Installing mixer shower into partition wall

[Walnut123]

Hi all.

I have had a plumber to re-do my bathroom. New bath, toilet, shower, tiling etc. - the whole room. When he installed our new Grohe mixer shower into a very narrow partition wall, he said the wall was in such a state that he could not fit it acoording to the instructions - the only two places it fits to the wall are from the hot and cold pipes and though he put up aqua board and tiling, he said he would have to secure it to the wall with a metal plate (over the tiling) with two holes and screwed into the walls (he had this metal plate on his van).

The plate is scatched and the screws are awful (I can sort the screws out) and he took the other pieces of the shower away with him. I am disappointed that I couldn't have the shower fitted according to its design or that he didn't mention that before fitting the metal plate (I would have bought one that could be installed there) but, worse still, the shower has leaked slightly since it was fitted three weeks ago. He has been back twice and I checked today and the leak is still there.

Our plumber is adamant that without the metal plate, because of the bad state of the wall underneath the tiles and aqua board, if the shower is fitted according to the instructions they will eventually pull down and out the wall. I have no idea whether this is true but I am beginning to think that not having the proper fittings is causing the leaks.

Can any plumbers or experienced DIYers advise? I am completely in the dark here but with another leak coming from my cold water pipe to my basin as well, I am beginning to doubt this plumber's expertise. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks all.

Walnut

 

[Tibbot]

A concealed shower valve has to be secured in the wall. It can be a solid wall, preferably a stud wall but deep enough to enable proper concealment. From the conditions descrided you should have chosen an exposed shower mixer.

 

[Walnut123]

A concealed shower valve has to be secured in the wall. It can be a solid wall, preferably a stud wall but deep enough to enable proper concealment. From the conditions descrided you should have chosen an exposed shower mixer.

Thanks for your response. I really appreciate it. But I haven't bought a concealed shower valve - the two water pipes come out of the cavity through the aqua board and tiles and the bar and temperature controls sit on those. This is an exposed mixer and is why I cannot understand why it can't be fitted securely onto the pipes (with aqua board and tiles). I can't understand why the wall causes a problem.

Anyway, grateful to you for trying. My plumber is coming back to try to fix the leak tomorrow but says that if he can't stop the leak, I'm on my own. (!)

 

[Tibbot]

Then the pipes s/be secured in the wall so they don't move. Otherwise there are valves which have a proper chrome plate for this purpose. It's part of the shower so secures it and is decorative as well.

 

[Walnut123]

Then the pipes s/be secured in the wall so they don't move. Otherwise there are valves which have a proper chrome plate for this purpose. It's part of the shower so secures it and is decorative as well.

Thanks - that's really helpful. It is clear that he is using this exposed plate because he had no place to secure the pipes to the wall so they don't move.

My only question now is how to handle things from now on. From my perspective, I wanted a fully installed (not leaking) shower and if he had said that the wall needed building up before doing so I would have agreed to that. He said he did his best and even though it still leaks it cannot be his fault because of the state of the wall (though did not tell me that at the time).

I would really love your views as to who is right. I want to be fair but if he does walk away leaving me with a leak, can I (try to) charge him for a professional plumber to sort things out? I have already paid this guy £2000 to fit the bathroom and to still have leaks really concerns me....

 

[Whitespirit66]

Can you do a photo?

 

[Walnut123]

Can you do a photo?

No - sorry = camera broken. Anyway, all seems to be fixed now. Thanks so much for the earlier advice.