Foretravel Owners' Forum

#'s 102, 103, and 104 on the spreadsheet are new shower valve trim, new bathroom hardware, and new bathroom faucet.  The OEM sink faucet and shower valve trim were quite dated, and both had a lot of tarnish on them.

WildE was, as with most coaches of the era, done in polished brass.  Plumbing fixtures were Moen.  We like the gold of the brass with the cherry, and the shower surround is in good shape, so we searched for a polished gold-ish finish to match but with a more contemporary style.  Talk about a needle in a haystack!  Moen didn't offer anything appropriate, so we resigned ourselves (Steve) to having to install a new shower valve.  We settled on Kohler Vibrant French Gold as the finish, which as it turns out is typically a special order finish for most things.  We started ordering things in early March.

We were able to source the towel ring and hand shower set from eBay for about 1/2 the cost of ordering new.  The towel ring is Kohler Purist (https://www.kohler.com/en/products/bathroom-accessories/shop-bathroom-accessories/purist-towel-ring-14441?skuId=14441-AF)



as was the hand shower kit (handheld, hose, bar) (https://www.kohler.com/en/products/showers/shop-shower-heads/purist-four-function-handshower-2-5-gpm-22178?skuId=22178-AF)



Next up, from Amazon, the towel bar in the shower is Kohler K-78372-AF COMPONENTS 18" TOWEL BAR (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMF731S8?th=1)



and the dual robe hook is Kohler Composed K-73146-AF (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKTLT8C8) 



The elbow to connect the hand shower hose is Kohler Purist K- 22172-AF (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV94YZ9G?th=1)



Having realized a new shower valve would be required, we decided on a Kohler Composed shower valve trim TS73115-4-AF (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWSH4FHT)



Next up, Build by Ferguson for the compatible shower valve Kohler Rite-Temp 1/2 Inch Pressure-Balancing Valve (https://www.fergusonhome.com/kohler-k-8304-k/s1256670?uid=3006869)



Surprisingly, the most challenging component was the sink faucet.  Being that the original was, what we affectionately called "toad in the corner", we needed a narrow set or single hole-with-escutcheon faucet.  We knew we wanted single handle.  After much shopping and looking at many polished brass offerings in addition to the Kohler Vibrant French Gold, we chose a Kohler offering, Purist, and ordered it from Build by Ferguson.  The Kohler Parallel 6-3/8" Escutcheon Plate (https://www.fergusonhome.com/kohler-k-23481/s1764632?uid=4514684)  was in stock,



the faucet "special order".

Many months and many "new expected date" e-mails later, I noticed the desired faucet in stock on Kohler's site, but not Build.com.  I called Build to ask for status, and the next day received yet a new delayed due date.  So I ordered from Kohler.  Turns out it was the only one in stock, so I'm guessing they make one of these per year (or so it seems).  The faucet is Parallel Single-handle bathroom sink faucet (https://www.kohler.com/en/products/bathroom-faucets/shop-bathroom-sink-faucets/parallel-single-handle-bathroom-sink-faucet-23472-4?skuId=23472-4-AF)



I'll continue this with photos of the installation and finished product in subsequent posts.

Tackling the last-installed item first (because it's the fewest photos), the long-delayed Parallel sink faucet presented just one installation challenge to Steve

First, out with Mr. Toad



He cleaned up the surface where the old faucet used to be (no photos)

Then, install the spacer/gasket in the base of the faucet......

Turns out that even though it was a sealed package with the correct part number, that spacer didn't fit.  No way were we returning this faucet that took months to arrive, so Steve did his magic in the shop and machined a spacer/gasket that would.



No unexpected surprises under the sink after getting through that hiccup.  Both supply lines fit through the center hole, and the old individual ones are covered by the escutcheon on the top surface.



Steve installed shutoffs on both of the supply lines as well



Lastly, Steve installed the new drain and stopper and tested for leaks

And here it is, the bold look of Kohler Parallel (and the black duplex GFCI outlet that Steve installed in place of the always-dirty-looking ivory one that was there)

   

First up, the shower valve and trim.  Quite the project.  Here is the OEM trim and the supply elbow for the hand shower hose.  You'll note the elbow is kind of facing up.  Kohler wants theirs facing down.



Old valve on the left, all the parts your new valve will ever need (almost) on the right



Now you disassemble this cabinet in the bedroom to access the shower valve



This is the OEM Moentrol valve.  While you can get some trims from a third party that will work with this valve, it appears they are only available in brushed nickel and ORB (oil-rubbed bronze).

 

Here's what the shower wall looks like when you remove the old shower trim. 



The Kohler valve installation requires that hole be enlarged, since its box needs to be flush with the inside surface of the shower wall.  The existing hole would normally make this a bit of a challenge, but not for Steve.  He matched the diameter of the original hole with one hole saw, then the desired larger diameter with a second, slightly shallower hole saw.  Mounted on the same arbor, he created a self-aligning stepped hole saw - the inner saw acting as a pilot.  First he completed the partial cut that was in the wall from the original installation, then he used the stepped hole saw to drill the larger diameter needed.  And since the solid surface is prone to chip out, he masked it with painter's tape first to protect it.

 

Now it was time to install the new Kohler valve.  First, some relief cut of the valve box to make it fit in the space



The distance from the new valve to the hand shower supply elbow was greater than than the Moen shown in the photo below, so off to the hardware store for a longer nipple.  Ace is the Place with the helpful plumbing parts.



And the valve was mounted, upon which we discovered the supply lines were a little too short because the connections were higher up on the Kohler valve than the Moentrol



Next creative solution - remove the AquaHot return vent below the cabinet to see what was going on.  Aha!  At the back of the cabinet where the supply lines came through, the cabinet back was the problem.  Steve notched it so the lines could shift up, and added some clamps to prevent the lines from moving around (they were just flopping untethered back there).



With the valve installed, time to "hit the shower" and install the finish hardware.  First the mounting ring for the valve trim



And the trim ring and supply elbow for the hand shower hose





The shower set was the next biggest challenge.  Here's what the original looked like and how the mounting bits were attached.



Kohler's slide bars aren't designed to be cut.  There are relief cutouts in the side of the bars that the mounting posts fit into, so your screw holes for mounting are fixed.  And, of course, there weren't any options when I was researching that were in Vibrant French Gold that had the exact spacing our original bar did.  The set we got had a slightly longer bar.  We were able to use the upper screw location for the upper mount and measured for a new lower mount loccation.  Steve carefully drilled new holes for the mounting screws (solid surface likes to chip out.)  He filled the old holes with a mixture of clear epoxy and some of the drill-dust from the new hole, which colored it close to the surrounding material. 

The new showerhead does have a +/- 15 degree tilt, but took staring at the drawing of the head in the spec sheet https://techcomm.kohler.com/techcomm/pdf/K-22178_spec_US-CA_Kohler_en.pdf to understand how it works.  You'd normally think the piece that holds the head and has the slider friction lever would be oriented so the lever was behind or in front of the bar, so the head is in line with the bar as you look at it.  But no...... it goes to the side of the bar, so the head is next to the bar as you look at it.  And it really does need that 15 degree angle to work well with the shower space.


The towel ring, robe hook, and towel bar in the shower were straightforward replacements.  The biggest decision was the spacing for the robe hook since it was wider than the original. 

Steve got to use the new shower set first, as it was only fair since he did all the work (except for going to Ace Hardware, that was all me  :D .)  Have to say, we really, really like the new shower head.  Finished project photos in the next post.

And here it is, the WildESpa

Looks like a party to me.