Valve work is where
hidden leaks start
A shower valve sits inside a wall. Get it wrong and the consequence is not a drip you can see — it is damp framing you find out about much later. This is a job worth doing properly the first time.
When a shower needs more than a new head
Some of these are cartridge jobs. One or two mean water is already going somewhere it should not.
It drips after you shut it off
A worn cartridge or seat. Cheap to fix and worth doing — a constant drip is wear on the valve as well as wasted water.
The pressure has dropped off
Could be mineral build-up in the head or the cartridge, a partly closed valve, or something further upstream. Worth diagnosing rather than guessing.
The temperature swings when a tap runs elsewhere
Usually the mixing valve. Beyond irritating, it is a scald risk in a house with kids.
Damp or musty smell near the shower wall
That is the one to act on. It suggests water escaping behind the tile rather than down the drain.
The shower drains slowly
Typically hair and soap in the trap or branch — a drain job rather than a valve one.
You are remodelling anyway
The right moment to replace a tired valve is while the wall is already open. Doing it later costs several times as much.
How we handle shower work
Careful about what has to be opened, and careful about what goes back behind the tile.
We diagnose before opening anything
Cartridge, seat, pressure or drain. A surprising amount is resolvable without touching the wall at all.
We keep access minimal
Where the wall does have to come open, it comes open in the smallest sensible place — not wherever is easiest.
Valve work done properly
Correct valve, correct connections, tested under pressure before anything is closed up.
Fixtures set and checked
Head, trim and controls fitted, temperature verified, and the area cleaned before we leave.
Shower Repair & Installation
Why we are fussy about valves
The visible parts of a shower are trim. The part that decides whether you have a problem in five years is the valve body and its connections, sitting inside a wall cavity where nobody will look until a ceiling stains downstairs.
That is why we test under pressure before closing anything up, and why we will tell you when a tired valve is worth replacing during a remodel rather than reinstalling around it. Opening a finished tile wall later is a genuinely expensive way to save a little now.
- Dripping and leaking shower valves
- Cartridge and seat replacement
- Pressure-balancing and mixing valve problems
- Weak pressure diagnosed to its actual cause
- Shower head, trim and control replacement
- Valve replacement during bathroom remodels
- Shower drain and trap clearing
Mineral build-up does most of this
Hard water is the reason so many showers around Boerne lose pressure gradually rather than suddenly. Mineral deposits accumulate in the head, in the cartridge and across the small passages that shape the spray, and the decline is slow enough that people stop noticing it.
The same deposits are hard on the moving parts inside a mixing valve, which is why temperature control tends to get less reliable with age here. Both are fixable, and both come back more slowly on softened water.
Smelling damp near the shower?
Worth a look sooner rather than later — that one usually means water behind the tile.
Shower Repair & Installation questions
Still not sure?
Describe it on the phone and we'll tell you straight whether it needs us.
Almost always a worn cartridge or valve seat. It is an inexpensive repair, and worth doing promptly because the constant flow wears the valve further.
Commonly mineral build-up in the head or the cartridge on our hard water, but it can also be a partly closed valve or something further upstream. We diagnose it rather than just fitting a new head and hoping.
Yes, that is usually the mixing or pressure-balancing valve. Beyond being irritating it is a scald risk, so it is worth sorting properly.
Not always — a lot of valve work is done through the existing trim opening. Where access is genuinely needed we keep it as small and sensible as possible, and we tell you before we start.
Yes, and that is the ideal time to do valve work. Replacing a tired valve while the wall is open costs a fraction of doing it after the tile is finished.
Often booked alongside this
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Get the shower right
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Boerne & Fair Oaks Ranch, TX · Licensed Master Plumber M-38925