Question - Help! Water comes into the tub normally, but when I turn the diverter valve on the spout, I get no water from the shower head. My son-in-law put in a new faucet and diverter, but still no shower water. Is it possible that lime or other deposits have blocked water to the shower? Can a plumber fix it without removing the Formica wall? Gertrude Urben, Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
Answer - I would say that the diverter is not working right, and if it is not working right, it was either installed wrong or is defective. I don't think that lime in the pipe would build up so much as to block the shower pipe.
So, your only recourse in my opinion is to have a new valve installed by a plumber. And, in most cases, there is no need to take the Formica cover off to do this. However, it might be necessary to put in a new one-handle anti-scald valve to replace the old valve and diverter. It should still be possible to do this without removing the wall.
Here's a correction that the handyman is obliged to announce:
When D.H. of Medway, Mass., asked about a sweetish odor in his house, the handyman suggested that it might be faulty urea formaldehyde insulation. If it is, the handyman suggested that it be taken out, which he said was required when one sells the house. UF insulation was installed in the 1970s, and while most was properly done, with no outgassing of formaldehyde, some installations were faulty, with excess outgassing. This outgassing caused Massachusetts to ban its use, and in certain cases, it had to be removed before the house could be sold.
That is wrong, wrote R.M. Campbell of Cohasset, Mass.: "Provided that the measured concentration of formaldehyde gas is below the limit specified in state regulation 105CMR651, no action is required. Even though the specified limit is very low (0.1 parts per million), it is unlikely that any house would fail the test because of off-gassing in the many years since the last installation of urea formadehyde insulation."
Thank you, R.M. Campbell.
So, if anyone has UF insulation and wonders if it has to be removed before selling the house, have the insulation tested to determine if it is, indeed, necessary. For a test, call Howard Wensley of DPH Labs in Jamaica Plain, Mass., at 617-983-6761.
Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton will answer reader questions. Write him at the Boston Globe, Boston, MA 02107.