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This is inside a 1997 Schult mobile home.

I'm fixing a leak inside the wall.

Replaced all the connectors (adding shut-off valves in the process). Still getting a small leak from the center connector.

Went to replace the faucet and discovered two things:

  1. The arrangement of the pipes in our old faucet is not standard (it's an "A" shape, like an upside down "V") -- whereas the standard faucet nowadays have all 3 connections in a straight line. So I used an oscillating multitool to enlarge the middle hole, no problem.
  2. Now the faucet fits inside but the connectors on the new faucet are SHORTER than the original; and the nuts on it are taller (we dropped one of the original nuts inside the wall while taking out the old faucet), and after all is said and done, there is not enough connector left to fully screw in the swivel elbow connector.

I am guessing the wooden board that is on top of the drywall is there for extra support.

Can I just replace it with an aluminum board which would be thinner?

Or is there a better way to handle this?

I called the mobile home parts store and they didn't have a faucet with longer connections.

Do I need to attach the aluminum board to the drywall or the nuts on the two faucet connections be enough to hold it all together?

Update:

I made a mounting bracket from a 2 inch aluminum bar, and mounted it.

enter image description here enter image description here wooden board back of the shower

enter image description here

bracket with faucet on table

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The main purpose of that board as installed is to spread the load of the faucet over a larger area so its stronger. Just the faucet nuts on the drywall would pull out easily. There's no reason it needs to be wood, and it doesn't even have to be as large as it is.

Be careful removing the wood. It could be glued to the back of the drywall and could easily crack the wall. When replacing with an aluminum plate, I would use something at least 1/8" (3mm) thick. It doesn't need to be screwed to the drywall, but some adhesive would be nice to hold it in place and help support the drywall. Making a sort of bracket that screws into the wood studs on the side would be the best option, but the main goal is just to reenforce.

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  • Thanks! How big do you reckon the aluminum plate needs to be? We got a flat bar of 1/8" aluminum that is 2" by 3 feet. (That's the largest they had at Home Depot.) The holes in the wooden board (1st photo) are 1 inch in diameter. The connections out of the faucet are 3/4 inch in diameter, so I reckon the hole NEEDS to be 1 inch (3/4 inch would be too tight). That leaves half an inch on each side of the hole. We could also get a 12" x 12" x 3/8" plate of aluminum on Amazon. It's a little more expensive but I don't want to have revisit this. :)
    – Aleksey Tsalolikhin
    Commented Oct 23, 2021 at 12:05
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    I think the 2” will be fine. I would try to bend the ends and screw into the studs on the side, but that might be hard if you don’t have a vice to securely hold the bar stock.
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Oct 23, 2021 at 14:52
  • I got a vise at an estate sale. Thanks for your great help @JPhi1618. I've added some pictures of the resulting bracket. It seems quite solid in place screwed into a stud on each side.
    – Aleksey Tsalolikhin
    Commented Nov 14, 2021 at 12:46
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    Estate sales are the best places for a good old vise, and thanks a lot for the updates! That is so rare to see after photos.
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 15:26
  • Yay! You are welcome. Thanks for your great help! :)
    – Aleksey Tsalolikhin
    Commented Nov 16, 2021 at 13:09

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