I have the shower riser at home already, so it will be available when they come to measure for the glass. I've decided to alter the design a little bit and have the riser come over the glass in an arc instead of through the glass, so that should make things a bit easier. I am also planning on having the glass fabricator make a (frosted) glass topper for the knee wall - unless you can recommend a better material for that purpose? I'll make sure they know to do the holes for the brackets in the shop, though! The glass people I've spoken with suggested a bracing the glass with a chrome bar extending from the long shower wall to the glass wall (the one with the showerhead) - I'll be sure to ask if any other supports are necessary. Thanks again for all your help with this!!!!!

formulaross, Maybe I didn't state my question properly. I'm enclosing a pic of the rough valve and the copper fittings being used to connect to it. As you can see there is a sweat fitting iside the coupling - but I was questioning how you or any pro plumber would attach the coupling to the valve. I've read here that some folks would use pipe dope AND teflon tape to connect the threaded male to female.....and I believe I've read that some people actually SWEAT the threads themselves - which sounds difficult and seems not to be the way to do that - but I'm certainly not one who can say, as I have not done this before. I guess the concern is that this valve (after being connected in whichever way it will be) will reside behind a tiled wall and should it leak, would prove difficult and expensive to repair. SO I'm hoping someone can steer me down the BEST path in regards to how to make these connections. ALL comments will be extraspecially appreciated!! Thanks, Al

How many gpm on each of the sprays? and how many of each? I hate multi-head showers because I think they are tremendously wasteful, much like driving a Hummer. But too many people think that they can put multiple body sprays on a 1/2" feed and a 40 gal water heater and think it's going to work. The 3/4" valve and controls aren't going to save you. Unless those are low flow heads, you will be disappointed.

How much of the wall to open and patch is another question. Only someone on site can tell for sure. A photo would help. Perhaps it will only be possible to replace the valves by cutting open the "drywall" or whatever your 1938 house has as wall surface. It may be possible to have a set of dual shut off valves; there are ways, that experienced plumbers know. E.g. installing an "offset" or moving the pipe by an inch without stressing it. Besides, how much distance is deemed by you to be just slightly too far apart might not be too far apart. Copper was the material for your pipes in 1938 but what material gets installed today is up to you or your plumber. Which fittings or adaptor to use is another question. If the new valves are to be soldered, this opens another batch of "things to know". There are still many little things to know, katsmah, but if you read a lot you might be able to get a whole lot more comfortable with the work involved. A single device can be purchased that one can probably install all by oneself no matter how many left thumbs one has: a combination sharkbite / hammer arrestor / shutoff valve . After web searching, call the Sharkbite company for guidance to figure out what product. A "master" plumber can work with pipes that still have water trickling down. The drier the better. The whole house water has to be turned off and the water in them has to be drained from all the pipes before cutting into them to replace a non-operating valve. It can happen that this takes a fair amount of time. If you and a handyman do this valve replacement, it will help your handyman helper if you drain the pipes before she or he arrives on the scene. Nothing written in this post is intended to contradict manhattan42's statement. The job will cost what it will cost. To be more certain of success, hire a plumber who charges a high hourly wage. On average when you compare a low-price and a high price plumber, the latter will be faster, more efficient, making wiser choices, being smarter-for-you, installing everything in a better quality way with better workmanship. Hth