I have a bathtub faucet that just started to leak. There are seperate faucets for hot and cold with the shower valve in the middle. We have noticed for a while now that we turn the faucets for a bit before we get water. I am assuming that the faucet handles are stripped. Today, we turned off the water as tight as possible and its still dripping/leaking. I opened the door to access the pipes behind the tub and I cant find a water shutoff behind the tub or in the basement so I can take the faucets off to see if indeed this is the problem. The house was built in '57, and the fuacet is a delta. Please help with any suggestions!!

 

Showers typically do not have separate shutoff valves, so you often have to shut off water to the house. Newer single handled valves often have shutoff valves right on the valve body.
The faucet handles typically do not "strip". It is possible with some faucets for the handle to strip on the stem, makiong it difficult, if not impossible, to turn the stem itself. If you take the handle off, I think that this problem would be obvious. It is more likely that there is something going on with the end of the stem. If this is a very old Delta faucet, it may have conventional rubber stem washers, with a screw in the middle to hold it in. I believe that Delta now only uses cartridges in these valves.
Try taking off the knobs and see if they may be stripped. Post a picture or two to a photo site such as photobucket or snapfish. You may need a shower valve socket set to get the stems out.
If you can take off the handles and slide a trim sleeve off, you may be able to use a wrench to unscrew the stem (not the stem packing nut!). If you do try to unscrew the stem, turn off the water to the house.

 

I took apart the hot faucet and replaced a bad washer. Still dripping???

 

Did you look at the seats to see if they are pitted or worn?
What about the cold stem?

 

Did you look at the seats to see if they are pitted or worn?
What about the cold stem?

Yes. The hot is not worn. Im having trouble getting the cold stem off because of a stripped screw, I thought that may be the case too. However, it drips only when the the cold water is off

 

Where is the stripped screw?
What drips when the cold is off? I don't understand.