fixture. A cartridge swap is a modest job; a full valve replacement with tile work is a larger one.

Questions callers ask

Why does my shower go cold when someone flushes?

Without a working pressure-balance valve, the toilet draws cold pressure away and the shower mix swings hot. A worn or scaled cartridge causes the same thing.

Will tile have to come off for a shower valve repair?

Usually not. Cartridge work is done from the front. Only a failed valve body may need access through the wall or a larger cover plate.

Related pages

Call (365) 334-6645