Accessible plumbing options with double ended bath

[Richini]

Good evening,

 

Planning our bathroom refit and would appreciate any advice people may have  for accessible plumbing options with a double ended bath. Bath will be against a wall on 2 sides, with bath panels on 2 other sides. 

 

Initial thoughts are to have the bath overflow facing the wall and fitting a grohe talentofill overflow, waste filler tap so we could pull the bath panel off and have access to the tap easily. Ideally I would like to add a shower head and thermostatic mixer to this setup and looking for any advice on how this can be achieved / mounted whilst still making everything easily accessible when things start going wrong.

 

Thanks. 

[markc]

Wall mounted tap/mixer and shower head in the centre

[Richini]

Markc,  thanks for the comment. This would make a nice clean aesthetic, how can it be wall mounted whilst also making the tap mixer accessible when things start go wrong to replace etc? 

 

We currently have a bath tap that's so boxed in we have to dismantle the whole bathroom to be able to access for a replacement and really hoping to avoid this scenario going forward. 

 

Thanks 

[Omnibuswoman]

We also plan to have a double ended bath with central filler/waste, and I’ve been mulling this question myself - how to access for repair or replacement. We will have a separate shower cubicle. 
I will be sitting the filler/waste on the side opposite the wall, for access. 
 

For an over-bath shower, I don’t know your layout but could you build a freestanding low level false wall at one end of the bath with an access panel on the back, and attach a thermostatic mixer shower to the face of it? 

[Richini]

Omnibuswoman. Thanks for your reply. Have you spec'd the overflow filler tap yet? Was keen on the grohe talentofill, but then noticed it has to run through a separate shower diverter, which doesn't really fit with what we're trying to achieve. 

[Omnibuswoman]

No, it is on my list of things to look at, but I haven’t actually got to it as yet.

[Onoff]

 

[Originaltwist]

On 10/03/2024 at 22:45, Richini said:

Good evening,

 

Planning our bathroom refit and would appreciate any advice people may have  for accessible plumbing options with a double ended bath. Bath will be against a wall on 2 sides, with bath panels on 2 other sides. 

 

Initial thoughts are to have the bath overflow facing the wall and fitting a grohe talentofill overflow, waste filler tap so we could pull the bath panel off and have access to the tap easily. Ideally I would like to add a shower head and thermostatic mixer to this setup and looking for any advice on how this can be achieved / mounted whilst still making everything easily accessible when things start going wrong.

 

Thanks. 

 

[Originaltwist]

[Originaltwist]

Sorry - pressing all the wrong buttons.

Anyway that was a long double ender with a tiled surround. The taps were set for easy access and fed the spout placed so the water flow would be by ones knees so no scalding feet etc..

Can't say I liked it though - very difficult to get out.

[Omnibuswoman]

@Richini, have you made any progress with this? 

I have made my decision having done a lot of looking around. I’ve gone for a simple Grohe bath/shower mixer valve feeding a bath overflow filler which will be mounted on the side of the bath away from the back wall. The mixer is mounted on a stud wall accessible from behind (in the pantry) although the plumber said that most maintenance can be done by removing the front plate. 

The bath filler will be accessible by removing the bath panel. 

 

 

[Andehh]

Be mindful of fill/flow rates! A lot of bath/shower mixers restrict the flow.

 

We over sized 15mm hot and cold feeds everywhere, only to then forget to check the shower/bath filler. It's fine, if you're patient!

[Kelvin]

This has been a challenge for me too. We wanted a tiled bath panel for that built in look but it’s not easy to make it removable so it isn’t but tiled in a way we could get it off without destroying the rest of the tiles and I have a spare pack of tiles. We have coomb space on the back wall behind the bath so I’ve convinced myself I could cut that wall out and gain access to the bath without destroying the bathroom. I’m a bit unconvinced by this but should the need ever arise that will be my first way in attempt. However I did speedfit the taps so they are easy to fix/replace assuming I could get the right spaced taps again (could be worth buying a spare tap set I guess). Therefore it minimises what could wrong under the bath.
 

I took the same approach with the showers opting for a digital showers so all the mixer equipment is in the coomb so easy to get to. There’s nothing in the walls to go wrong with it being just plastic pipes and control cables  and I ducted the control cables. I found all this the hardest bit of our build to plan for future maintenance. 

Edited June 1 by Kelvin