Cosmetic Replacement of Tub/Shower Parts

MrBill_DIY

I am doing a minor makeover of a bathroom, and there's nothing wrong with my existing plumbing, but to match some of the new finishes in the room I need to replace the old chrome tub/shower trim parts with brushed nickel parts. The tub/shower faucet is a 25-year-old Moen single-lever faucet, which has a rather square-shaped backing plate that fits against the tile wall. I don't really want to mess with the plumbing, which works fine. It looks like you can buy a Moen backing plate that is circular. I wonder if I could get away with just removing the old square backing plate and replacing it with a new round one, without replacing the actual faucet parts.

Any ideas?

Also, is it hard to replace the crosspiece in the tub drain? That's also gotta go.

Alan

Your best bet on figuring out if the trim plate is interchangeable is to call Moen. I believe their number is 1800buymoen. Moen even has several different styles of valves now, i'm not sure if all of the trim plates are even the same....

As far as replacing the 'crosspiece' that can bite ya in the butt too.....

Do you have a crawlspace? If you look from underneath the tub, the waste and overflow for the tub is just a 1 1/2" sanitary tee with a lower shoe for your drain, and an upper shoe for the overflow cover. There are a lot of different manufacturers of waste/overflow kits, there will be no guarantee that you will get the exact same trim to go on your existing kit. You may be better off if you have access underneath to just pull the entire thing off, get a new kit, and put it together identical to the one that is already there.

Thats what I would do anyway.

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MrBill_DIY

I can't get at the underside of the tub. However, I did have a guy replace the crosspiece a few years ago, so I know it's possible. I usually don't like doing plumbing, unless it's really straightforward. It sounds like this might not be.

mstplumber

Mr. Bill,

Alan is right, it would be best to check with Moen. In my experience their trim selections available for older faucets is pretty limited but you might get lucky.

As for the tub drain, that should be fairly straightforward, especially since it was replace a few years ago. There are several different special tools to help unscrew the existing drain. You should be able to find one at your local DIY store or Plumbing supply. Most plumbers just use their Channel Lock handles and a screwdriver.

Make sure you put plenty of putty under the new drain. Also, don't take both the drain and the overflow cover off at the same time, if there is any play in the piping it could slip out of alignment make a simple job a little more complicated.

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Mstplumber

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MrBill_DIY

Thanks for the advice. At Lowe's today I saw a replacement trim kit for Moen shower faucets, made by Danco. It's for Moen models 2600 and 2700. If I could determine which Moen model I have, I'd be set. I just know it was installed around 1985. The working parts look just like the ones in the Danco kit, but the backing plate is different.

I'll contact Moen. Then I may just buy the Danco kit and try it. If it doesn't work, I'm just out $35.