It is convenient when the survey and the decorating department want the same thing.
The intended change was modest. Replace the faucet and diverter, replace the handheld shower, and leave the bathroom with better controls and one less leak to deal with. There was no need for this particular corner of the boat to become a renovation.
First, though, the replacement had to agree with the tub about where a faucet belongs.
The wall was not involved
This faucet mounts on the horizontal deck beside the tub. Earlier suggestions included wall-mounted options, which made them answers to a different bathroom's problem.
A faucet can look entirely suitable in a product photograph while having quite firm opinions about where its plumbing should enter. Mine needed to sit on the deck. A good-looking wall-mounted assembly would still require a wall, and the existing installation was not offering one.
That mounting distinction was more useful than another page of finishes and handle styles. Before choosing the visible part, I needed to account for the mounting surface, existing holes, connections, and space underneath. The shopping photo gets to show the attractive side. The boat insists on having the other side as well.
For anyone doing a similar replacement, that is the detail I would put ahead of choosing the finish: work out what you are replacing underneath and where it mounts. “Tub faucet” gets you into the right aisle. It does not finish the selection.
A faucet and a shower, without a new bathroom
The parts I used were a Dura Faucet DF-PL720LH-SN tub faucet/diverter and a JDO handheld shower head. The Dura unit supplied the deck-mounted arrangement and lever controls. The handheld replacement took care of the other half of the job.
The old knobs gave way to levers, and the shower hose connected to the new assembly. The leaking shower wand was replaced as part of the job. The installation photograph shows the faucet and its hose connection beside the tub. It is a small patch of bathroom doing a perfectly ordinary bathroom job, which is a respectable result aboard a boat.
There are plenty of projects on Além Mar that justify a wiring diagram or an extended investigation. This one can be explained with two part names and a photograph. I would not improve that explanation by finding something else to take apart.
The finished job has the controls I wanted, a replacement handheld shower, and the survey's wand-leak item dealt with. Two parts have changed. The bathroom has not needed a new job description.
A small bathroom upgrade had managed to remain a small bathroom upgrade. The wall did not need a faucet, the tub did not need a redesign, and the acrylic knobs did not need a farewell ceremony.
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