Pushing the diverter down after the water is turned off will still allow the water to drain from the shower arm to the fill spout. There is probably some roughness in the brass castings that is causing increased resistance, but that shouldn't be a problem when you turn the water off first. It may work easier after repeated use.

It sounds like you want to have a custom shower system with both a hand shower and a showerhead. This is very do-able. Typically I would recommend you stick with the same brand, mainly because then you know the finish will match perfectly. Especially with finishes in the oil rubbed bronze category, you will find great differences between various manufacturers and it might look strange if the finish is not exactly the same. In the case of chrome finish, you may find there is almost no difference between companies. In that case there is no reason you couldn't have a hand shower made by one company, and a showerhead made by the other. You still need to do some other planning as to how your shower system will be configured. Perhaps this article we wrote about the topic will be of help. Delta Shower Systems Example of a custom shower system with hand shower and showerhead

Thanks Sophie. I searched for ceramic disc valves on various plumbing websites, and filtered on the Home Depot site. None of those three brands had any hits. I also looked at some faucets on the brand websites. They all sold ceramic cartridges but none of the descriptions mentioned the valves. Is there some sort of list or resource you can point me towards?

We’re looking for recommendations on shower faucet brands, as we’re looking to do a complete bathroom reno.