We are closing out 4 Habitat for Humanity homes. The water supply lines are CPVC. When we did the walk throughs with the homeowners, several of them asked us to fix the loose spouts in the tub. The spouts clamp onto the CPVC that comes through the tub wall via an allen head screw.
Last night we opened the wall in one of the units, braced the shower valve and pipe from the spout with 2X4. It improved the movement of the spout somewhat, but not enough. The problem seems to be the flexibility of the CPVC.
Is there another way to firm up the spouts or do I need to open the walls of all the units and switch the pipe to the tub to copper?
Replies
expanding foam in the cavity..
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I've never liked the clamp-on spouts, even with copper. Not advocating it in this case, but seems to me that the cost of going with a drop-ear elbow and a nipple is negligible, and much more secure.
Agree with you 100%. Why they even considered plastic stub out to tub, with "clamp on" spout, makes me think one of two thing: They don't know what they're doing (hard to believe that considering the # or houses HH has built) or they're trying to cut corners at the worst possible place. In either case, back track and do it correctly or not at all. Just my position on this point. Ears and screw on nipple has been the standard forever around here and it works even under abuse, which the plastic won't do.
Couple of changes in materials needed here.
Your plumber should know what a drop ear elbow is and get the factory made combo of brass and CPVC. Use this item for both the shower head and the tub spout. The brass part is screwed to the framing and will be rock solid. Then for the shower you use the supplied arm and for the spout you can use a galvanized nipple of the proper length. Then screw on the spout.
Some spouts are made with o-ring seals that slip over copper tube and are held in place with a set screw. Is this what you are using as a spout? You can also make up a copper nipple with a short length of tube and a male adapter.
What those guys said. I just spent a year doing maintenance in a 45 unit low income apartment. One of the improvements I did was whenever there was a turnover of a unit I changed the tub/show spout out. They already had a drop ear elbow but the spouts weren't right for the shower wand.
I used brass nipples. I paid especially close attention to how tight the spout was against the tile. When you get the outer dia of the spout tightly pressing against the tile it picks up a lot more strength. People can be ruff on these spouts and doubly so for young children. They want to play in the tub and the spout is a hand hold for them.
In this case, since it's water over the dam (or out the spout), trying the spray foam would seem worthwhile. Be sure to use hard (high-expansion) foam vs the low-expansion door/window stuff.
It might also be possible to sleeve the stub somehow, to just short of where the inside of the spout ends.
Don't mix Copper and steel!
Further on in this thread(Access denied when seeking to comment there) someone talks about screwing a galvanized nipple into the elbow and ear.
If the elbow and ear, or any other portion of the pipe run is copper or brass, that is a Very Bad Idea.
Galvanized and steel pipes react badly when connected directly and carrying water. The reaction leads to the steel pipe slowly breaking down and it breaks and begins to leak. It also rots in ways that bind it onto the copper or brass fitting, making any fix difficult at best before one has to carry out surgery in a bathroom cabinet barely large enough to fit one's shoulders.
I know this from my first house and several feet of steel pipe that suddenly was about as tight as swiss cheese after being screwed into the brass washing machine faucets. I know this from my current house and the two steel nipples under the bathroom sink that had to be cut out with a length of the copper they were bound to by corrosion so fresh brass fittings could be set in. I still have a nipple from the guest bathroom that was doing the same thing until it was replaced today. The symptom was black water from the tub spout if it was not run every day.
If you want to save money and not buy a union to keep copper and steel separated, at least use a plastic coupling or nipple where the two must connect so the metals do not touch.