How to Adjust an Antique-Looking Shower Valve Body

Valves

• For some valves, such as the Aquatique model by Aqualisa (designed to resemble antique shower setups), valves can be adapted to either conventional supplies of water with hot taps on the left and cold taps on the right or to other systems simply by turning the valve 180 degrees before installation. Your shower systems may also have an anti-scald valve further back in the plumbing system. This valve monitors the hot water coming in from the boiler and can be adjusted to control maximum temperatures to reduce problems with sudden rushes of heated water.

Heights

• You can choose to adjust the height of your shower head during installation. Some shower fixtures come with kits that let you move the antique shower head up or down, choosing to either conceal or expose the fixture at the same time. Exposing the shower piping may allow you to have a more antique-looking shower body. Drencher heads are another option, but these do not allow the same type of adjustments.

Mounting Rings

• Mounting rings are the base components of shower control valves, where the assemblies are installed onto the shower wall. If you want to make any major adjustments like replacing your antique-finish fixtures, you will need to unscrew the locking screws that hold the assembly to the mounting ring. Once the mounting ring is set into the wall, however, changing the position of the valve body may be very difficult. Mounting rings are not designed to be moved around the walls and depend on pipe position, so make your choice very carefully.

Tightening Compression Fittings

• Compression fittings and unions connect the inlet pipes to your primary shower fixtures. These parts are visible on antique-style shower bodies and may need to be manually adjusted after installation to prevent leaks. Typically, an Allen wrench or similar tool can be used to adjust compression unions to form tight seals and stop any slight leaks you may be experiencing.