FITTING A CONCEALED SHOWER

Congratulations on your new GROHE purchase. Whichever concealed shower set you’ve opted for - the striking Grohtherm 1000 concealed shower set or maybe the impressive Grohtherm 3000 Cosmopolitan perfect shower set with rainshower cosmopolitan 310 - you’ll want to install it as quickly as possible so you can start to experience the magic of a relaxing GROHE shower. Although they’re a modern twist on the traditional shower and also space-saving and neat, which is why many people decide to purchase them, they can be quite a bit of extra work when it comes to the installation. But it’ll be more than worth it once you’ve got your shower up and running. A concealed shower also means concealed valves, and as these are quite an essential part of the shower installation process, it is important to know how to fit them correctly and safely, but at the same time ensuring that they remain fully concealed. Enlist the help of a professional if you don’t feel confident installing the shower yourself, otherwise follow our step-by-step instructions for fitting a concealed shower.

CONCEALED SHOWER INSTALLATION: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

First things first. You have to make sure that you have enough room inside your bathroom for the shower. Make sure that the concealed shower kit you’ve bought fits in just right. When it comes to the valve, its location will depend on the specifics of the wall that you want to mount it on. If the concealed shower valve fittings are being attached into a solid wall, the brickworks needs to be chased out so that the valve can sit at the correct depth, receive the water supply from the pipes, as well as allowing connection to the water outlet, i.e. the shower head.

Please note: What’s tricky about fitting a concealed shower is that if the valve is to sit within an internal cavity wall, you obviously need to know if there’s enough space for it. It’s difficult to know this before you attempt to fit the shower so you have to hope for the best. If worst comes to worst, don’t panic – creating a false wall is the answer. For this guide, we’ll presume you have enough space.

  • Work out where you want to fix the shower valve onto the wall. Draw a centre line, making sure it’s at least 50 mm away from where the shower screen will later go so you don’t end up screwing the shower screen through any pipes you’re about to lay.
  • Place the shower valve against the wall and mark around exactly where you want it to be fixed. Make sure to mark some leeway since you’ll later need the space to tighten the nuts.
  • Use a spirit level to mark off pipe runs you’re going to be doing and use a marker pen to fill out the exact area you’re going to be chasing. By measuring the back part of the mixer, you will know how deep you need to cut into the wall.
  • Use an angle grinder to score all the markings on the wall. Cut a noughts and crosses pattern into the area where the valve will fit - this weakens the wall so it’s easier to chase out little pieces of it at once. Trying to chisel out big chunks is a lot harder and could lead to the wall being damaged.
  • Now it’s time for fitting a concealed shower onto the wall. Screw it into place and use a spirit level to make sure it’s straight. The same goes for the outlets going up to the shower head and going out to the handset and hose at the side.
  • Now for the pipes. Make sure all the pipes are correctly inside the chase and that they have been clipped. Turn on the hot and cold water to make sure everything has been connected properly and to ensure that there are no leaks.
  • When you’re satisfied that everything is working, fill in the gaps between the pipework. Use foam to seal up everything and once it’s dried, remove any excess.
  • If you’re installing a shower panel, place it over the concealed shower valve fitting (obviously after having cut out a hole the exact size of the valve, the outlet for the shower head and the outlet for the handset), or place tiles on the wall if that’s how you’ve chosen to decorate your bathroom.
  • Install the thermostatic cartridge and screw into place, although not too tightly in case any future work has to be done on the shower valve. Afterwards, screw in the top diverter module.
  • Put the shower plate in place and carefully screw it in, then pop on the knobs. Screw the fitting for the handset into the hole in the panel and once that’s done, screw the hose from the handset into the fitting. For the last step, attach the shower head up at the top

Well done, you’ve fitted your concealed shower! What better way to celebrate than to try out your newly-fitted shower and get yourself clean at the same time? Once you’ve experienced a minimalist shower experience, you’ll realise the tricky concealed shower installation was worth it.

If you have any other GROHE products you would like to fit, check out our installation guides for step-by-step instructions.

BATHROOM BROCHURE