My shower head was leaking and somewhere online I read a suggestion to just replace the seats and springs for $5 rather than the whole cartridge for $30. I think I watched some videos and looked at some websites and managed to figure it out. That was at least a couple of years ago, and it's been fine ever since.
Needed a special tool however. And some plumbers grease. If it is just leaking, should not be too much of a challenge. I would use some penetrating oil and let it soak for a hour or more.
completely seized, I had to call a handyman friend of the family to cut it out of the line and replace the whole valve.
I think if I could have opened the bonnet, I could have replaced it myself, though.
I'm not a plumber at all but watched some videos and gave it a shot. I'm petrified every time the bathtub is full that I'm going to get water everywhere but it seems to be doing good.
Make sure you have the right tools...I was going to avoid getting the drain wrench and it turned out that not only did I need that, I also had to use my big pipe wrench (after heating up the drain) to get it to turn. I puttied and teflon taped everything and hopefully I did it right. I actually installed the diverter incorrectly at first because I did not have it depressed like it needed to be to seat properly.
While I get nervous about the results, the thrill of doing these types of things on your own is great. I would have paid probably $100-150 to get this fixed and it cost me $40 including the wrench so big savings.
shower if you can find it.
It was pretty easy.
I changed many sink cartridges myself. Easy because you can see the results and monitor things underneath the sink. You can't do that in a shower wall. We had water pouring into our garage below. I still don't know exactly what I did wrong. Had a pro come out to fix and get it right. But had to deal with garage ceiling damage. No bueno.
And, having flooded my basement while doing some work on a water heater, I now fully subscribe to this approach.
If old one gets stuck, pour vinegar over it, wait a few minutes and try again.