I have just moved into a new build property. There is a show head
connected directly to the taps in the bathroom, but this looks awful
and is nasty to use. I have arranged for a plumber to come in and
provide a quote for installing a 'proper' shower. Water is fed through
a pressurised system, meaning both hot and cold are at full mains
pressure. Could screwfix 25224 be used at this pressure ??
He will need to route pipes up through the wall behind the tiling (I
assume he would use flexible (plastic?) piping for this), make
appropriate holes in the tiles and fit the bits.
Anyone care to estimate what a reasonble charge for this would be ??

NC wrote:

I have just moved into a new build property. There is a show head
connected directly to the taps in the bathroom, but this looks awful
and is nasty to use. I have arranged for a plumber to come in and
provide a quote for installing a 'proper' shower. Water is fed through
a pressurised system, meaning both hot and cold are at full mains
pressure. Could screwfix 25224 be used at this pressure ??

It could possibly, however two things spring to mind. The first is that
this is a manual valve and not a thermostatic one, so dending on the
stability of your water temperature and pressure (and how it is heated)
you may not find it gives a very satisfactory shower.

Secondly its maximum working pressure is listed as 3 bar. You may find
you have more than that available and hence may need pressure reducing
valves in addition.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 11:11:19 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

NC wrote:

I have just moved into a new build property. There is a show head
connected directly to the taps in the bathroom, but this looks awful
and is nasty to use. I have arranged for a plumber to come in and
provide a quote for installing a 'proper' shower. Water is fed through
a pressurised system, meaning both hot and cold are at full mains
pressure. Could screwfix 25224 be used at this pressure ??

It could possibly, however two things spring to mind. The first is that
this is a manual valve and not a thermostatic one, so dending on the
stability of your water temperature and pressure (and how it is heated)
you may not find it gives a very satisfactory shower.

Secondly its maximum working pressure is listed as 3 bar. You may find
you have more than that available and hence may need pressure reducing
valves in addition.

Unlikely to be a problem. You don't say what sort of pressurised system
you have but if it's an unvented cylinder (which you can tell because
it'll have a pressure relief valve, possibly with a tundish arangement)
then this will have a pressure limiting valve feeding it (though your cold
feed in the bathroom will be un-limited).

The main labour in the job is likely to be getting the valve mounted and
pipework to it, especially if you want the pipework hidden in the wall.
To fit an exposed shower mixer valve with pipework run inside a hollow
wall with access from the other side with basic making good (filling
holes but not redecorating) and not fitting a shower screen or curtain
rail it might be as little as half a day's work. If it involves chasing
out a solid wall, filling and retiling, and fitting a bar-type valve
that's easily a day's work. If you want a shower screen fitted add another
several hours. Prices will obviously depend on what your installer
charges: anything from £35-55/hour is probably ballpark. If they're
giving you a more-or-less fixed-price quote you can add a percentage for
their contingency factor (i.e. if the job turns out more awkward than they
expected they don't want to be seriously out of pocket).

Yes, its an unvented cylinder.
Prob have to get the plumber to fit the piping, and then get the tiler
back who did the original job to patch it up around the fittings.
Thanks for the ballpark... he's visiting on Thursday so it'll give me a
fair idea of what he htinks of the job.

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 13:16:01 +0000, John Stumbles wrote:

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 11:11:19 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

NC wrote:

I have just moved into a new build property. There is a show head
connected directly to the taps in the bathroom, but this looks awful
and is nasty to use. I have arranged for a plumber to come in and
provide a quote for installing a 'proper' shower. Water is fed through
a pressurised system, meaning both hot and cold are at full mains
pressure. Could screwfix 25224 be used at this pressure ??

It could possibly, however two things spring to mind. The first is that
this is a manual valve and not a thermostatic one, so dending on the
stability of your water temperature and pressure (and how it is heated)
you may not find it gives a very satisfactory shower.

Secondly its maximum working pressure is listed as 3 bar. You may find
you have more than that available and hence may need pressure reducing
valves in addition.

Unlikely to be a problem. You don't say what sort of pressurised system
you have but if it's an unvented cylinder (which you can tell because
it'll have a pressure relief valve, possibly with a tundish arangement)
then this will have a pressure limiting valve feeding it (though your cold
feed in the bathroom will be un-limited).

Well, the pressure reduced feed to the unvented cylinder should be used to
feed the bathroom ideally. There is usually a take off point on the valve
for this very purpose.

BTW saw yet another crap unvented installation today.

15mm rising main to roof, 15mm back down to airing cupboard.
D1 discharge pipe 500mm.
D2 discharge pipe 15mm and very long.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html