plumbing for solid surface tub walls install

[kstatema]

My question in a nutshell: should I change this plumbing, or just install the solid surface walls around the existing setup.

The details: I am in the process of preparing my tub walls to install some solid surface material in a kit. I have an odd problem though - The previous owner (a plumber actually, but he foreclosed so possibly not a good one!) did something strange with this tub alcove. See picture below.

As you can see, he originally put the shower mix valve/handle on the back wall of the tub, along with the spout. When I originally remodeled this tub 8 years ago, I moved the spout to the normal wall (right side, below the showerhead) but was leery of messing with the shower valve/handle plumbing.

Now however, I am finding that the solid surface kits have problems with a shower handle in this location. For example here is the kit I am thinking of getting:
http://www.swanstone.com/products/tubWalls/ss2960/index.php

This kit has 2 back panels and a 4 inch batten panel that join RIGHT where that shower handle sits in my bathtub alcove. I'm thinking this might be a problem. I COULD just cut out a hole barely big enough for the delta handle to pop through, but that might make it tougher to replace parts in future. If I make the hole as large as it previously was, it will take most of the material out of that batten strip, and possibly expose the seam in the surface to water seepage. That's my thought at least.

On the other hand, it seems like it might be a royal pain to replumb those lines over to the normal showerhead wall.

My experience with copper plumbing is fairly weak - I managed to do a bunch of plumbing correctly 8 years ago when I did the house remodel, but it took me several tries to get the solder to seal well each time. I'm sure I could do it, but not sure if I shouldn't just leave this non-leaking shower valve alone!

So, my question is: should I re-plumb this to "normal style" tub setup and make it easier to install the solid surface, or should I leave the working plumbing alone and work the solid surface around it. Any tips or ideas would be welcome as well, as I'm sure I'm not thinking of all the complications here.

As for the pro plumber option, there is no-one in this town (Bellingham) who isn't booked through September, or who wants to do a small job like this, so it's not really an option.

Here's a closeup of the shower valve assembly, if that helps:

 

[Basement_Lurker]

I just dealt with this same issue a few weeks ago. I would just move the plumbing over to where it should be while you have the walls open...at the foot of the tub. It looks pretty strange to have your spout and showerhead on one wall and the valve on the other. But I guess if all you care about is functionality, you could just leave it as is. Another thing to consider is since everything is open, and that valve has been in service for probably another 10 years or so in addition to the 8 that you've lived in the house, it couldn't hurt to replace the valve with something more modern and head off any risk of developing a leak with an aging valve buried behind the wall. Yes it might be tricky to re-route the piping, but I'm sure you could do it easy enough by pulling the tub and adapting the lines to pex and running them under the tub if you had to, to the new wall.

Did you try looking in the service section of the classifieds of one of you city's main newspapers? There's always a number of tradesmen who advertise there and not in the yellow pages.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Frenchie]

Move it. Seams are leak-prone to begin with, and you're right to worry about making a hole at that location. Then there's what Lurker said, about the age of the valve. You have the walls open, take advantage of the opportunity.

You already successfully moved the spout, so I think you can handle this.

If you're still feeling unsure, there's an excellent thread about pipe sweating going on right now.

And you can always get answers to your questions here.