Installing a new shower

[scottishlad]

I am going to fit a new shower just looking for any easier ways or any help.

I have gutted the bathroom took all the tiles of the wall(plasterboard walls).

I have removed the bath too.

I will be using push fit t-pieces and hep20 everything is in 15mm.

I have marked where i need the hot and cold pipes to come through the wall
in relation to fitting the mixer onto them.

So will i make two 15 mm holes were the mixer will fit onto them and feed the pipe down the cavity and get it at the bottom ?????

How do you do it ???

Thanks in advance

 

[Richard C]

So will i make two 15 mm holes were the mixer will fit onto them and feed the pipe down the cavity and get it at the bottom ?????
How do you do it ???

Apart from the physical difficulties in actually achieving it, you can't run the shower service pipes inside the cavity of an external wall. It’s not recognised practice, is extremely unwise & I believe breaches building regulations.

Such a shower installation involves chasing the wall or, better still, building a false wall; but sometimes it's a combination of both.

 

[scottishlad]

Its a plasterboard wall so i cant chase it !

Its not a external wall i think? On the other side of the wall is my kids bedroom. There really is not any easier way of doing it, a false wall is never going to happen.

So i cant run 2 lengths of hep20 down the back of the plasterboard ?

There is no other way of doing it rather than building a false wall ?

It would be petty simple just run a fish wire through the holes were i will attach the mixer, feed the pipes down get them at the bottom of the plasterboard wall and connect them into the supply?

Open to any suggestions

thanks again

 

[electronicsuk]

Its a plasterboard wall so i cant chase it

Its not a external wall i think? On the other side of the wall is my kids bedroom. There really is not any easier way of doing it, a false wall is never going to happen.

If it's a plasterboard internal wall then in all likeliness it's already a 'false' (dryline) wall, in which case you will be able to run pipework within it. Other possibilities are that it's a breeze block wall with plasterboard dot+dab, it should be easy to tell by sticking a bradawl into the wall in an inconspicuous location.

So i cant run 2 lengths of hep20 down the back of the plasterboard ?

There is no other way of doing it rather than building a false wall ?

As per above.

It would be petty simple just run a fish wire through the holes were i will attach the mixer, feed the pipes down get them at the bottom of the plasterboard wall and connect them into the supply?

Have you actually purchased the pipework yet? It really isn't all that flexible, it can be fished through a wall as I've done the same myself when installing CH, but you still need relatively large holes in the wall to get joints and fittings onto the pipe. If the distance between the mixer and pipe exit point at the bottom of the wall are short, you might not be able to fish it at all due to the excessive bend radius on the pipework.

If it's a dryline wall, you can easily enough remove enough plasterboard to get the job done then reboard before tiling.

 

[scottishlad]

Its a plasterboard wall so i cant chase it

Its not a external wall i think? On the other side of the wall is my kids bedroom. There really is not any easier way of doing it, a false wall is never going to happen.

If it's a plasterboard internal wall then in all likeliness it's already a 'false' (dryline) wall, in which case you will be able to run pipework within it. Other possibilities are that it's a breeze block wall with plasterboard dot+dab, it should be easy to tell by sticking a bradawl into the wall in an inconspicuous location.

So i cant run 2 lengths of hep20 down the back of the plasterboard ?

There is no other way of doing it rather than building a false wall ?

As per above.

It would be petty simple just run a fish wire through the holes were i will attach the mixer, feed the pipes down get them at the bottom of the plasterboard wall and connect them into the supply?

Have you actually purchased the pipework yet? It really isn't all that flexible, it can be fished through a wall as I've done the same myself when installing CH, but you still need relatively large holes in the wall to get joints and fittings onto the pipe. If the distance between the mixer and pipe exit point at the bottom of the wall are short, you might not be able to fish it at all due to the excessive bend radius on the pipework.

If it's a dryline wall, you can easily enough remove enough plasterboard to get the job done then reboard before tiling.

It is a dryline wall the the mixer is is some way up the wall and there's a bit of play in the cavity i was hoping to do it in one run eliminating elbows increasing flow and eliminating potential leaks.I realise there's not to much play in the hep that i have already bought and may need to put a elbow were it comes through the wall to go onto the mixer.If that is the case then i shall just cut a square out the plasterboard and then patch it before tiling.

