Plumbing required one trick on the box-type—telling hot from cold. If onboard PEX isn’t color coded, run hot water and identify and mark the warm pipe before starting the project. On the fixture, turn the handle to hot and blow through all three pigtails. Air will flow through two—the third is for cold water. Do the same with the valve set on cold to identify the hot-water connection. The third connects directly to the shower hose.
We adapted ½-inch CTS PEX down to ⅜-inch PEX and used SharkBite fittings on the cold water line, and for another option, we used barbed inserts with copper compression rings on the hot water line.
Notice the large black pipe-thread-type fitting at the bottom of the unit shown here. It accommodates the shower hose. Simply slide the hose through the fitting and connect to the appropriate pigtail. Flexible pigtails (like the ones shown) work quite well, by the way. Compression fittings on both ends simplify installs.
After the job, when someone admires your plumbing handiwork, tell them it was a snap.
