Fitting shower valve in 3" stud wall

[leenowell]

Hi all

Challenge of the day. I went to fit one of this in wall shower thermostats. Turns out the wall is only 3" stud and the valve is just under 3" deep. Th e valve body has 2 fixing holes to attach it with.

I tried bolting 2 "L" shaped brackets to the back and the screwed these ont o the studs. It works but the valve body is not secure. It wobbles back and forth and left and right. I stuck some timber to the plasterboard behind t he valve which stabilised it a bit but still it is not very stable.

I guess if I can cut the Hardie backker board with a tight fit around the v alve (bit challenging) and mastic the front face to the wall it would be mo re stable but.... All seems a lot of "Ifs and buts" and would much rather g et it stable now.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Lee.

[GB]

Yes, get a surface mounted valve.

[Andy Burns]

I managed to fit a flush Mira Excel in a 2.5" paramount board wall.

[leenowell]

Thanks Andy. How did you attach it?

[Andy Burns]

A U-shaped metal bracket screwed (*) through the 'front' plasterboard, and the plastic 'shoe' that supports the valve screws to that, then tiled over.

+--------+ | | __*__| |__*__

[leenowell]

Thanks Andy. The plastic shoe you mention, did that come with the valve?

Mine is similar to this but with one 2 holes either side of the body to attach it to

[Andy Burns]

yes

Looking at the current Mira built-in version (BIV), it doesn't appear to use one now

[John Rumm]

Normally I find that some ply "plates" of the appropriate thickness (i.e. may need combinations / layers of different plys), stuck to the inside of the plaster board at the back of the wall, then gives a solid surface you can screw the valve to.

Plumbing it up in copper also helps make it more rigid.

I did one recently with the ply backer, and found that was more than solid enough without needing to worry about supporting it from the front. (there was a chrome plate on mine that then sat over the tiles, and which would be siliconed in place. Hence you get some extra support from that if needed.

[Brian Gaff]

Or a lot of araldite and hope you never need to get at it! Brian

[Kevin H]

What?s on the other side of the stud wall? Can you put anything on the other side of the wall to Screw the valve into? I fitted a Grohe rapio T valve into a standard stud wall cavity but using 18mm ply on the other si de of the plasterboard (which was conveniently in a built in wardrobe). Som e photos here (but they don?t show the other side of the shower mix er)

[leenowell]

Unfortunately it is my daughter's bedroom and that bit of the wall is in full view ie not behind a wardrobe or anything