Pinktoes - We were more like Nomads! We had sold our house and were renting an apartment when DH took the travel job. DH was gone for a month at a time and could only come home for one weekend a month. It was hard for all of us being away so we packed up everything and put it in storage and went with DH! We drove everywhere as we had a Golden Retriever so flying was not a option. I home schooled DD for most of kindergarten and half of first grade...(HS was not a could fit for me or DD! LOL!) I told DH I would do it for one year and then I felt it was important for DD to be settled and in school. It did help us save up money to buy our land and start to build by not having to pay rent :-) DD did get to so so many wonderful things. We went from one coast to the other! Boston was one of my favorite places but I fell in love with Salt Lake City! Oruboris - The sales lady at the store I went to was really more concerned with making a sale then anything! I pressed for questions for the difference on the PF and Moen faucets but she really just kept saying they were about the same. She stated that she has had customers that swear by PF and some that swear by Moen, etc. I did not like the comparison she showed me for Moen, that looked like the Marielle. I really liked the PF so that is what we decided to go with. Good idea about ordering the extra parts! I might have to follow you on that one.

Price Pfister R89's do not come with a valve. So yes you will have to install one. How much of the wall you will have to rip out depends on how good you are at working in tight places with a soldering torch or Shark Bites.. The back of you shower should have looked something like this before you ever started installing the tile. Simple drawing of the basic layout. You need a valve.. Did your shower handle kit NOT come with instructions for installing it?

Listen to your Aunt, if she's a designer, than you can certainly benefit from her experience. To be frank, they suck. Spent good money on one 2 years ago and had nothing but problems with it. We just replaced it with a Moen and will never buy another Price again. I only wish I would have had the benefit of someone to tell me before I wasted 300 on one! Keep in mind also, that life time warranties are great except for when you are constantly having problems and need to order parts. If you do a search for Price Pfister in the forum, you will get see the many previous posts regarding this brand.

"Or do I have to purchase a whole new valve (and tear open my wall)?" If you want to push-pull the lever,yes. If you want to rotate the lever,no but it might be difficult finding a lever that fit's on the cartridge. Knobs with a "pointer"to indicate position between H-C are common and easy to find.