at the end of the day, it is always to be the way you want it done, and a good plumber can make that happen. however; it is proper for handles and stems to turn opposite (mirror one another). hot is to turn counter clockwise and cold is to turn clockwise. as for preference- there are sound logicall reasons to have it either way. the only time there seems to be an issue is when the handles are NOT levers. levers are easy to explain by there nature. round and cross levers create debate. since the industry and plumbers like things to be the same or consistant, almost all faucets and especially high end faucets will turn opposite one another regardless of the handle type. but again- a good plumber will make your round or cross handles turn in any direction, left or right- hot and cold. there are many combinations.

Old fashioned setups didn't have scald protection. After many years of emergency room burns, that's now mandated by code. You've got two choices when it comes to code compliant fixtures. Pressure balancing (inexpensive, and fine for most everyone) and thermostatic (more expensive). Pressure balancing works just fine, but, as you've discovered, the volume doesn't change, just the temperature is adjustible. With today's low flow shower heads, it's not that big of a diminishment in utility to not have the adjustible volume. Changing the volume when you have a mandated low flow head is of minimal value, and you pay a LOT extra for it.

If you have a PF and it's about 20 yrs old then in may be a 809 series. If this is the one, there is just a cartridge to replace. I believe the factory part # is 974-272. The picture in my book is showing a trim piece that is rectangular in shape and wider than it is tall. If this sounds like the model, I would call around to pluming supply houses to find who may have parts. I doubt that it's going to be something that Home Depot carries. If someone carries PF I would bring the part with me. I think to disassemble it....take the handle off, remove the chrome ring (I think it just slides on) and then you should see an 8 sided collar nut. Remove this nut and you should be able to pull the cartridge out. You may have to put the handle back on the stem sticking out of the cartridge to have something to pull on. Hope this helps. Mark

Did you ever get your push pull valve taken care of? I suggest trying to rotate the valve as you work it up. The O'rings are probably swollen from D.E. or chemicals or there is debris causing the rings to not slide easily. I recommend opening and cleaning the filter grids and not using the push pull assembly to back wash. The push pull be left untouched or repaired with new O'ring seals. Pentair P/N# 263054 for new push pull valve O'ring/seal kit. Yes depending on bather load filters should be cleaned once to twice a year.