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I'm having a problem with my shower. The water is not all coming out of the shower head, but out of the faucet. The type of shower I have switches to the shower by pulling down on the faucet head. I uploaded a short video of the problem; notice how water, when I pull down on the faucet head, comes out of the faucet head and from the seam on the wall. I do have water coming out of the shower head.

What would cause this problem? Am I looking at a problem with the faucet itself, or a plumbing issue, or something else? Do I have to worry about water in the house?

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Your diverter needs to be replaced - in your case, this is part of the spout. The diverter is responsible for allowing water to flow out of the tap, or when engaged, it closes the spout and forces the water up through the shower head.

You can try to disassemble it and find a replacement part, but often it is easier to just replace the entire spout.

Usually the spout is held onto a piece of copper pipe with a set screw in the bottom of the spout. Loosen the screw (usually with an allen key) and pull away from the pipe. Replacement is the opposite - twist onto the pipe, align it properly and tighten the set screw.

You might not find an exact replacement but any spout with a diverter in it should work.

This should be a pretty cheap and easy replacement. Good luck!

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    Don't forget a little teflon tape. You don't want a leak running back into the wall.
    – BMitch
    Commented Sep 30, 2012 at 19:01
  • Isn't the divertor on the spout? When he turns the airator on the front of the bath spout it diverts the water so all that is needed is a new divertor spout? Rather than "part of the tap"?
    – UNECS
    Commented Sep 30, 2012 at 21:54
  • Thanks @UNECS, I did mean spout not tap. I have corrected the answer.
    – Steven
    Commented Sep 30, 2012 at 22:03
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I've also seen a situation where an all new Delta shower/tub kit was installed and the problem arose after it was installed. I tried another tub spout but still had same issue. I knew that the water wasnt coming out of the tub spout fast enough so it was diverting the excess water up to shower. I put my water pressure gauge on 3 different locations on the home and found that the house's water PSI was @ 100, which is 25 PSI over what is recommended. I located the pressure reducing valve but it leaked when you tried to reduce the pressure giving me evidence that the pressure reducing valve was no longer operable. I replaced the pressure reducing valve and turned the PSI down to the recommended 75 PSI. Once that was done the water was not backing up and coming out of the shower head @ the same time anymorr, thus resolving the issue.

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