DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

I have the task of installing a mixer shower and the mrs doesnt want any pipes visible.

My only option is to cut a hole in the stud wall where the shower will be and run the pipes on the inside of the wall before repatching and tiling over.

Will this pose any issues with regards to what types of mixers I will be able to fit behind the tiles? Ideally I want a mixer tap that is inset in to the wall. Will there be enough room inside the stud wall for such or am I better with something that is ugly and surface mounted?

I intend to put a hole in the wall big enough for me to fasten some more battens and supports for the shower to be secured to so it should be quite sturdy and if I need to get to the piping, then I will go in through the other side and not damage the tiling.

Novice Alert!

The Mira Excel BIV for example needs a wall cavity depth in excess of 58mm so whether you can fit a built in shower or not depends largely on the depth of stud wall. As far as I am aware all built in mixers have a similar specification.

Choose a shower and check the web for the specs.

A normal exposed shower can often be retro fitted without removing any tiles.

thank you.

The tiles are not on yet.

Also, i've had a look around and I think i'll go with a surface mounted one as this look ok and the wall doesnt have enough room inside for a shower mixer and for something to support it.

This was I can put more support on the inside.

I think you will find that the most popular showers these days are exposed valve.

Just be careful when choosing a shower as some (particularly the torpedo shaped) us the feed pipes as their only form of fixing and as you have a stud wall, your pipes will be loose. This is always a nightmare and I have been landed with this problem on numerous occasions. You can get special support brackets, but the cost a fortune £40 - £50!!!

Before you buy the shower, download the installation PDF from the manufacturers website and check how it fixes to the wall.

as it turned out, there was a stud in exactly the right place where the shower was to be fitted.

so i just used a couple of wood screws to fix the back plate to the wall and hey presto!

What's on the other side of the stud wall ? bedroom, cupboard etc



htg

If you type the key words of your question into our search box to the left of the site you may find the answer is already posted or is in the DIY projects section of the website. Every post goes through a monitoring process and using the search box may speed up your answer.