This past weekend, I completely took apart the hot and cold fixtures AND I replaced all the washers, because I assume that my slow spout leak was due to bad washers in the handle assembly.

Well after doing that we still had a leak. I tried to putting my
fingers in the spout and there was water in there and I could pretty much take it out with my finger. After doing that, the dripping stopped, thus I think I can conclude that the handles/valves do not have a problem. But the next time I used hot or cold water, the same problem occurs. Some water collects inside the spout, which is then slowly dripped out over time. I really don't want to take off the spout because I'm afraid of messing up the nice tile on the wall. Has anyone heard of this and is there anything i can do from the mouth of spout to clear up this problem?

thanks!

 

ramirez13, Welcome to the DIY Forums.
I would say that the pipe for the spout was installed at an upward angle. It could be that the valve assembly is tipped also. Did they tile "around" the spout or does the spout have caulking as a seal around the back end of the spout? If it is just caulk, you could remove the spout to see if it is just the pipe or the whole assembly. Good luck.

 

Hi majakdragon.

There is caulk around the back of the spout where it meets the tile. Thanks for the suggestions. Isn't it strange though that this recently started happening? Wouldn't it be difficult for a pipe to move to a new angle?

thanks,

ramirez13

 

I didn't know this was a new problem. Yes, it would be strange to have the pipe move, even if someone slipped and caught themselves on the spout, it would be bent downwards. Is there a closet behind the faucet where you could cut an access panel to check as to what has happened? When you changed the washers in the faucets, did the valve body move around when you were working on it?

 

Unfortunately, there isn't any easy access to get behind the wall. I guess we'll try taking off the spout to see if we can find the problem.

thanks for your help!

 

Stupid question time. When you turn the water off, is it after a shower, and is the shower diverter going back to the bath position? Quite often if the diverter sticks, the spout will leak until the column of water in the shower stack leaks out.

 

No, this is after just running the hot or cold water straight into the tub. A few ounces of water just "collects" in the spout.
I stick my finger in there, clean it out a bit, and it's fine. no more leaking. and the spout doesn't collect any more water until I turn on the water again. that's how I know it can't be any washers, etc...

 

Roger that. Just thought I'd ask. I hope the installer used either iron pipe or copper from the control valve to the tub spout instead of cpvc. I have seen cpvc give problems in stability over time.