Is there an easier way to fit a mixer shower?

VoucherMan

Came on here last year for advice on replacing a mixer shower, ended up trying to fix it (and failed). So now I'm having another go.

The wall my shower fits on to backs the landing wall. Both plasterboard -bathroom wall's tiled, landing's papered. The maximum gap between the two layers of plasterboard seems to be about 80mm.

The shower was plumbed with pipes coming up from floor level then connected to the mixer unit with flexible piping.

The pipework on the new shower unit is set further back so when I tried to put the unit against the wall the flexible pipe touched the the board behind first. (A couple of images of new and old in case it helps).

My first idea was to fit some elbow joints to the shower connectors then there'd be plenty of room for the pipes. But when I tried this there didn't seem to be enough play in the flexible pipes.

The problem for me is down to limited access to all the pipework - nothing other than the holes where the pipes go through the bathroom wall. So the solution I'm considering is to cut a hole in the wall on the landing side thereby giving plenty of room to cut, fit and anything else that needs doing.

Obvious downside to this is that I'm left with a hole in the wall not easy to disguise, especially as I have no plans to re-decorate the landing in the near future. I could try removing the piece of wallpaper that covers that path of wall in the hope of re-fitting it afterwards. I'd only have to pull a couple of feet of it off to access the part of the wall I need.

Another option would be to fit a permanent, or temporary until I next decorate, access panel of some sort in case I need to get to the pipes again, and cover it with a mirror or something.



So that's my problem along with my current solution.

I just thought I'd ask on here in case anyone has any suggestions of an easier solution that I may have overlooked before I start pulling the house apart. (getting a professional to do the job has been ruled out. It would be easier for me but it's not very MSE, and it would definitely fail in the job satisfaction department.)

arfurrrr

run 2 15mm pipes into wall , use end feed and make sure the elbow doesn`t stick out past the end of the tiles . tile and the fit these
Bristan WMNT10 C Chrome Plated Wall Mount Fixing , your shower valve will then screw straight onto them .

andyhop

arfurrrr wrote: »

run 2 15mm pipes into wall , use end feed and make sure the elbow doesn`t stick out past the end of the tiles . tile and the fit these
Bristan WMNT10 C Chrome Plated Wall Mount Fixing , your shower valve will then screw straight onto them .

Those fittings are crap!

Use 2 wall plate elbows 15 x 1/2

Screw to timber and fit between studs. These shower valves need to be fixed solid and must not rattle around.

arfurrrr

andyhop wrote: »

Those fittings are crap!

Use 2 wall plate elbows 15 x 1/2

Screw to timber and fit between studs. These shower valves need to be fixed solid and must not rattle around.

These fittings are great , and secure and dont rattle around . Maybe you fitted them incorrectly as I`ve never had a problem or issue with them .

VoucherMan

arfurrrr wrote: »

These fittings are great , and secure and dont rattle around . Maybe you fitted them incorrectly as I`ve never had a problem or issue with them .

Thanks for the suggestion but the reason I chose this particular shower is that the hole centres for the pipes are adjustable. The existing holes through the tiles are about 135mm so the incoming pipes will be offset from the inlet on the mixer.

I found a decent mirror to cover the hole in the wall anyway and working from behind should make it a lot easier to secure the mixer to the wall.

keystone

andyhop wrote: »

Use 2 wall plate elbows 15 x 1/2

Screw to timber and fit between studs. These shower valves need to be fixed solid and must not rattle around.

Agreed and thats the way I would suggest it be done too if he doesn't mind a bit of retiling/redecoration afterwards but OP doesn't like the prospect of either and wants the equivalent of keyhole surgery to complete this task.

Cheers

VoucherMan

keystone wrote: »

Agreed and thats the way I would suggest it be done too if he doesn't mind a bit of retiling/redecoration afterwards but OP doesn't like the prospect of either and wants the equivalent of keyhole surgery to complete this task.

Cheers

In my case, with my current skill level, it wouldn't be a bit of retiling, but a full re-fit, which I'd like to avoid.

I've no problem removing some of the wall on the landing which will give me the necessary access but as with the bathroom unless I can keep the hole small (I think a hole about a foot squared should be more than big enough and easy enough to cover with a mirror or something) the only way I'll be able to cure the odd looking patch of wall would be a full redecoration of hall,staircase & landing which for me is not 'a bit'. Especially as I think all the walls will want skimming before I decorate.

Just thought I'd ask on here first as being an amateur I sometimes overlook simple solutions.