Need Help Finding Pluming Fixtures

dougger222

I recently bought a forclosed home and need to source fixtures to finish a shower. Had two plumbers look at the fixtures and both had no idea what type they took and both seemed to have lost interest in the job. Sort of strange considering plumbing work has been slow for a while. One guy told me he was going to show up on a Thursday and never heard from him since, that was over two months ago! One guy quoted $1,000 the other $1,200.

At any rate what I have is four 3/4in threaded water lines two each on two walls. Guessing these are universal? The pipes stick out of the tile about 6 inches.

There are four stems on one wall in a horizontal line. Three look to be the same and one has a large diamater thread on it but the end stem seems to have the same spines as the other three.

The three that are the same have written on the part,
Crafted in Italy
UPC SA 403 KNA EF 03

The other one has written on it,
Crafted in Italy
EF DO1

I have pictures of the parts which of course are mounted in the tile shower and there's another bathroom on the back side of the shower. The only problem with the pictures is I have dail up for another week in a half. Could try to load pics if that helps, but it will take a while.


Any plumbers here have any idea what brand these are? Made some calls to plumbing supply companies and they had no idea.

Thanks in advance!

Ron The Plumber

Not without pictures.

ChrWright

Pics

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ChrWright

What you have sounds like the rough-ins for a spa shower.

Probably body sprays, a shower head and a hand spray--fed by a thermostatic valve and 3 volume controls.

This is just a shot in the dark without pictures. I'm guessing whomever defaulted on the house absconded with the trim kits if you can't find them (or threw them away).

If they were bought from a local showroom or supply house you should have no problem ordering the trim kits (and someone on here is likely to recognize the brand from a pic).

If they were bought online (Overstock, etc.) you could have a very hard time matching them up. A lot of off-brands are being sold online these days under a variety of trade names--and usually the trims are packaged together with the rough-ins.

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KillerToiletSpider

If it was made in Italy it could be one of many brands, Danze, Paini, Visentin, I could keep going.

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dougger222

Here are the pictures,

http://community.webshots.com/album/572196834vcBiZe

Sorry it took so long to get the pictures!

Thanks for any help in advance.

naptown CR

Look at the head on you! without any pictures even
I agree with your assessment but am having trouble with the lower valve.
The Pipes coming out the wall are probably 1/2"npt which are about 3/4" in diameter (Pipe size refers it INSIDE diameter and add wall thickness.)

dougger222

The four fittings from top to bottom are like this,
Regular
Regular
Larger outside thread (guessing for the main water valve?)
Regular

I took pics of them all but three are the same with the one third down that is different.

ChrWright

I don't recognize them, unfortunately. The three are volume controls and will take the same trim...one for each of the iron nipples--which are likely shower head, hand spray and body spray(s).

The different one is likely the thermostatic valve. Controls temperature only and outputs to all three volume controls.

Killer might recognize them.

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KillerToiletSpider

I don't recognize them instantly, I would start looking for someone that distributes Sherle Wagner, LNG, Paini, Visentin, and Water Works, they are some of the more popular imports on the lower end of the high end price range.

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joelv1967

Recommendation....open the drywall on the adjoining wall to the shower. Replace your valve/plumbing with something new. Easy to patch the drywall....a little spray texture and paint......easy and fairly cheap

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ChrWright

Cheap? Have you priced a 3/4" spa shower lately?

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
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assocplumbers

Dougger, Them sure were purty pictures that you sent , but they don't show anything.

Take out the cartridges and take pictures of the cartridge from different angles ie: side, bottom, top along with the dimensions ie: width and length.

If you could also determine the thread pattern that would help.

KillerToiletSpider

If I started listing all of the European valves that use the exact same ceramic cartridge that was developed by Hansgrohe in the eighties I would be here a good portion of the evening typing.

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dougger222

You'll have to excuse perhaps some stupid questions in advance as I know nothing about plumbing other than how to flush but the cartridge is the thing I took pictures of that sticks out of the tiles? If so in order to do this I will need to cut off the water supply? If so is there something that I could put on it so it will hold water pressure while taking pics and traveling to supply shops? I know my local home center has a plastic card with a bunch of fitting slots on it but they won't let it leave the store. Of course there is no water shut off in the shower.

What tool do I use to remove the cartridge?

The more I think about it the more I may want to just replace the four controls and start over. A buddy of mine does tile so he could replace some tiles if they were removed. Or we cut cut into the wall behind the shower which is another bathroom but not in the shower area in that bathroom.

This master bathroom is large and the original owner must have ran out of money half way through so we had to put in two cheap vanities and a toilet for the mortgage loan. In a couple years we plan to gut and put in all new stuff. Right now it looks funny, two tiny vanities, a toilet and a tiled shower in a large room square room. The idea is a two sided fireplace, large whirlpool, tile shower, and seperate area for the toilet with a large double sink vanity.

assocplumbers

Yes, you will have to turn off the water and no there is not a plug you can use to turn the water back on while you try to locate a cartridge.

The water will have to turned off to the house either at the main shutoff valve or water meter and then you can remove the cartridge with either a crescent or I would suggest a socket.

It is doubtful that you will be able to locate it locally. In Little Rock we are the only ones that carry a selection ceramic cartridges from different manufacturers. Heck the supply houses that sell the highend faucets only carry Delta parts.

Once the cartridge is removed and pictures taken you can reinstall the cartridge and either psot the pictures for us to view or go to these 2 websites Dinapoli Plumbing Parts or Alfano Plumbing parts and try to locate the cartridge. If you do, this will then give you a brand to search further for the trim.

I hope this helps.

ChrWright

You may want to look into the tile cutouts to see if they covered the screw stops. If it's 3/4", that thermostatic valve should have them... in which case you can pull the cartridge without killing the water to the whole house.

It looks to me like they pitched the temporary covers and tiled right up to the valve. They could have also covered the screw mounts for the eschutcheons (if there are any).

If there are screw stops, drill a hole through the tile in front of them so you can slip a screw driver/allen key in to shut them off.

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Christopher Wright, CR: President @ WrightWorks, LLC/President @ Central Indiana NARI, Named to the 2010 REMODELING Big50
www.WrightWorks.net - Facebook - Twitter - Carmel Remodeling
Indianapolis Kitchen Remodeling Contractor - You Can Get There From Here