Said It Here

Shower valve stop screws hit the trim plate

Integrated stop screws on shower valves can protrude too far and collide with the mounting plate tabs, which prevents the cover plate from being installed. Backing the screws out slightly to let water flow makes the screw tips stick out and block the plate from mounting properly.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Grinding the heads off the stop screws
  2. 2
    Replacing screws with plugs
  3. 3
    Temporarily removing the siding, trim, or soffit part blocking the hardware

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/HomeMaintenance1 person · October 2026

“I’m just not sure how I’m gonna get to that top screw to replace the screen door. The frame won’t budge enough for me to get to it.”source ↗

WTPTRAINEE · r/HomeMaintenance · 1 upvotes
r/Plumbing1 person · October 2026

“I had to back the stop screws out a few turns to get water flowing, but now the screw tips stick out and hit the tab on the plate that mounts the cover, so the plate won't mount.”source ↗

Tricky_Job5439 · r/Plumbing · 1 upvotes

“I’m kinda pissed though because plastic guard was flush with the fished surface so I felt like that was the right mounting depth.”source ↗

Tricky_Job5439 · r/Plumbing · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised