Rental Property Investor · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 3 votes
I am renovating my small full bathroom (shower is only 3' x 3'), bathroom is like 5' x 5'.
I have it fully gutted and replaced subfloor where necessary. I have switched the plumbing from copper to pex and have the new rough in valve installed. When I turned the water back on the rough in valve I am assuming is mixing the hot and cold water so we dont have hot water anywhere. Is it OK to install the cartridge now before the tile is installed or how does one avoid this issue while doing the work DIY and not able to work on it 10 hours a day where its ok to not have hot water for 1/2 days.
I have shutoff valves where I made the copper to pex conversion but I need to turn the water back on... seal the wall up with cement board so I can continue and waterproof it, tile it, etc. Just not sure how fast I can get it done and dont want to not have hot water for weeks lol.
Probably an easy question but I cant really find any info about what people do to avoid this. The Rough in valve does NOT have shut off valves integrated on it.
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2014 · 289 posts · 374 votes
4y
I see what you're saying. In my experience with doing this, you generally leave the cartridge out until the end just to be extra sure you don't damage it with the rest of the work. As long as you are careful, you should be able to install it and finish the job. But as noted above, shutoffs are useless if they can't be accessed...
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2014 · 289 posts · 374 votes
4y
I don't quite follow what you're saying but as long as you aren't planning to do any soldering to the mixing valve, there is no reason that you can't install the cartridge. You'll have to be careful with the rest of your work but it *should* be ok. You should have water everywhere though if you installed a shutoff before the mixing valve. Again, I'm not quite following and it's hard to tell without tracing the pipes in person.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 3 votes
4y
@Carl C. Essentially what I am asking is, as soon as I turn the Hot and Cold water back on in that bathroom(where I converted from C to Pex), I need to finish putting cement board on the wall, etc. which will then make it so I don't have access to those shut offs anymore. Once the water is on it mixes hot and cold with just the rough in valve installed. Just didn't know if it was OK to install the cartridge sooner (before tilework was done) to avoid having the water mixing. Every video I watch they seem to all install the cartridge / fixtures as a last step.
Rental Property Investor · IL · Member since 2015 · 165 posts · 107 votes
4y
The shutoffs are useless unless accessible. You should consider relocating them to an accessible area, or installing an access panel that will allow you to turn them on and off.
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2014 · 289 posts · 374 votes
4y
I see what you're saying. In my experience with doing this, you generally leave the cartridge out until the end just to be extra sure you don't damage it with the rest of the work. As long as you are careful, you should be able to install it and finish the job. But as noted above, shutoffs are useless if they can't be accessed...
Contractor · Tahoe City, CA · Member since 2019 · 20 posts · 15 votes
4y
I'm probably too late to chime in here, but here's an opinion from a contractor. Carl is right, it's best to install the cartridge late in the game. Some valves come with the cartridge already installed. You definitely need to remove that and any rubber or plastic components while soldering anywhere near the valve. But after the valve has cooled, you can just pop that cartridge back in, in the same orientation. Flip-flopping the orientation could result in the hot and cold being reversed. I prefer to avoid any excess joints or fittings in the plumbing lines and would have recommended not adding the shutoffs unless you have access to them later. Every joint is a potential leak point.
access doors like the ones Carl linked to are great.