What's Wrong With Your Shower? Know These 3 Trouble Signs

A home's plumbing system feeds water to a variety of systems, from kitchen sinks and toilets to tubs and showers. When a plumbing problem afflicts your showerhead or other shower components, you and your loved ones may find it difficult or impossible to maintain your personal hygiene efficiently or comfortably.

You can develop a clearer idea of what has gone wrong with your shower plumbing once you understand something about common shower system malfunctions. Discover three trouble signs that often require professional plumbing services.

1. You Can't Get Enough Water Pressure

Few shower scenarios cause more annoyance than a lack of water pressure. If you get a trickle of water at best even when you have the shower at full power, you may find it impossible to rinse away soap or shampoo with any degree of thoroughness. Various underlying causes can create this problem.

Low-Flow Showerhead

If you have suffered from low shower pressure ever since you moved into your home, the previous owner may have installed a low-flow showerhead. These devices may do a good job of saving water and reducing utility bills, but some homeowners find the reduced pressure impractical for their purposes.

Lime Scale

Lime scale can also reduce a shower's water pressure levels. Over time, dissolved calcium and other minerals can collect in the showerhead nozzle or within the pipes serving the shower assembly. This problem effectively narrows the structures until water has a tough time flowing through them.

Shutoff Valve

If you experience low water pressure throughout home, not just from your shower, you may need an adjustment to your main shutoff valve. Workers may have turned off the curbside main outdoors while performing repairs or installations, re-opening the valve to less than full capacity afterward.

Plumbing Leak

A leak or break elsewhere in a plumbing line can also cause a significant drop in water pressure that affects your shower's performance.

Schedule an inspection of the entire home if you notice low water pressure in multiple rooms or appliances.

2. You Can't Control the Water Temperature

Uncomfortable shower water temperatures can range from disturbing to dangerous in their seriousness. If your water temperature bobs unpredictably up and down, you may need to check its pressure-balancing valve. This valve cuts off the hot water when cold water goes to other parts of the home, preventing scalding.

The previous installation of a tankless water heater may supply the reason for your occasional discomfort. These water heaters only warm a small amount of water at a time, often subjecting bathers to fluctuations of hot and cold water. Consider supplementing this type of heater with an additional mini-tank.

3. Your Shower Has Sprung a Leak

Don't automatically assume that water dripping from the vicinity of your showerhead into your tub constitutes a plumbing leak. HVAC systems commonly collect condensed water in a drain pan, with excess water running into a drain tube to a small opening over the bathtub. You can dismiss this kind of dripping as normal.

If water seems to drip constantly from your showerhead even when the shower remains disengaged, a rubber washer may have deteriorated, ruining its ability to seal off the flow of water to the showerhead. Both the rubber washer inside the showerhead and the one inside the showerhead faucet may fail.

In some cases, mineral deposits or other debris can clog the many small holes that allow water to exit the showerhead easily. Once you have turned the shower off, the water accumulated inside the showerhead may continue to drip out at a slow, steady pace. Blockages can even force water out of other parts of the showerhead.

Your plumbing technician may start the troubleshooting process by inspecting the showerhead holes, removing, cleaning, or even replacing the showerhead as needed. If this step doesn't fix the problem, the technician may need to replace one or both of the shower's rubber washers.

Mike's Plumbing can get to the bottom of your shower problem and get this essential part of your home operating normally again. Contact us today to request service.