Talk to your building manager first.

Ok thanks, is there anything specific i should ask building manager other than to check the water heater?

Start with the valve itself. They are preset from the factory to only about 100-110 degrees F to meet anti-scalding regs. You can turn the water heater up as high as you wish and it will not increase the water temp at the shower head or tub. In fact setting the water temp to high can damage most modern shower valves.

Look at the manual/ booklet/ instructions for the valve itself. Somewhere you will find directions on how to adjust and increase the hot water setting on the valve. Most are very simple to adjust. AGAIN.. Use caution for water temps to high going into the valves can damage them and void the warranty.

Yes, tell him what the plumber said to you: thinks it's either a building issue with the heating system (i'm in a big condo building).

If, indeed, it is a building problem then others have complained. Then it is the building’s water heater9s) that has to be replaced and that’s why you have condo fees.

Thanks Judy, I have asked my neighbors and none seem to be having issues. The shower worked fine prior to the remodel but plumber suggested could be problem with the new valve and the building's heating system.

Ed

The old shower valve that you had may have either predated the Anti-scald regulations or had been adjusted for hotter water. Again ALL new shower valves are preset to 100 - 110 degrees F to meet anti-scald regulations..

In this Youtube video the guy shows how to adjust the temperature control ring to make the hotter coming out of the valve hotter. Skip all of the crap and go to about 6:00 to see how they are adjusted.

The plumber should have had a thermometer to get a before and after reading of the water temp when/if he adjusted it..

Grohe Shower Temperature Adjustment

You do not have to take a shower to check if the water is hotter or not. Just let it run a minute or two and adjust as needed.

Do you have any problems getting hot water to the sink in that bathroom? Usually if it's an overall problem, the lav faucet would also be affected.

No there isn’t any issue with the bathroom sink.

Do you have a General Contractor? The GC is the person who is responsible for getting this sorted. Period.

The plumber doesn't get to say it's the building's fault and walk away. If the sink water is hot, then the problem is the plumber's to solve or prove that it's a building problem.

Again, though, it's the GC who needs to be dealing with all of this.

If you're in a multi-unit building, often times it's required that shower valves have stops. That way you can shut off water to the valve via the stops without having to have the maintenance super shut off water to your stack, or worse, to the entire building. If you valve does have stops, you can remove the escutcheon plate and make sure they are open.

Make sure the stops to both the hot and cold water supply is fully open.

As has already been mentioned, it could be the temp limit setting on the valve itself. You can adjust that yourself.

Or their could be debris in your valve from when it was installed, it could be limiting the functionality of the valve.

Your hot water worked before. A plumber installed a new valve, now it doesn't. Call the plumber.

Good luck!

Depending on the valve, the valve body would not have to be replaced, just the cartridge. You would remove the trim and pull the cartridge. No retiling required.

Also, it would have been good to pick a valve that had built-in stops (shut-offs).

If you are able to do what weedmeister suggests, the fix would be relatively inexpensive. If the valve has to be replaced and re-tiling is involved, that's an expensive pain to get things restored to the way it looked before, and you may be compromising the integrity of the waterproofing on that wall.

Ed has at least ten posts with questions that can't be answered by anyone except the powers that are involved in this remodel that should have been complete a couple months ago.

Ed, WAS THE WATER HOT IN THIS SHOWER BEFORE THE RE DO? You answered "Yes" If so, you have your most obvious answer, unless the building in general has an issue, which seems to be a NO.. It's the pre set in the valve, most likely, and I would also make sure the water restrictor ( shower head ) is removed as well.. Call the GC and his plumber. The building is not responsible for your valve and shower, unless a water supply turn off at the main, left you short on HOT. The GC can deal with that issue as well, and the building manager will be clueless in most cases.......and you seem to be the only one with this problem.

I am confused as well. How is this JUST being discovered when six posts ago and waiting for the GC......you said you had "ten k left on the table, and a few hours of work left to be finished" That in itself, is more than a bit confusing. Really confusing.

Thanks to all who replied. So I am working with a GC and he brought in his plumber who has already looked at it. So I'm assuming he already looked at valve and hopefully would have looked at the stops. GC asked me to check with building management. If not a building issue says must be faulty valve and implied that i would bear the cost.

"So I'm assuming"

Isn't assuming what got you in the complete mess you are in with every part of your reno? Tell the GC to find the problem, period! It worked before the reno, and now it doesn't, common denominator says....................................

Just trying to figure things out Jan. Thanks for trying to help. My contractor isn't all that helpful, that's why I'm coming here to get other perspectives. Maybe you can consider dialing it back a notch.

Thank you millworkman. I'm still trying to figure out why the OP is so afraid of the GC he is PAYING, to ask/answer all of the questions he posts HERE.

