Two-Handle Tub and Shower Faucet: Plumbing Explained

A two-handle tub and shower faucet controls the amount of water that goes into your shower and into your bathtub through basic plumping. The faucet can also be used to control the temperature at which the water flows into the shower and the bath. Apart from deciding what type of faucet you would want from the many sizes and designs available, understanding how they work can help you make a decision too. The following article will help you to understand how the plumbing in a two-handle tub and shower faucet works.

What the Valves Do

All the water flowing into your home flows under high pressure. To prevent it from running through your taps at all times, faucets are used. There are valves that can be used to control the flow of water from the main water supply too. The two-handle tub and shower faucet has valves that can be used to control whether the water runs into the showerhead and the bathtub or not. The two-handle plumbing ensures that you can either have hot water from your water heater or cold water from your water tank running into a shower head or the tub. There are separate faucet valves for showerheads and baths.

The Faucet Handles

Most bathrooms have a single faucet handle which can be turned on for running water in the showerhead or the bath. In a two-handle tub and shower faucet, you can have water running into your shower head and your bathtub at the same time. The handles and lever in this assembly not only control running water but you can also control whether you want hot or cold water to be running. The lever is commonly known as a diverter that on shifting in different directions can either force water into the showerhead or the bath. Having two levers can help you control water flow in both the showerhead and the tub by turning both the levers on.

Hot and Cold Water

There is a hot and cold water faucet in a two-handle tub and shower faucet. On turning on, the faucet can allow both hot and cold water to run into the showerhead and the bath. For using either hot or cold water, the faucet knob can be turned either to the left or the right for controlling water temperature. On moving the knob to the right usually, hot water flow increases and cold water flow decreases, resulting in a hotter shower or bath. Turning it the other way (the left) will give you the opposite result.

What is different in the two-handle tub and shower faucet is that you can control the water flow and temperature for the showerhead and the bathtub at the same time. This is achieved by having double the handles, levers, and temperature faucets than a normal tub and shower faucet.