How to replace shower plumbing.

[pstnly]

My house has a 50 year old shower head coming out of the wall. The copper pipe coming out of the wall is old, tarnished and ugly - I would love to replace it. (This is the pipe onto which the shower head attaches via a thread).

I've given it a tentative twist, but it seems like it's not going to budge. What I don't know is whether the pipe coming out of the wall is actually screwed into something, or whether it's welded. Can anyone help here?

Assuming I don't want to destroy the wall, and the pipe is not screwable, does anyone have any suggestions for cleaning up the ugly copper pipe to make it at least look presentable? Is there any way to chrome it in place?

[Doug Kanter]

No access behind the wall, in a closet, etc?

[Jeff]

Two choices if you leave in place

Use chemicals for copper cookware to remove tarnish, maybe lightly sand and paint with a clear lacquer to prevent future tarnishing.

Lightly sand and paint with an oil based enamel a neutral color.

[Goedjn]

It's probably soldered. Why don't you just paint the thing?

[Bob]

You could try vinegar. Maybe wrap a paper towel soaked in it around the pipe for several hours. It should remove the oxides. Then, any copper polish.

Bob