Is my contractor/plumber doing this right?

[Plumbnewbiehl]

I'm not a professional at all and I'm looking at all the piping with our remodel and I'm a bit worried that my plumber may not know what he's doing. I did a rough drawing of how my plumber did the valves and piping.

So the issue is that my trim has only two diverters which is usually for the handshower and the headshower. Since this is for my guest/kids bathroom, i would want a tub spout, handshower, and headshower. I would think that it's doable if i get a tub spout diverter with the two trim diverter.

My plumber said it's doable if we split the headshower pipe and tub spout with one and the handshower on two. When we turn on the water, the water will goto the tubspout and when we pull the tub spout diverter, the water will come out of the headshower. I understood all of that which was nice and easy.

Now with the confusing part, i don't understand why they did a split on the top portion of the valve for tub and headshower. So there is a T-valve that splits the water to the headshower and the tub. With the water pressure, won't the water be coming out of both the tub spout and also the headshower? Would it be better if the piping was going to the tub spout and split towards the headshower?

I hope I'm making sense as this is totally new to me and i would like then to do it correctly the first time. Let me know if you guys have any advice for me

My fixtures for the tub:

Hansgrohe 4447000 S Trim Pressure Balance with Diverter
Hansgrohe 06501000 IP Tubspout with Diverter
Hansgrohe 04072000 Croma C 100 3-Jet Hand Shower
Hansgrohe 04081000 Croma E 100 Eco Air 3-Jet Shower Head
Hansgrohe iBox

 

[Reach4]

Based on your sketch, it looks to me as if the shower head is too low.

How much distance is here between the horizontal pipe to the diverter and the shower head?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[FullySprinklered]

Does your shower head have an integral shut-off feature?

 

[hj]

No matter HOW he pipes the diverter spout, water is going to come out of the shower head. S0 It will be strong when the diverter is operated, but will still come out while using the spout, (the height of the head has nothing to do with it), because there is no "restrictor" to control the amount of water flowing to the spout. You need to connect the spout to the bottom of the valve and replace the existing tee with a "2 way diverter" for the two shower units.

 

[Plumbnewbiehl]

Based on your sketch, it looks to me as if the shower head is too low.

How much distance is here between the horizontal pipe to the diverter and the shower head?

The end of the shower head between the t-elbow is about 42 to 50 inches.

 

[Plumbnewbiehl]

Does your shower head have an integral shut-off feature?

No it does not. it's just a stand alone shower head.

 

[Plumbnewbiehl]

No matter HOW he pipes the diverter spout, water is going to come out of the shower head. S0 It will be strong when the diverter is operated, but will still come out while using the spout, (the height of the head has nothing to do with it), because there is no "restrictor" to control the amount of water flowing to the spout. You need to connect the spout to the bottom of the valve and replace the existing tee with a "2 way diverter" for the two shower units.

Thank HJ. I thought the tub spout will suffice for another diverter.

Would there be less water using the bottom valve to go to tub spout and then using a tee to route the water to the headshower?

I think my plumber was thinking gravity will stop the water flow and push it to the open areas.

 

[Jadnashua]

Often, one port off of the valve is unrestricted and is plumbed to the tub since that also is unrestricted. Typically, if the valve allows you to use both outputs (some do not and require a twin el), the one you send to the shower is the smaller one (well, it may be the same size pipe, but it has a restrictor in it). THen, the combination of gravity and the restrictor mean all the water goes out of the tub spout. When you close off the tub spout, it then backs up and goes out the only other path - up to the shower head. If you have more than one showerhead and you want them to operate independently, you need a diverter to switch between those two. By US code, a single showerhead isn't supposed to flow more than 2.5gpm, so it does not need the full sized, unrestricted output. You'll only notice what appears to be a reduction in pressure at the shower head if the head itself can flow more water than you are supplying it. You'd see this if you tried to feed multiple showerheads at the same time unless you used a bigger valve and supply pipes going to them. It isn't really a reduction in pressure, but is just that you have a bigger opening that isn't forcing the water through the smaller outlet. Think thumb over the end of the hose...the flow stays the same, it just goes out with more force when you try to restrict it - in reality, it speeds up so the same amount of water can go through that smaller opening (venturi effect) until you can apply enough pressure to maybe shut the water off (not likely with just your thumb!).

