Faucet wall tubes and wall tube escutcheon is not water tight

[urdrwho]

My recent bathroom project has made me realize that things have changed since that last time I did the same project. They have changed to a lot of plastic!

The old days the tubes screwed onto the valve body but now the tubes are plastic and push on. Sure there are ears that are supposed to apply pressure and keep them on the valve body but it isn't anything like the old days of metal. My tub surround is a surround to studs and is attached on the ends but that allows just a bit of flexing in the middle of the front.

Things have been fine since installing in Dec 2016 but a few days ago I saw water on the basement floor. I looked in the access hole and saw water was weeping through the 3 valve body holes that were drilled in the surround. Oh I used a copious amount of putty on those holes but over the past few months the flexing of the surround when cleaning must have moved some putty or I had a bit of shrinking.

Maybe I need to go with a different putty, a softer one that will stay soft. I saw this online --

"Black Swan's Stay Soft Plumbers Putty is a special formulated putty which will stay soft and flexible and will not shrink, bleed, harden, crack or crumble. It is gas proof, odor proof and water resistant."


If they want to go the plastic route they should also design some type of gasket to go with the tube to wall.

 

[Jadnashua]

Many shower valves have what is called a 'thin wall' installation method that is designed to overcome this. They use a bracket behind the wall, then when the trim is added, it sandwiches the wall tight. But, I do not think there is one for a 3-hole installation. FWIW, when remodeling, the codes often no longer grandfather the use of a valve that doesn't meet the current anti-scald technology requirements. Not sure you'll resolve this easily. If you use silicon caulk to bond it to the surround, it might work, but would be a major pain to perform any maintenance down the road.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[urdrwho]

Many shower valves have what is called a 'thin wall' installation method that is designed to overcome this. They use a bracket behind the wall, then when the trim is added, it sandwiches the wall tight. But, I do not think there is one for a 3-hole installation. FWIW, when remodeling, the codes often no longer grandfather the use of a valve that doesn't meet the current anti-scald technology requirements. Not sure you'll resolve this easily. If you use silicon caulk to bond it to the surround, it might work, but would be a major pain to perform any maintenance down the road.

caulk to bond it is the nuclear option but I'll try a few things first

 

[Terry]

Putty doesn't stick anything.
You would need some time of caulking that does.