Can I fit a shower valve inside an external brick wall?

[posalie]

We live in an Edwardian house, and looking to put a new bathroom in. I was hoping to put a thermostatic shower valve (see pic) on the external wall. It's a brick wall (no cavity, I don't think), and one builder has said you can't put a valve inside a brick wall, and you have to create a box to fit the valve. Is that right? No other builder has said this, but I know some builders don't think that far ahead at the quote stage.

The same builder also said you cannot easily chase pipes for the radiator into the external wall. Is that right?

Grateful for any advice! @pigletjohn perhaps? Thank you, thank you ☺️

Forgot to attach pic!

I'm no expert but I was told I couldn't have these put into my internal brick wall - builder said they would have to build a box. I don't know if that's true or not. Anyway, there wasn't room for a box so I had to go with the other type of shower controls (sorry don't know what they're called!)

I've just had this installed in an internal brick wall .

It's a bad idea.

Thanks all. @PigletJohn please could you explain why it's a bad idea?

A single brick external wall is structural. The weight of the roof goes down through the walls to the foundations. Therefore leave the walls to do their job and don’t alter them. You should build an internal stud wall to house the pipes and shower valve. Alternatively, have it all exposed.

It's double brick if that makes a difference?

A follow-up question please - if boxing in, would the box go all the way to the ceiling? The builder has suggested stopping maybe 40cm shy of ceiling, as it's a high ceiling (period house). Wouldn't that ledge gather dust?

Any coving at the top? I think I'd go all the way up.

Does it really need to be on the outside wall? Can you not have the thermostat at the shower entrance separate to the shower head on a different wall?

It doesn't need to be on the external wall, but the builder says the same issue applies to all brick walls. And all 3 walls are solid brick.

The ceiling does have coving. So if it went up to the ceiling, I guess there would still be a gap?

I had something like this attached to an internal brick wall so that it was just the pipes that were recessed into the brickwork. Could something like this work?

@posalie - aren't there four walls?

If one of them isn't load bearing (not external) you could theoretically replace it with a stud wall and put the shower in that... but a v expensive option compared to an external valve solution as PP suggests.

Yes, that's the same idea as what we went with. No boxing in required. OP - from what you've described if you do want to go down the boxing in route I'd be inclined to do it right to the ceiling and then replace cornice to make it look like the boxed in bit was part of the original wall - bit if it's highly decorative, original cornicing that might not be desirable to damage it.

It's original cornicing so I'd rather preserve it. I'm happy to consider an exposed valve, but it needs to be 3 outlet - for shower head, handheld and bath. Can anyone help me find one? I only see 2 outlet ones.

Bump!

There are limits on how far you can chase into a wall, both horizontally and vertically.
Even if you could chase the valve in, you'd still need to get all the pipes there. It's just expensive and difficult and messy, given the alternative. A structural engineer could tell you if it's possible, but even then there may be issues with water penetration and condensation.
I fitted a concealed valve in our ensuite, and carefully designed it so the valve was in the new stud wall andit was much easier, I think about 75mm space needed.
Regarding wall thickness, 9 inch (215mm) is called full brick or one brick, and 4 inch or 100mmis called half brick. Usually external walls are full brick and internal masonry walls either half brick or even quarter brick.
If you need to chase at least 75mm you'd end up in the next room for half or quarter brick.
Good luck.

Cutting into walls reduces their structural integrity.

I expect it's a nine inch brick wall. Its thermal performance will be poor, it will be cold and attract condensation. You would to better to clad the inside surface with insulation and a cement tile backing board, or possibly the plastic bathroom wall linings. If you really want plumbing hidden in the wall, you could put it behind the lining. But it will be much worse than exposed when it goes wrong and has to be hacked out.

Exposed chrome pipes and mixers can look very neat if you can make the psychological leap to accepting that bathrooms contain plumbing.

Yes you'd be better off forming a stud partition wall infront of the brick and fixing the shower to that

Yes you can chase pipes into brick walls but is a messy job and if any need replacing or get damaged it's a nightmare - most radiators look fine with the pipes coming up and out of the floor

Thank you everybody. I will get an exposed valve. If anyone can find a 3 outlet exposed valve that lets me go without bath taps, please let me know! I'm after a clean look, so not the traditional style.

I suppose the other option would be to use a "digital shower" where the valves can go out of the way e.g. in the void above the ceiling, and all you have on the wall is effectively a remote control. It sounds like it might not suit the look you're going for though!