Impossible to install hand held shower holder

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

It did. The problem is a combination of lack of experience and that the acrylic shower wall kit I purchased was not flat, it had contours all over the damn place. Had I installed just flat waterpoof backing board and then tiled it, it would have been easy as hell. But the shower wall kit had all kinds of curves and contours. Something I didn't think about until it was too late into the project. (the depth of the acrylic shower was not the same across the width). A ridiculous design flaw in terms of making installation easy.

Fully understood. I hate those damn things. The ones I’ve installed, and the ones I have seen installed, have only been in tile walls…. So you were dealing with a whole different set of challenges.

 

[davidmsem]

I'm not a professional so I go slow and have to figure things out. When I totally gutted and remodeled my last bathroom, I had the same issue. I simply went to the store and bought many different lengths of the threaded nipples and then picked one out to screw onto the wood framing before I installed the shower walls. I did fine with that. My major problem was getting the right rough-in depth for the main shower valve. I roughed in my shower valve too deep and had to buy an extension for the outter shower valves and barely got the install done. I had no choice though and cant' afford to pay the quotes asked for this area.

it's good to see that others had some of the same problems I had. I found a handheld shower fitting that had an escutcheon with 0.8 in of travel. and a rubber gasket on it as well. they all should be designed like this in my opinion . thank you for your reply

 

[Twowaxhack]

it's good to see that others had some of the same problems I had. I found a handheld shower fitting that had an escutcheon with 0.8 in of travel. and a rubber gasket on it as well. they all should be designed like this in my opinion . thank you for your reply

Those type plumbing fixtures are not necessarily made for DIY installation. Any good plumber wouldn’t have a bit of trouble installing that wall ell. We just make a nipple, it takes 5 minutes.

 

[davidmsem]

Those type plumbing fixtures are not necessarily made for DIY installation. Any good plumber wouldn’t have a bit of trouble installing that wall ell. We just make a nipple, it takes 5 minutes.

I respect and appreciate the skill involved. The prices I received for plumbing work were very very high. To move three drains a couple of feet each, only one 2" requiring to go through a joist, in a floor stripped down to plywood and cut open in preparation were around $2,500. I did that with in less than a day and decided to take on more. I'm retired now, have more time than money .

And I did find a solution to the problem. Had to save $5k on the remodel.

 

[RickFlorida]

Those type plumbing fixtures are not necessarily made for DIY installation. Any good plumber wouldn’t have a bit of trouble installing that wall ell. We just make a nipple, it takes 5 minutes.

Yeah, if I understand correctly what he means and this is what I did for installing my shower wand..... you can purchase any length nippe pipe you need for depth of wall, and then you secure it to the wood/frame with a female 90 degree piece like this. (like the piece that holds the 1/2 pipe for shower head to secure to wood framing). You want to use solid, simple, heavy pieces, not the flimsy eschutcheons that might corrode and dissolve away. The less crappy parts you use, the less will go bad later on. The straight nipple pipes come in every length you need.

 

[breplum]

Grohe makes great wall elbow adapters with adjustable depth. It is the primary choice for us.

 

[RickFlorida]

Grohe makes great wall elbow adapters with adjustable depth. It is the primary choice for us.

Thanks for that tip.