How to Update Old Dated Shower Handle With No Plumbing Skills AND a $90 Ace Hardware Gift Card Giveaway!

Our master bathroom shower started out with a builder basic shower handle – you know the type. The clear plastic “crystal” look. It was old and dingy and I really wanted to replace the whole thing, but that wasn’t in the cards right now. It’s a fair amount of work to replace a whole shower faucet (lots harder than replacing a sink faucet, for example). I figured I might be able to at least replace the old clear knob with a new clear knob.

The shower also had a slow drip, and I knew from fixing our other shower a little while back that this was a pretty simple fix. I just had to replace the cartridge, which basically consists of unscrewing the knob, pulling out the old cartridge, and sliding in a new cartridge.

I went into Ace Hardware a little unprepared, not knowing exactly what part I needed (there are lots of different cartridges to fit various faucet brands), and all I new was that the knob said it was a Moen Chateau. Lucky for me, the person helping me was very prepared. He was super familiar with all of the cartridges and quickly grabbed the one I needed. I was all set to just get a replacement clear plastic knob, when on a whim I asked him if he knew of any other knobs I could replace it with, something in brushed nickel maybe.

He said they didn’t have anything like that in the store, but he checked online and they were able to order me a Universal Tub and Shower Trim Kit for Moen faucets. I didn’t even know these existed, but this particular one comes with both a metal and plastic handle, and you can choose which to use. I was so excited. No more clear plastic knob? Yes please!

So a few days later I had my knew shower handle kit and cartridge in hand and set off to work.

First on the agenda was fixing the drip. This part isn’t required to change out a knob (unless you have a drip of course) and did require a little bit of plumbing skill. You do have to turn off your main water, but it’s easy and definitely DIYable. I did it at the same time as the knob because you have to remove the knob to get to the cartridge.

It came with good instructions, and in no time at all I had fixed the drip. The person at Ace suggested I put plain Vaseline on the rubber parts of the cartridge, and I was totally going to do this, and then totally forgot. It was great advice, though, and I will take it apart one of these days and do that to prolong the life of the rubber parts. If you replace your shower cartridge, do this before putting the cartridge in :).

I was pleasantly surprised that this new cartridge was much nicer than our old one. The old cartridge was all plastic, and this one was all brass.

Next up was changing out the shower handle. This part didn’t require any plumbing skills, and I would say only requires a very moderate level of DIY skill in assembling things.

I already had the main water off because I had just done the cartridge. Since I was messing around with the on/off of the shower, and standing under the shower to install it, I would have probably turned off the main water anyway to keep myself from accidentally turning on the water fully clothed (because knowing me, that would happen). All I needed to install it was a screwdriver and the allen wrench that was provided in the package.

I already had the knob off, and the kit came with a new escutcheon plate that I was going to swap out for our old one. Our old one still looked okay, but I figured I’d go with the new one since it was nicer. Unfortunately, the new one didn’t work with our shower, but I think it would work with most. The new plate bumped out a little in the back, and the way our shower surround was cut around the faucet opening, there was no place for this bump to go. Most showers have a much bigger opening around their shower faucets, so I think it was just our weird shower. Oh well. I put the old plate back on and got to work on the handle, which is the main reason I was doing this anyway.

I definitely won’t be missing this guy.

I just followed the directions for the configuration we had, and after putting on the few pieces needed, we had a brand new metal handle. Woo hoo! I’m pleased with how it turned out and it is a definite upgrade to our old dingy clear plastic handle.

Sources:

• Cartridge: Danco 80993TS Brass Cartridge for Moen from Ace Hardware
• Shower Trim: Ace Universal Tub and Shower Trim Kit for Moen in Brushed Nickel from Ace Hardware

This month, Ace Hardware is celebrating it’s 90th Anniversary, and they’ve challenged you to a $90 Ace Challenge to complete a home maintenance project!

To celebrate their 90th Anniversary, they are giving away one $90 gift card to a lucky reader that can be used in store. Cool eh? I used mine to upgrade our shower handle and fix a leak. What would you use yours for? To enter, use the Rafflecopter below. (Feed subscribers, click here.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the rest of the Ace Bloggers !

I am a member of the Ace Hardware Blogger Panel and was provided the product and supplies for this project. I was also compensated for my time, however all opinions are my own.

Let's keep the fun going! You can find me here sharing all of my favorite paint color trends, decor ideas, and updates on daily life:
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Pinterest
Follow me on Instagram
Follow me on Google

And make sure to follow my paint color blog, Involving Color, where I feature real rooms and their paint colors. I have hundreds of colors to browse and add new ones daily!