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To install a shower in your bathroom requires four stages – the waste pipes and trap, the water supply for your shower, the installation of a shower tray and fitting the shower enclosure. For the first two elements, you may need the services of a plumber in London or, for the latter two, a local handyman to help with the installation. Also, if you are going to be including a direct heat water boiler in your shower installation (rather than run it from your existing central heating supply) or a new shower pump, you will need to have your electrical work checked by a London electrician to ensure that it complies with the Building Regulations Part P.
Please note that if you are considering a body jet shower, direct heat water boilers do not have the power capacity for delivering a sufficient volume of water.
Stage4 – Fitting the Shower Enclosure
If you have not yet bought your shower enclosure, you might just want to take a look at our “Inspirations” feature about body jet showers and shower cabins. There are many different types of shower enclosures you can choose from and many of them will come with their own fitting instructions, but as a rule they follow the procedures below.
Note: With any enclosure it is vital that the wall and tray are fully waterproof, and that the uprights of the frame are vertical.
Start by laying the two fixed side panels flat, and putting a bead of anti-fungal silicone sealant into the channels at the top and bottom. Then gently attach the head and sill rails (there are normally screws provided) and slide on the plastic guide tracks. If the tracks are too long, use a hacksaw to trim them to the required length.
Push two of doorstops into the guide tracks and move them into the middle but do not tighten them up yet.
Stand the shower enclosure upright and slide the curved sliding doors into the head and sill rails, ensuring that the doors are the right way round! Then insert another doorstop into both the head and sill rails. Again, do not tighten them up yet.
Attach the wall channels to each side of the shower enclosure and stand it up on the shower tray – double checking that it is vertical. From the inside of the shower enclosure, use a wipe-dry marker pen to mark the positions for the fixing holes on the wall through the pre-drilled holes in the wall channels.
Take the shower enclosure away from the shower tray and check for hidden pipes and cables behind the fixing positions you have just made on the wall with an electronic detector. If all is clear then drill the fixing holes in the marked positions. Push rawlplugs into the holes, making sure they go in beyond the depth of the tile.
Run a generous bead of anti-fungal silicone sealant down both wall channels. Put the enclosure back onto the shower tray, screw in the fixing screws and remove any excess sealant with a wet sponge.
From inside the shower enclosure, drill holes in the wall channels and into the frame. Secure with the screws that are normally provided and cover the heads with screw caps (usually also normally provided). Drill through the plastic guide track and inner head channel, and now you can screw the doorstops into position.
If you have not already done so, seal the join between the tray and the tiled wall with a continuous bead of sanitary silicone sealant and continue around the outside edges of the enclosure.
If you have difficulty with fitting the shower enclosure, or with any stage of installing a new shower, you may wish to take advantage of some of the services available from tradesmen in London to help you finish the job
A tiler in London if your bathroom or shower room requires tiling or you have recessed the pipework into a wall. This is best done before completing the installation of your new shower.
A London plumber will also be able to help connect the waste pipe from your new shower to an existing waste water escape and assist with construction of the pipework for a new installation.
Local electricians in London will be required if you are installing an electric water heater or pump for your shower. Even if you are confident of doing this part of the job by yourself, your finished installation still requires “approval” under Part P of the Building Regulations
For other stages of “How to Install a Shower”, please see:-
Stage 1 – Drainage
Stage 2 – The Water Supply
Stage 3 – The Shower Tray