We're installing a new shower and I'm trying to pick out fixtures.
I don't like the arm that is suggested with the shower head.

Can any 1/2" shower head be used with any 1/2" shower arm?

My thanks....j

Yes, unless you have something really weird.

Respectfully disagree with Mosternaz on this one.

Apart from the vast array of shower arms available from the plumbing manufacturers that make T&S faucets, there are "generic shower arms" that are sold in hardware store and plumbing wholesalers. These generic shower arms come in two styles; the new style shower arm and the old style shower arm.

An "old style" generic shower arm has a horizontal section that's about 2 inches longer than a new style generic shower arm. Apart from that, they're identical.

This is the old style:
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/...0-rw-54022-22642.jpg

This is the new style:
http://www.faucetdepot.com/pro...m-Brushed-Nickel.jpg

So, if you have an old style generic shower arm now, there's a good chance a new style generic shower arm won't fit, and you need to stick to the old style kind. That's because the shower elbow may be too far back in the wall for the new style shower arm to screw into it and still leave room for the escutcheon that fits over the shower arm.

However, if you have a new style shower arm, then any shower arm will fit fine.

And, provided the shower arm fits, any shower head will screw onto any shower arm cuz they both have a 1/2 inch NPT thread.

That problem happend to me when I replaced the T&S faucet in one bathroom. I didn't move the shower elbow forward, and the new style shower arm that came with the new faucet was too short to screw into the shower elbow.

I had to put the old shower arm back in.

If you buy an inexpensive T&S faucet, it'll come with a generic new style shower arm. Hang on to the old shower arm just in case you need it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nestor,

I am starting from scratch.
We are remodeling whole bath, floor plan and all.
I just wanted to be sure I could mix and match, new, since I have to order them (rural).
Thanks much. j

If Nestor respectfully disagrees with monsternaz and I respectfully disagree with Nestor is this a case of respectfully disagreeing squared?

Unless the female threaded elbow inside the wall for your shower head is recessed really far back, any 1/2" shower arm will fit. There are many styles available from the basic style as shown in Nestors post to straight extensions that can be connected to extension arms that can elevate a rain head from a higher elevation. As long as whatever you want to use has the same 1/2" standard threads and has a straight shaft at least as long as the distance from the finished wall surface to the inside of the threads in your in-the-wall fitting, it will work.

Since you are making the whole thing, it should be no problem mixing and matching any shower head.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jaybee,

Nestor missed the part where everything was new, I guess.

Islaa:

Sorry. It just occured to me that all my experience is with wood stud walls built an inch or two IN FRONT OF concrete block walls. In that situation you can have the shower elbow much further behind the tiled wall surface than you can with just a stud wall.

Still, before you put your shower walls up, check to see that the shower arm will screw into the shower elbow with plenty of room for the escutcheon plate that fits over the shower arm.

If you can screw the shower arm into the shower elbow, you can screw any shower head onto that shower arm so you can mix and match all you want.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nestor,