We have been reading the same saga with different chapters for 3 months Ed, you are expecting someone who obviously doesn't give a rat's ass to care and not only that you keep obliging by continuing to pay him.

Do you, perhaps, have an on demand water heater? You did not say, so it is likely that you do not have such a heater. My son has that problem if he puts on a shower head that in any way restricts the flow of water. The restricted flow prevents the on demand heater from responding to the demand. What you described happening is exactly what happens in that shower. It seems hot but quickly goes to being not hot anymore.

Also, did you switch to one of those large rain shower heads? One thing that happens with some of those is that they create almost a spray of water instead of a real flow. That sprayed water cools off really fast. I put one of those in one of my showers and I absolutely hate it. It is a Kohler one.

It makes you wet everywhere with a fine spray, but not really wet in any one place. I absolutely despise it. It is like showering in a light rain.

Thanks not sure if it’s on demand heater. I’m in a big condo building. And thankfully didn’t get a rain shower.

If you want to shower in rain, you go outside when it's raining. Honestly...............: ) The dumbest idea ever created. I will die with my shower head and valve. Old, sorta ugly....it is AN ELEPHANT WASH. If I could get the car in there? I wouldn't need soap. The sheer force would get the car clean. The water could scald you. Unsafe at any speed, and not up to GOV regulations. Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Jan, can I come and shower at your house? I agree and I love a full blast shower. I look at every shower head now and try to determine just how effective I think it will be. Those large rain shower heads are everywhere.

I love a strong flow of water and I don't see why shower heads need all of these different settings. I put mine on "a lot of water" and never change it.

A new shower head? Get a SPEAKMAN. Pull the restrictor. Get Moentrol. Or go outdoors : ) It isn't about style when you are in there. Give me water, plenty of it, and force. You're clean as a whistle and rinsed in short order, versus standing in there twice as long. Oh sure......you're saving water if it takes thirty minutes to get soap out of your hair.. My GAWD. It's like flushing the john three times.......when it could have been ONCE. A fifty minute wash cycle that used to be 25, ( apparently electricity doesn't count ) .........don't get me started lol.....AC pre sets at 78 causing someone to boost the feel with four fans.... ?

I'm sorry but I can't imagine any "Pro" advising people to pull out the restrictor. If you can't shower in 2.5 gpm then you have a problem.

The problem here is the valve. The bigger problem is the relationship between the client and the GC.

The OP really has been a PIA and if I was his plumber I'd be facing prison time by now. Even though he's been the client from hell, this problem is square in the court of the GC to deal with.

BTW: This is a good example of why you don't want to completely burn up your reservoir of good-will with your GC before the job is over. You may have problems at the end.

Yes. I tell them all to pull the restrictor! Send the police. And tell me the difference between an enjoyable ten minute shower, or a woman is in there for twenty

Jan is on A tear :)

Not a pro but, logically, if you didn't have the issue before and now only have the issue with the shower -- not sinks -- perhaps you should have a talk with the contractor that installed the shower and its plumbing -- try nice before angry..

Everyone pulls the flow restrictors out of shower heads - particularly if you live somewhere where you have a well and a pressure tank instead of a water system. When you have clients complaining that they can't rinse shampoo out of their hair, you try to take care of the problem.

There are a couple of brands we stay clear of and don't use - we have found that Moen does not work well in terms of water pressure and Grohe is just all around trashy junk (in our experience).

The way most remodel contracts would work is that the contractor and his/her sub (in this case the plumber) would check for issues with the installation. Asking the building management if there are any other issues in the building is a valid question. Wednesday morning is correct - if the water heaters are on-demand units, there are lots of problems documented where the newer reduced units that restrict water flow do not allow enough flow to activate the heating unit in the on-demand water heater. The cartridge should be checked and if it is bad the manufacturer will replace the part, but you may have to pay the plumber to install it. Most remodel contracts say that the GC does not warranty products, a GC warranties his/her work and that of the subs. If the whole valve is bad, then the same applies - the manufacturer will provide a new valve but will not pay for the work to replace it. The GC is not responsible for replacing defective products at his/her expense. A GC may choose to handle it at their cost - but only for the really good clients that have been a joy to work with and that they want to work with again.

For me an enjoyable shower is one where I have decent water temperature for its duration. Unless you have an on-demand heater, pulling out the flow restrictor to get more volume means you run out of hot water sooner. I don't think it's that tough to find a good, affordable shower head that delivers a decent stream with a restrictor in place.

I want to see Jake"s hair. I also want a shot of the line up of "product" in his shower....gels, scrubs. conditioner , moisturizer... scrubbies. Ya know. That stuff he applies/ rinses off in 2.5 g.p.m : )