Solution for shower head diverter too high to reach

[Audrey R-P]

I recently moved and I am looking for a solution to allow me to use both shower heads in my main bathroom shower. The previous owners were apparently tall (I can't reach more than half the cupboards in the kitchen). There is a single shower arm and flange installed in the shower high on the wall (ceramic tiles) to support a rainshower head. Immediately after the flange, a shower head diverter has been installed to which a hand shower is connected. A bracket has been installed on the shower wall at chest height to hold the hand shower. (See attached pictures of shower setup for reference.)

The height of the rainshower head is appropriate for my partner who is tall (6 ft), but I cannot reach the shower diverter to redirect the flow of water (I am 5ft). The shower head diverter is about 1-2in out of my reach when on the tip of my toes. There is a drain plate directly below the shower heads that is unstable, so using a stool to reach the diverter is not a good option.

I am looking for a solution that would allow me to reach and use the shower head diverter. If someone knew of a shower head diverter valve with a "long" valve handle, that may be sufficient to allow me to reach it. Otherwise, I was wondering if it would be possible to replace the shower head diverter with a 3-way (tee) connector without valve, to install a shower section of straight pipe below this connector and to install a two-way valve at the end of the this short pipe section before connecting the hand shower head. If this is a reasonable solution, does anyone know where I could find parts to accomplish this (a quick review of plumbing parts available at a local hardware store yielded nothing useful). Any other potential solutions welcome; I would like to limit the expense and amount of work required however.

Thanks,
Audrey

 

[Terry]

Just quickly, the threading there is standard 1/2" iron pipe threads. It's just a matter of picking sections and bends that make the changes and threading them up. I'm sure somebody will chime in with some parts that may work for that.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

There are "drop" "shower arms that will lower the head, so you could reach the diverter

 

[wwhitney]

How about a 12" piece of rigid plastic pipe with a slot in one end, that will fit over the diverter handle and allow you to rotate it? If it works well, and you want something nicer looking, you could probably make the same thing out of a heavy gauge tubular brass chromed pipe.

Cheers, Wayne