Just completed last minute bathroom project. I grew up a plumber's son, so spent high school and college evenings/weekends and summers doing plumbing. New construction, remodels, service, etc... I still do plumbing on the side for family and friends. We had another project having some tile work and the Mrs.'s found a tile she loved at the big box store. So she had to find a home for it our house. Went the best with our hall bath. The tile guy said he would leave his tools and tackle it the next week. So now was time to replace the shower valve if we were going to do it. Not to mention raise the valve and shower head higher. We attempted to find a valve at the big box store, but they didn't have the finish that we wanted to matched to rest of the bathroom fixtures. Amazon to the rescue.When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality for the price point. The valve body is solid brass. The cut off valves built in is a nice touch, though I think I need to open them up as the water flow isn't what it should be. Just opened them. It didn't come with them fully open. Though didn't help the water flow. If using to fill a tub, don't expect tub filling super speed, but about average for a tub/shower combination valve. The handle, spout and shower arms are good quality metal as well. Heavier built than many big box brands. No pressure balancing in this valve, but not a huge deal as many valves aren't.My main concern is the valve trim plate. Normally they screw to the valve body. That makes it possible to mount a valve to a fiberglass wall without having to permanently affix the valve to the stud wall. That wasn't what I needed for this project anyways. However, this also allows there to be gaskets behind the plate to make a water tight seal. This does not do that. Not a deal breaker for me as it will keep most water away from the hole in the wall and whatever water gets back there should mostly stay on the shower side of the wall. I could silicone it to the wall and may do that. Again just a bit odd of a design. Why wouldn't you want that to be waterproof? If it is meant to be siliconed to the wall, you would never know as there are no directions other than a picture of the plate where it should slide on.One other install note. The tub spout is designed to go over 1/2" OD pipe. So CU/Pex/CPVC. The only way to get a rigid tub spout install is to use CU. If you know how to solder, not an issue. Otherwise you will want to get a copper stub out. and mount it well. I did a pex drop eared 90 and then made a stub out from 1/2' CU and MIP adapter I had running around. The valve body has 1/2" MIP threads. I didn't check buy you may be able to solder to the valve body as well.For what you get for the price, a solid buy. If you are a decent DIY'er with some plumbing skills, you should be able to install this.
