How to Replace a Single Compression Handle Shower

Turn off the water flow to the shower’s faucet by twisting the shutoff handles in the access panel on the wall behind the faucet clockwise until they stop. Turn the faucet on full blast to ensure the flow of water has stopped. If not, close the house’s main water valve.

Pry out the cap in the middle of the faucet’s handle using a pocketknife’s blade. Remove the screw that sits below the cap using a Phillips screwdriver and pull the handle off the faucet.

Turn the packing nut that sits under the handle counterclockwise using a crescent wrench. Clamp an adjustable wrench to the valve stem and turn it counterclockwise to remove it from the water pipe.

Insert a seat wrench into the water pipe and turn the wrench until it locks into the installed seat. Turn the seat wrench counterclockwise until the seat unthreads from the pipe.

Coat the replacement seat with plumber’s grease before installing it in the pipe by turning it clockwise with the seat wrench until tight. Spread plumber’s grease on the replacement valve stem and thread it into the water pipe, tightening it with the adjustable wrench. Assemble the rest of the new faucet in the reverse order you took apart the old faucet.