bort2.0
New Member
My first post! I'm a motivated DIY'er and I've done a good amount of everything on my own the last few years... but this is my first shower. Sorry if this has been covered before, but I haven't seen it in any search results. If this is the wrong way to ask for help, wrong forum, etc... please let me know. I'm here to learn!
My house is from the late 1960s, and I'm renovating the basement shower. The existing walls of the shower are cinderblock, and the pipes go through the wall to the utility room behind it... so all of the connections and pipes are exposed on the exterior of the wall in the utility room. I've removed the existing pipes and shower valve (all original), and can't figure out how to mount/anchor the shower valve or the drop ear elbow. Both have the same issue -- they are intended to be screwed into a piece of wood behind it... but there's nothing behind it. :/
Current status is that the shower pipes are disconnected and temporarily capped off... and I'll be redoing the water supply with Pex to connect the shower valve and shower pipe.
Here's a few more details, and I hope this all makes sense. Again, first time!
0) I've mounted furring strips to build out the wall slightly so I can mount the concrete board. There's not really enough room in the shower to build out a full new stud-depth wall on the plumbing side, or else I would have just done that and ignored the concrete wall altogether.
Front of business-wall in the shower:
Rear of shower business-wall:
1) Shower valve -- the previous shower valve was inside of this cavity, and was NOT mounted in any way. The pipes exited through the rear of the block, and were secured in place by spray foam insulation. Between the insulation and the pipes, everything was firmly wedged into place and didn't move an inch. In fact, it was very hard to remove it... maybe I should have left it (kidding, it was time for a full reset).
I have cleared out the concrete a bit more, and have leveled off a "platform" inside the cavity. But I'm not sure how to mount the new Kohler shower valve to a vertical surface, since this is horizontal.
My best idea is to build some L-shaped blocking and affix that with construction adhesive to the horizontal part of the cavity. Then, I can screw the shower valve into the vertical part of the L. Doesn't seem perfect, but the best I can do.
Runner-up idea is to bust out a full circle in the back of the block, and then screw two pieces of wood together (one on the back of the block, one on the inside back of the block... sort of like how you would put wood in front/behind a broken window and screw it together. Then, just build out the blocking until the shower valve is recessed the right amount in the wall.
2) Drop ear elbow -- Again, the problem is that the drop ear elbow is intended to be screwed into a piece of wood behind it. I'm not sure how to handle this... should I rig up some wood behind it and use Tapcons to secure the whole thing into place? Seems like there has to be a better way to do it...?
THANK YOU!
My house is from the late 1960s, and I'm renovating the basement shower. The existing walls of the shower are cinderblock, and the pipes go through the wall to the utility room behind it... so all of the connections and pipes are exposed on the exterior of the wall in the utility room. I've removed the existing pipes and shower valve (all original), and can't figure out how to mount/anchor the shower valve or the drop ear elbow. Both have the same issue -- they are intended to be screwed into a piece of wood behind it... but there's nothing behind it. :/
Current status is that the shower pipes are disconnected and temporarily capped off... and I'll be redoing the water supply with Pex to connect the shower valve and shower pipe.
Here's a few more details, and I hope this all makes sense. Again, first time!
0) I've mounted furring strips to build out the wall slightly so I can mount the concrete board. There's not really enough room in the shower to build out a full new stud-depth wall on the plumbing side, or else I would have just done that and ignored the concrete wall altogether.
Front of business-wall in the shower:
Rear of shower business-wall:
1) Shower valve -- the previous shower valve was inside of this cavity, and was NOT mounted in any way. The pipes exited through the rear of the block, and were secured in place by spray foam insulation. Between the insulation and the pipes, everything was firmly wedged into place and didn't move an inch. In fact, it was very hard to remove it... maybe I should have left it (kidding, it was time for a full reset).
I have cleared out the concrete a bit more, and have leveled off a "platform" inside the cavity. But I'm not sure how to mount the new Kohler shower valve to a vertical surface, since this is horizontal.
My best idea is to build some L-shaped blocking and affix that with construction adhesive to the horizontal part of the cavity. Then, I can screw the shower valve into the vertical part of the L. Doesn't seem perfect, but the best I can do.
Runner-up idea is to bust out a full circle in the back of the block, and then screw two pieces of wood together (one on the back of the block, one on the inside back of the block... sort of like how you would put wood in front/behind a broken window and screw it together. Then, just build out the blocking until the shower valve is recessed the right amount in the wall.
2) Drop ear elbow -- Again, the problem is that the drop ear elbow is intended to be screwed into a piece of wood behind it. I'm not sure how to handle this... should I rig up some wood behind it and use Tapcons to secure the whole thing into place? Seems like there has to be a better way to do it...?
THANK YOU!
