consealing pipework and consealed shower valve - in 4" breeze block wall

[djkay1982]

how do you go about consealing the pipework into the walls and fitting a thermostatic consealed shower valve?

how much depth is required?

as my internal walls are made from 4" deep breeze block, will that be suffient?

cheers

 

[Alpha man]

I normally chop them in just so they are below flush and felt lag them, sand and cement them in once you've checked there are no leaks etc

 

[djkay1982]

nice one thanks steve, il do that.

started to wonder if it was even possible and that i may need to built the wall out.

all shud be ok then

cheers bud

 

[easyt]

I would have thought that you will need to cut in rather deeply to permit an elbow connection to your concealed shower valve. Look at the fitting instructions carefully and consider the depth of any elbows etc. I did a dry run on the kitchen side with some copper offcuts and elbow etc to accurately measure how much I needed to rebate. I would advise you to do the same. Also check what depth of plaster you have as this is effectively reducing the depth of cut needed into the 100mm block. I believe that you should not channel to more than one third depth for vertical runs. ie 33mm. I suspect that this might not give you enough cover.

I built out the wall at the shower head with batterns and used a cement board to tile on thereby reducing the amount I was having to cut into brickwork.

I presume that they are vertical cuts?

 

[djkay1982]

ah cheers for the info easy

going to have to be careful with this then. as I cant built the wall out really. as the room 1800 wide. and im attempting to squeeze in an 1800mm bath, so no spare space!

ive got some 15mm pipe and copper elbows in at the mo, so il do what you say and dry run it.

tho i dont have my shower equipment as yet,


yes they are vertical runs.

hot/cold feeds coming from the ceiling down to consealed unit.

but then..... its a triple valve unit. to control ceiling mounted rain head, shower rail and bath filler

so thats a lot of pipe work to chase into the wall.

 

[easyt]

Have you got your bath? Many are 1700 long all though some are 1675 and there are other sizes are well.

 

[djkay1982]

nope not got the bath yet, i do know there are other sizes available, but i really wanted an 1800 long one,

got a 1675 at mo and i can hardly fit in it! im 6f6"

so really wanted to squeeze the biggest bath i can in

plus its a double ended one so that limits the inner size of the bath as well, and hydrotherapy

think i can get an 1800 bath into an 1800 space? in theory it will fit! lol

 

[easyt]

You can get an 1800 bath into a 1770 space or less. Just a question of a bit of chopping on the walls and lowering the bath in place at an angle to fit. I am not a tradesman but have fitted a few baths. Always had to chop out to ft in. Depends on the shape of the bath tops.

 

[easyt]

A few points to consider DJ.

1. Copper pipe should not be in direct contact with cement work as it leads to corrosion. Plenty on here to give advice on that score. As I am not in the trade I will let others advise. There are several options that I can think of. If you are struggling for cover then lagging with felt and cementing over might be awkward. Maybe a separate thread? You can get cement board as thin as 6mm (or was it 7 ?) I used some in narrow box outs.

2. Particularly if you are using an overhead sprinkler I would tank the walls before tiling. Worthwhile joining the Tiling Forum even if someone else is doing the work. When I did my latest work here I fitted a full size shower instead of a bath as my partner has a slight problem with getting her leg over . (Age doesn't come on its own.) In my case tanking the wall with a propriety paint on flexible product was essential. For £50 - £55 I would be going down the same route with your proposal. I did all my own work but even if getting someone in it is worth researching. (sorry - grandmother and eggs)



.

 

[djkay1982]

thanks for the info again easyt

good job i signed up, all these things I never took into consideration! starting to think now what am I taking on!

all bathroom suite is ordered now, thats one weight of me chest

now its figuring all this out still!

i didn't even realise that, (re the copper in contact with cement! )

dont worry easy, your not teach a gran to suck eggs........ i dont know how to suck them!

so tanking walls, coating with some sort of waterproof sealant is? and look getting felt around the pipe work to seperate copper pipe from cement?

what thinkness felt lagging is ideally necessary? when chased into walls is it usually the same type as the insulation/lagging under the floorboards?

when you used cement board, you mean you only boarded the area with pipe chased in? or boarded the full wall?

sorry for the 100 and 1 questions easy

thanks again mate

dave

 

[easyt]

Thickness of the lagging doesn't matter as long as it forms a barrier. Some people use denso tape. I didn't need any as my pipes were supported clear on clips and were in a void covered with the cement board. You can get barrier pipe which is copper covered in pvc I believe. You can also use plastic but I didn't fancy this at all even though it is commonly used.

I used a paint on tanking kit with seams and corner tape supplied. I bought a Bal kit for around £50 which was more than I needed.Think there is a link somewhere. I will have a look.

I boarded out the whole wall on 60mm*15mm battens and fixed 12mm cement board in the shower areas and plasterboard outside. I could have just built out the area at the head of the shower area and it would have looked fine after tiling. I did the whole wall as I had a box out at the other end of the wall and this made the other box out look shallower and neater.

 

[easyt]

Here is a post in a thread from a few months ago and gives a good idea of the cost of the tanking. In my opinion worth doing at the price, particularly with overhead spray.

http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/showers-wetrooms/13919-fiitting-low-profile-shower-tray-solid-floor-help-post92898.html#post92898

Might be worthwhile reading the whole thread.

Just a thought but if you are using a thermostatic mixer valve you will probably need to have your hot and cold at similar pressure. Mains cold and tank fed hot will not normally work. Have you got enough head for your hot and cold supply or is it mains/combi ?

 

[djkay1982]

thanks again easy

sorry for late reply, been busy week!

got all my electrics in today! pain in the arse that what, had floorboards up throughout the whole of the 1st floor!


im not going to bother with lagging, and tape the pipes up, not cementing/plastering them into the walls now, as im having to dot & dab plasterboard wall as i need to create more depth for this valve!

im on mains/combi. got a worcester bosh Greenstar 30CDI fitted last year

thanks for that link, I shall have a read through that tomorrow!


again thanks for the help easy