As I needed to post pictures, I used my phone, but that is painfully slow for writing text. I intended to add more description in a second post, but haven't had a chance until now.
Both bath taps have been in situ, untouched since I moved in, (2001). They both show evidence of some previous attempts to shift them and the scars suggest they were not successful. With that in mind, I have not had any plans to make changes, but now I think I must. The hot tap developed a drip from the spout, quite suddenly, and I think the washer must have worn down and split.
Unfortunately, the mechanism has beaten all my attempts to remove it. I have a good sturdy 22mm spanner that fit the nut well, but even with a length of tube on it to increase leverage, it just won't budge. As soon as I tried other types of grip, it just chewed up the copper and ruined the nut (mole grips, boiler pliers, small stillsons and a new 12" stillsons-look-alike). Tried a good soak with WD40... applied heat (boiling water).... freezing spray (Crack-it?)... all over a few separate attempts.
So I read every thread I could find, watched every video... and realized that replacing both taps is the logical next step - and the one a professional would probably suggest. But I feared what I would find in the narrow space behind the panel. Now that I have opened it up, I have more questions than answers.
The pictures show hot and cold feeds in 15mm coming from the right. The feeds both have tees that lead up in the wall behind the tiles - although only the cold feed is in use (for the electric shower). The tap nearest to us, is the Cold, and the 15mm is used. But the far tap, the Hot, has a connection to increase it to a larger size (22mm?). Both taps are without threaded locking nuts. Does this mean that they were installed by the bathtub manufacturer?
The drippy tap has now become a major project (did I mention that this is a family bathroom in near-constant use) that will probably need to be done late at night when I can work uninterrupted.
1. Where would YOU want to make the cut to remove the tap from the tub?
2. Why do you think they took a Tee off the hot feed, if it isn't used?