Nick Bartlett

Today I had the privilege of sporting my plumber’s crack again.  Our tub faucet diverter was not working again for about the third time this year.  I’m actually getting pretty good at this routine and can have that stem out in less than five minutes.   The problem was the same as last time… the brass screw on the end of the faucet diverter stem had twisted in half and broke.  I’m growing rather tired of fixing this every three months, so I went to LeVahn Brothers Plumbing in Maple Grove MN.  I talked with a very nice guy there, who was a plumber and may have been the owner of the store.  Unfortunately he didn’t have the diverter for my Union Brass bathtub faucet, but told me I could get one at Park Supply in downtown Minneapolis when they open on Monday.

I asked the plumber about alternative screw types to the brass screws that keep breaking, but he said other types of screws will just rust and get stuck in the stem.  I mentioned these screws turn a dark brown color after only three months when they break.  He said the brass screws are rusting or corroding and suggested I coat them in grease to repel the water when installing a new one this time.  I’ll have to check in my garage for some grease or I may use some silicone if I don’t have grease.  I’ll keep you posted as to the effectiveness of this solution.