Pipes Behind Tongue-and-Groove Paneling

[Cabin_Mama]

Behind the lovely pine paneling you see below is a fiberglass tub surround with a broken-off tub spout. (Incidentally, we have two tubs in this house and this has happened to BOTH of them - each spout literally just fell off into our hands when pulling up the diverter).

We have CPVC pipes and this one is broken off pretty close up to the shower valve, so it's not fixable from the fiberglass side without making a ridiculously huge hole and ruining the thing. Our only option is to access it from behind.

My question is, would a plumber take one look at this and say "Nnnnnope"?
Is it unreasonable to expect a plumber to pry off tongue-and-groove paneling with care and then put it back into place, or is this something they frequently encounter? Would it significantly raise the cost of the project? I am just not in a position to DIY something like this.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Eman85]

Bottom line someone is going to need to pry off the tongue and groove paneling. Whether they use car or not is yet to be determined. If you ask that it is done with care you'll find out if they will do it.
On the valve it should get replumbed with copper to the spout. I'm not a plumber by trade but I hate CPVC whenever I have to work with it.

 

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[Cabin_Mama]

Thanks, Eman85, that's actually a great tip, I didn't think about replumbing just that part with copper. That would keep it from happening again!

 

[Jeff H Young]

I think you would prefer someone with finish carpentry experiance to remove the Tand G or shiplap . I know if it was my home and I was having to hire it done Id be concerned who is going to re install the wood?

The easy way and rock solid it to use a brass nipple and 90 , no soldering

 

[Weekend Handyman]

Don't know if you want to pay a plumber $100/hour to do something they likely have no expertise in. Kind of like hiring one of the NY Rangers player to pitch for the NY Yankees.

Hire a carpenter to open it up, let the plumber do his work, get the carpenter back to put everything back nicely.

One of the bath remodel places may have all of the necessary trades under one roof.

You might want to replace everything (shower valve, etc.) while you have the wall open (depending on age) to avoid future issues.

 

[Reach4]

A carpenter could remove a rectangular section, and maybe make the removed section into an access panel.

To remove the paneling, it looks to me as if the lavatory vanity would be in the way. If you could temporarily move that vanity, removal and reinstallation of the boards would be a lot simpler. If the drain lines are slip joint, and the water lines are flex, moving that vanity might be easy.