help with shower faucet--stuck

I stumbled onto this site while trying to google for some help.

I have a shower in my master bath that is a one piece surround. I also have a hot water knob (the arrangement is hot knob, cold knob shower head..nothing else). The hot knob is stuck in the "off" position.

I am fairly confident that it is gunked up back there due to our hard water. The reason I'm confident in that is that we had it happen to our kitchen sink and a bathroom sink in the other bathroom.

Anyway, is it possible to remove the knobs, clean the fittings and threads and then put a replacement set (really just for looks since the old ones are old and dingy)?

Every site I have looked at talks about needing to cut access panels and replace piping and blowtorches and soldering irons and it's making me a tad sick to my stomach.

can anyone help me?

Hi Dee, I've had that same problem a few times (over the years - so I guess 'our' water is harder than is yours) - and we have just replaced the knobs while using a spray to dilute and liquidize the "stone" build up within the pipes of the tab-element.
Maybe this will work for you too. I'd try it anyway

Thanks! We're gonna try to tackle it today so hopefully I'm not making another post today involving water in the basement and a broken shower surround.

Ieuwwwwww... No I hope you don't. I'm sure it'll work out and solve the problem - let us know?

Well, we were very very very lucky. We found a "remodeling kit" that was the exact faucet model we had in the house (considering it was 27 or so years old, we felt like we won the lottery). We needed to replace the valves as they were disgusting and totally caked with lime buildup and other nastiness.

Long story short, five trips to Ace Hardware, 6 hours and $100 later we have a perfectly working shower. Oh and we had to buy TWO handle pullers as the handles were so corroded it snapped the first handle puller. YAY!

Thanks for asking after us!

Dee.

Great!! A lot of energy, effort and some money - but if it all works it's just marvelous

Thanks for letting me know and happy showers!

And this morning the dang thing started dripping (from the shower head).

All the guts of the valve are brand new, yet...

<sob>

Can't win for losing I guess.