Thanks for your help i knew what i was trying to achieve but just lacking the confidence.

Thanks again

 

[dextrous]

Out of interest, what sort of shower mixer is it and how do you intend to support its weight?

 

[scottishlad]

Its just a cheap shower

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/47639...ower/Triton-Altair-Thermostatic-Mixer-Shower#

Any feedback greatly appreciated.

Could you recommend a mounting bracket ?

Tmrw will just be getting the tails through the plasterboard so i can crack on and fit the bath and get the tiling done.

Would it be wize to fit a couple of valves in-line under the bath so i can isolate it fairly easy ?

 

[dextrous]

Yes to the isolator taps.

If it were me, I'd be inclined to use this, in which case you will need to open up a reasoanble sized hole for the fixing plate and to allow you room to fix a batten at an appropriate depth behind to screw it onto.

 

[scottishlad]

Yes to the isolator taps.

If it were me, I'd be inclined to use this, in which case you will need to open up a reasoanble sized hole for the fixing plate and to allow you room to fix a batten at an appropriate depth behind to screw it onto.

Defo need the batten as the void is more than 65mm deep. This would eliminate the need for elbows.A little concerned about getting a good fixing for the batten,i will get a better idea tmrw when i cut out a bit of plasterboard and have a look what's there. Correct me if im wrong but do they not make brackets without the bar ? I had a look but cant find them.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention i wasn't aware that they didn't supply a mounting bracket with the unit.

 

[dextrous]

http://www.homesupply.co.uk/bristan_surface_wall_mount_fixings_for_bar_shower_valves__mm=WMNT10C.htm

These are surface mounted but wiil require an elbow behind them to change the direction of the pipe (don't forget the pipe inserts when you're working with plastic pipes!). I'd also recommend a wooden batten behind the tiles to give something solid to screw into.

The other way is to use a couple of (garden) tap wallplates - much cheaper but harder to get to the exact depth required behind the tiles, and a bit more fiddly especially if your shower bar comes with cranked connection pipes.

 

[TicklyT]

You could use a couple of wallplate elbows mounted on the studwork, but the brackets make it a lot easier to get everything straight and level, and spaced correctly.

IMO it's easier to cut out a big piece of plasterboard up to the studwork either side of the mixer. Then you've got plenty of elbow room to fit a noggin to support the mixer and fit the plumbing. You can re-fit the plasterboard you cut out on batterns fixed to the studs either side, and a couple screwed to the back of the plasterboard top and bottom.

The making good doesn't have to be pretty if it's going to be hidden by tiles, but it does need to be strong enough to support the tiles.

 

[Richard C]

Well I obviously got that one completely wrong slightly confusing terms but I should have read your post more thoroughly . I can see you’ve now got lots of advice on fixing the shower & pipe work, only thing I would add is to make sure you prepare the plasterboard before tiling by tanking it. Have a read of the tiling sticky & the archive posts regarding preparation & materials.

 

[tryitandsee]

It's a good idea to use aqua board fixed/glued to the walls in the shower area. It helps prevent any water problems if water/damp/leaks etc. gets behind the tiles.

Using this board allows you to take away as much plasterboard as you need in order to set up your hidden pipework and noggins, as you will be overboarding with the aqua board.
It also gives a backing to screw the shower enclosure to (because drilling through tiles into plasterboard and trying to get a solid fixing is a pain in the arse)

 

[scottishlad]

Thanks for all suggestions really helped me loads.

I have just found out when de-commissioning the electric shower that the cold water in the bathroom is still fed from the water tank in the attic ??? The new combi was fitted a few months ago .

Will i need to pump the cold ? What if any implications will this have ?

 

[dextrous]

The easiest solution (although not the most elegant) will be to cut the mains supply into the cold water tank, cut the cold water outlet pipe (having emptied the tank first of course), and create a bridge between the two with some of that spare hep pipe you have. Thus you can remove the cold water tank entirely and have mains water supplying all the outlets that were supplied by the tank.

Thus you will not require a pump, and since the thermostatic shower will be fed by equal pressures both hot and cold, it will work far better.