Concealed shower valves and solid walls
Discussion
Starting to gather all the bits we need before starting our bathroom renovation.
The plan is to have a concealed valve, something like this http://www.doblebathroomsdirect.com/PRD_ProductDet... which will control water to shower/bath.
However, it will need to be mounted on a solid (brick) interior wall. The other side of the wall is inside what was the old airing cupboard, so hot and cold water feeds will be external on that side.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience of putting a concealed valve into a solid wall. All the info I can find talks about building false walls or assumes a stud wall already in place.
The plan is to have a concealed valve, something like this http://www.doblebathroomsdirect.com/PRD_ProductDet... which will control water to shower/bath.
However, it will need to be mounted on a solid (brick) interior wall. The other side of the wall is inside what was the old airing cupboard, so hot and cold water feeds will be external on that side.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience of putting a concealed valve into a solid wall. All the info I can find talks about building false walls or assumes a stud wall already in place.
As long as there is sufficient depth of wall , there is no issue with setting the valve into a solid wall. In the OP situation, this is made easier by not having to sink the feed pipework into the wall, as this can be surface within the airing cupboard.
A solid wall is better for tiling onto within a shower area, as no movement.
But a stud wall is an easier way to house a concealed valve, just need to ensure he stad wall is very rigid, and line it with a tile backing board, such as Aquapanel or Hardibacker.
A solid wall is better for tiling onto within a shower area, as no movement.
But a stud wall is an easier way to house a concealed valve, just need to ensure he stad wall is very rigid, and line it with a tile backing board, such as Aquapanel or Hardibacker.
We've not got the space to lose to a false stud wall and I'd prefer to stay away from digital showers for reasons of economy 
We're not having any sort of riser rail so surface mounted would be odd.
Just trying to gauge if there's any particular features of some concealed valves that make them easier/more difficult to set into a solid wall, before I make my purchases.
We're not having any sort of riser rail so surface mounted would be odd.
Just trying to gauge if there's any particular features of some concealed valves that make them easier/more difficult to set into a solid wall, before I make my purchases.
uluru said:
We've not got the space to lose to a false stud wall and I'd prefer to stay away from digital showers for reasons of economy
Got the same issue as you but don't have the depth to sink a valve as it's a single brick party wall. We went with a Mira Platinum digital shower, cost no more than a reasonable thermostatic shower valve. Have a look on plumbnation.co.ukI did what the OP describes when I fitted the shower in the ensuite in my extension.
I wanted the shower positioned on the internal blockwork , the most difficult bit was measuring to make sure that the pipe ends were in exactly the right place to be able to mount the shower flush when all the tiling etc... was completed. When the pipes are sunk into the blockwork, you've no movement so have to get it spot on.
It was a bit fiddly but I channeled out the soft blockwork, ran the copper pipes up and then plastered them in place so they were flush with the surface of the blocwork so I could tile over the top.
Like I said, getting the 90 degree bends and length of pipe sticking out right was the difficult bit as there's no room to be cutting pipes once they're in the wall.
Had no issues 5 years later.
I wanted the shower positioned on the internal blockwork , the most difficult bit was measuring to make sure that the pipe ends were in exactly the right place to be able to mount the shower flush when all the tiling etc... was completed. When the pipes are sunk into the blockwork, you've no movement so have to get it spot on.
It was a bit fiddly but I channeled out the soft blockwork, ran the copper pipes up and then plastered them in place so they were flush with the surface of the blocwork so I could tile over the top.
Like I said, getting the 90 degree bends and length of pipe sticking out right was the difficult bit as there's no room to be cutting pipes once they're in the wall.
Had no issues 5 years later.
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