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After having a house cleaner clean my shower, I noticed the handle was inverted. When I asked her about it, she only said that she struggled a bit to turn it off, and that was the position she ultimately found to turn it off.

To fix it I had to remove TWO screws. The set screw on the handle, and then the screw holding the "block" onto the valve stem. The block / stem connection is ridged so it cannot turn, even if forced

How in the world did the house cleaner do this?

The shower water is OFF in both photos.

enter image description here

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    Something is damaged. This looks like a Delta "ball style" valve assembly. There are 2 types (one type you move the lever up/down for on/off, and angle up to left/right to mix hot/cold; the other you move up/down for on/off, and twist left/right for hot/cold, this second type usually has a knob as opposed to the lever in your pictures). There is a cam and a pin that guides (and limits) the travel of the valve, one or both might be damaged if this is the type you have. If you shut off the water and open it up we can give better guidance.
    – Jimmy Fix-it
    Commented Jun 2 at 21:06
  • Thanks for offering to help. the left one is actually AFTER I fixed it. So I had to take it apart to fix it, and am just wondering how she inverted it in the first place without tools
    – Seth E
    Commented Jun 2 at 23:27
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    Maybe the set screw was somewhat loose and the cleaning person accidently pulled the knob way off and then shoved it back on (inverted).
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Commented Jun 3 at 0:20
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    that handle can be turned 360 degrees if the endstop does not engage ... after you flipped the handle, are the hot and cold sides exchanged?
    – jsotola
    Commented Jun 3 at 20:09

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Do you have a hot water meter? Can you estimate how many litres of hot water she used during the cleaning?

Some poorly designed valves have outer part of handle just glued on inner one. If you heat enough the valve, you can simply pull off this handle or rotate it full turn. Probably.

Heating the valve with extremely hot water for long enough time can also cause the internal parts of the valve to shift. This may be enough to force the handle past the stop.

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