Shower arm moves, does it mean i have a water leak?

Question

Hi all, recently i notice that the shower arm moves when i try to adjust the show head position. i am concerned that due to movement of the shower arm, i might have a water leak behind the wall. I've been checking the floor to see if any water coming out. how can i test for water leak behind the wall? and may i ask how to tightening up the shower arm as it is located behind the wall? any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated. thank you all for your time.

Answer 1

Is the shower arm located opposite a closet?  I hope so.

If it is, cut out some of the sheetrock on the wall opposite the shower, check for leaks, tighten the clamp holding the arm or redo the holding clamp, replace the sheetrock, tape, float and repaint.

Answer 2

your shower arm should be supported behind the wall of the shower if you can twist the arm coming out of the wall then remove the arm it's a threaded pipe and should spin out counter clockwise. reseal the threads with teflon tape or pipe dope and retigte into the wall.  if its just moving left to right they just did a poor job of supporting it in the wall and there is no way to really support it with out access. as long as it is not unthreading itself you should be fine on leaks but to check remove access panel in back of shower if you have one it should be  located behind the wall the valve is on in your tub.  if you do not. you can remove the escutcheons or face plat around the handels or single handle faucet to check . you can also try to to remove the shower arm and plate at the wall and there should be, should be being the key word. two screws that you can try to tighten on either side of the female threads in the wall.

Answer 3

if the arm moves in and out then your 99% ok

the plumber just didnt mount it correct

but if it moves left or right

then you need to tighten (clockwise)

30% chance of this

DO NOT REMOVE IT ! by turning counter clockwise

if it moves to the right  or left when you remove it

the pipe  will be hard to get to to put it back on.

a good handyman or plumber will have a very small

camera and can see if any leaks are in the wall

its just a service charge to have it checked and tightend

its worth calling a plumber in this case (make sure he /she has a mini camera

otherwise you may end up with mold and drywall issues

along with the repair you should have done.

but if your handy

then just tighten up

if its pulling in and out then use a hose clamp tight against the drywall on the pipe and a hardware store will have a crome

or brass cover that will cover the hose clamp so you dont have to remove drywall  to clamp the pipe back to the wall and save a fortune.