Fitting a new shower in your bathroom, shower room or en suite? If you’re a keen DIYer but you’d like a bit of guidance, then you’ve come to the right place! Craig Phillips, our expert handyman, is here with an easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorial on how to fit a shower.
Tools For The Job
- Drill
- Tile drill bit
- Detector
- Spirit level
- Tape measure
- Rubber mallet
- Screwdriver
- Allen key
- PTFE/Masking Tape
- Instruction Manual
1 – Install Your New Wall Covers
To begin you’ll need to remove the old wall covers. They should unscrew anti-clockwise. This will expose the wall plates, which are screwed into the tiles, and are connected to the 15mm water pipes – a hot feed and a cold feed.
Once you’ve removed the old wall covers, screw on your new wall covers, which will come with your chosen shower. Then, turn on your water and let it run through the water pipes for a minute, to allow any debris to clear.
2 – Installing The Thermostatic Valve
Look out for the hot and cold symbols next to the compression connections on your thermostatic valve, to ensure you are installing it in line with the correct pipes. Hand screw, clockwise, your compression valve nuts as much as you can.
Before screwing these nuts even tighter with a spanner, cover them with some masking tape to ensure you don’t damage them. Check throughout, with a spirit level, your work is perfectly straight.
3 – Fixing The Sliding Rail Into Place
First, find the centre of your thermostatic valve and make a light pencil mark on the tile. Using a large spirit level, make another light pencil mark where the top of the adjustable rail will be fixed into place on the wall.
Remove any protection caps from the thermostatic valve and the rail (keep hold of these), to then screw the rail on. Using a small spirit level, mark the centre of the rail where it will be mounted at the top. With the wall bracket, make a mark of the centre, so you know where to drill into your tiles.
Remove the bar and replace the protective cap over the thermostatic valve to ensure it doesn’t get damaged with any debris from drilling.
4 – Drilling The Tiles
Check the area you are planning on drilling with a detector, to ensure there are no pipes or wired behind the surface that you may potentially drill into.
Use a cordless drill with a diamond drill bit to drill a hole into the wall where you marked the centre. Start drilling on a downwards angle until you feel the drill pierce the surface, and then raise the drill to be on a 90 degree angle, driving it straight into the tile.
Place you 6mm plastic raw plug into our newly drilled hole and gently tap into place using a rubber mallet so you don’t damage the tiles.
5 – Screw The Bracket Onto The Wall
Place the screw into the bracket and start to hand tighten this into the wall. Use a normal screwdriver to tighten this screw, securing the bracket into place on your wall. Use your spirit level to double check this is straight.
Now, place your shower bar into position by screwing the nut back into place on the thermostatic valve. Slide the top of the rail into position in the wall bracket you’ve just mounted. Apply tape to the nut on the rail and tighten with your spanner. Use an Allen key to secure the screw on the top of the mounted bracket.
6 – Securing The Shower Heads
Remove any protective caps from the shower head and the shower bar. Hand screw the head onto the bar until you’re happy it’s as tights as you can get it.
Place a washer in the end of the flexible hose and screw on the hand held shower head by hand. Place another washer in the other end of the flexible hose and secure onto the thermostatic valve.
There you have it! With the help of our blog and Craig Phillips, you’ve installed your very own shower! For the step by step instructions as a video tutorial, check out our YouTube video. For the exact shower used in our tutorial, check out our Galway Premium Matt Black Square Thermostatic Shower Set. Be sure to tag us in your DIY projects on our Instagram, @Bathroommountainuk, we love seeing what you’ve been up to!
