My bathroom tub fixtures have seen better days. Pretty sure they're original to the house (~60 years). We have fairly hard water, and the prior owners were not the best at maintenance so no clue how long these slow leaks have been going on. But the shower handle is stuck hard on the valve, and the bath spigot is crumbling away and similarly fused in place. Hot and cold come off easily.
Does anyone have any tips for freeing the one handle and spigot? I've tried light tapping with a mallet on the back of the handle to no avail. The spigot seems bound pretty tightly, to the point where I'm concerned about damaging the pipe if I apply too much torque.
As for the leaks, I haven't decided if I'm going to just replace the valves, or try fiddling with/replacing the packing nuts. This is my first time messing with plumbing, but either way seems straightforward enough after watching a few videos.
Any tips/tricks/suggestions appreciated, thanks!
All good, I appreciate it.
I did not turn off the water (calculated gamble), but I did drain the diverter/mixer before starting any work, and didn't apply heat for a while after that. The piece that's frozen is right at the front of the handle (pic is elsewhere in the thread), and the stem head is right behind it. It should have gotten to temp pretty quickly. I didn't go too crazy since I wasn't planning on disassembling anything until I had access to replacement parts, just gave it a few tugs.
Just finished putting on the new spout... and at its tightest, it points straight up ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ So I backed it off a half and am now waiting for the caulk to cure. I packed the tile hole with putty so the caulk is more for looks than anything. If the diverter valve sprays everywhere... guess I'm going knocking until someone says I can use their shower lol.
Edit: all is well. Or at least no worse than it was.