 

[FullySprinklered]

I've only done a few of these jewels. They have a different concept about how the valves and sprayers should be actuated. One big problem with the Grohe and Hansgrohe type is the We Are The World instruction sheet that comes with the valve. It's a coloring book for people with really sharp crayons. No words, just pictures. You are supposed to already know that the main valve just mixes and turns on and off, and the distribution is handled by another device situated above the main valve. From the diverter you pull the tub, the static shower head, and the hand-held shower. Two Grohes ago, I put the sucker in upside down because it seemed right and fitting that it should be that way. I was wrong. I flipped the main valve over and ran it around up to the diverter, ran one line to the hand-held, one line to the regular shower head, and capped the unused remaining port coming off the diverter. I carried my ass-whippin over to the other bathroom where there was a tub, shower, and hand-held shower. The water came out the bottom of the main valve and elbowed up around to a diverter above the main valve. From there, the diverter, I ran pipes up to the static shower head, over to the hand held, and all the way back down around the main valve to a stub out for the tub.
I could conceal an aircraft carrier in a blue fog with all the foul language I've deleted from this post.
So,pnb, I would check carefully, make sure everything is right, ask questions, find the instruction sheet and check it out. I've done several hundred shower valves of all kinds, but these suckers really turned me around. They have a different way of looking at things. I do think the quality is very high after all's said and done.
The hot and cold are backwards in your drawing.
Just checked my pictures and your valve is a different one from the last two I installed. Still check.

 

[hj]

The hot and cold can be reversed when the internal components are installed it the valve is REALLY piped backwards. That component also has a lever diverter on the valve, if I remember correctly.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

it will probably work but it might have been better if he would have put that tee in maybe 6 inches up from the faucet instead of only 6 inches from the shower head... you might get water comming out of both when you use the tub due to the height unless you put a shut off at the shower head.... also it seems that the shower head is kinda low to me

 

[hj]

It makes no difference WHERE the tee is located, (if I were going to do it that way, I would have used a spigot adapter and put the tee right on top of the valve), and the drawing does not appear to be to scale so the height is unknown.

 

[Reach4]

Per post #4, he put the tee"about 42 to 50 inches" below the what I am presuming is the shower head output and shower head arm respectively.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

Per post #4, he put the tee"about 42 to 50 inches" below the what I am presuming is the shower head output and shower head arm respectively.

hey that ought to work out ok good luck

what brand of faucet is that one anyway with a green body??

 

[Jm66208]

Its plumbed incorrectly. Hj already posted the answer to how it should be done.

 

[hj]

I is NOT a faucet with a green body, it is a Hansgrohe valve with a green plaster ground. He is going to need a lot more than "luck" to make that installation work correctly.

 

[Terry]

The S trim with thermostatic and diverter built in is normally plumbed this way.
The way your plumber installed the piping, may or may not work. If I were you, I would test it out fully before I covered it up. Pull the trim out and install everything. I'm worried that the water will come out of the shower head all the time.

https://assets.hansgrohe.com/mam/celum/celum_assets/16__aruh0257_pdf.pdf?2

Hansgrohe makes several valves for that I-Box, and they rough differently.

 

[hj]

There's no doubt it will NOT work, because all it would take is a pound of back pressure to overcome gravity, unless the flow is so weak that it does NOT fill the pipe, which would also make an unacceptable flow for ANY THING, or any purpose.

 

[Terry]

There's no doubt it will NOT work, because all it would take is a pound of back pressure to overcome gravity, unless the flow is so weak that it does NOT fill the pipe, which would also make an unacceptable flow for ANY THING, or any purpose.

Well, I said I don't think it will work, and yes. I don't see how the water wouldn't be going out of the shower head the way they plumbed it.
The Hansgrohe is kind of cool, but when I run two outlets off a branch, I add one more diveter.
The S valve does divert between the top and the bottom outlet which is good for two things. Adding the third? Not without adding one more diverter.

 

[Plumbnewbiehl]

i asked my contractor and plumber to test it out a couple times and they say that they have tested and it does work. I don't know how i can go about testing myself or just trust them. I really don't want them to cover it up if it's not going to work correctly. I'm actually thinking about buying another diverter but at this point, i'm thinking about just doing a hand shower and tub faucet and forgo the headshower. The hand shower have a adjustable bar to goes up and down.

I've added a video of the whole piping but i don't know if it'll help at all.

Thank you again for all your replies and Merry Christmas!