Bar Shower install over bath, Chase the wall?

[warmadmax]

Hi Guys, just checking to see if what i'm planning is sensible


we've got a double ended bow shaped bath to go in,
ex display model so the holes are already drilled for the taps along the long wall edge, pretty, but a p.i.t.a. / impossible if they need swapping .

I do however want to put a thermostatic shower above the bath,
as it's doubled ended, the sensible place to me is above the taps so i stand in the middle of the bow.

the bath sits on the outside corner of the house, left and back of it on outside walls, the right edge butts up to the airing cupboard.

to put it above the bath, i'll either have to chase out a horizontal run (1 - 1.5m?) to the airing cupboard for the hot and cold feed,
or chase vertically to below the bath (0.5m?) and come out and accross under the bath.

can i do this without doing anything risky to the structure?
I don't know the permitted depths for chasing into walls,
it's a cavity wall, council built 1950's, not had any plaster off yet but presume its concrete blockwork for the inner skin / wall.

I do know that I need to cover the copper pipes in Denso tape or similar to stop the plaster eating through the pipe.

p.s. I have got a pipe bender so i'm aiming to do it without "hidden" joins other than at the wall mount elbows for the shower valve, iso' valves will go where they emerge in the airing cupboard

Cheers!
Matt

 

[Threadjacker]

Chase the wall out with an SDS chisel and wrap your copper with denso tape, only go just enough depth so the pipes aren't proud and use a proper bar mixer fixing tit.

Outside wall means blocks with be 4 inch and not those nasty 2 1/2 inch internal ones.

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/bar-mix...gleBase&utm_medium=GB&utm_campaign=GoogleBase

 

[warmadmax]

Cheers,

got a bosch SDS with rotor stop for christmas

was looking at these fixing kits as they do a sharp 90,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Concealed..._Bathroom_Shower_Units_PP&hash=item19cc824daf
or http://www.screwfix.com/p/h-c-contemporary-bar-valve-fixing-kit-chrome-effect/76919
the plumbworld ones posted would need elbows as well as i doubt i can get a tight bend to fit flush without digging deeper into the wall first

 

[Threadjacker]

The ones in your link wont be suitable as they have compression fittings that shouldn't be tiled/cemented over.

The ones in my link will work fine, unless the shower is going against the airing cupboard then the pipes chased into the wall will always have a 90 degree solder elbow.

Plenty of room I do it all the time.

 

[warmadmax]

90 degree solder it is then Threadjacker!

p.s. the triton kit i've got comes with dog legs, 1/2" wallside to 3/4" showerside, just bin these and screw straight onto the kit then? or can i make things easier with 1/2" wall plate elbows?

Cheers

 

[Richard C]

For permissible depth of chases see here;
http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=258&categoryID=811&pageNumber=5

Hopefully you will be OK on depth but if you haven’t got enough, boarding over with a decent 12mm tile backer board will give you a bit extra; do not use plasterboard in a wet area.

Be wary of using an SDS to chase out the wall; the vibration can do a lot of damage to the bonding on surrounding plaster/base coat, it can also crack open the mortar bond between the bricks/blocks making the wall unstable. I always cut through the plaster with an angle grinder & use an ordinary lump hammer & chisel for chasing, it takes a little longer (not much) but is much kinder the wall structure.

Wrap the pipes in Denso as stated but cap the pipes over before infilling with plaster; plastic or steel cable capping is ideal for this as it comes in different widths. It allows the pipes to move behind & helps prevent expansion/contraction/movement in the pipe work cracking the plaster/tiles/grout.

Before tiling, I would advise you read the Tiling Sticky & Forum Archive posts before doing any prep work or buying materials, it could prevent you making disastrous & potentially expensive mistakes. If you’re intending to tile over a suspended floor, these need special consideration if you want to avoid tile failure. It’s also important to use only quality trade tilling materials of the correct type for your tiles & tile base; cheapo own brand & DIY stuff is mostly crap.

 

[Threadjacker]

90 degree solder it is then Threadjacker!

p.s. the triton kit i've got comes with dog legs, 1/2" wallside to 3/4" showerside, just bin these and screw straight onto the kit then? or can i make things easier with 1/2" wall plate elbows?

Cheers

Ditch the doglegs, and the wall plate idea (you mean the ones for outside taps?) and just use the proper kit.

I'm not disagreeing with Richard C here but personally I found an SDS chisel kinder to the wall than the usuall hammer and bolster, last time I did that it bulged the plaster on the otherside and created more work.

I've found careful SDS'ing with the drill never at 90 degrees to the wall works a treat and stops you filling the room with brick dust.
But by all means if you have a grinder then use that.