Kohler Rain Tile Installation

If you found this article because you are attempting to install the Kohler k-8030 or k-8031 rain tile panel, let me first admonish you that despite appearances, suicide is not a reasonable alternative to installing this kit.

The parts are complex, the instructions are lousy, and when you search the internet for the Kohler rain tile products it is common to see professional plumbing forum threads with statements like "I walked away...told the home owner they'd have to find someone else..." and "...I was clean and sober 20 years before I tried to install Kohler rain tiles".

Have hope. I did it, and I'm not a professional plumber. Matter of fact, I'm not even an amateur plumber.

The first step is to build the water feed manifold using the steel jig that comes with the rain tile kit. If you're not an expert at sweating copper pipe, don't even try to do this part by soldiering. You'll discover you have to do a little creative joint purchasing, too (but not the 70's type of creative joint purchasing, you need a clear head for this); there are a couple of fittings shown in the drawing that simply do not exist.

I know, I checked every Home Depot, Lowes, and professional plumbing supply in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and no one had ever seen a 1/2 inch copper four-way fitting as shown in the drawing. I substituted enough parts to make an evenly distributed manifold; just take the drawing with you and someone at the plumbing supply store will help you figure out what connections to buy.

Either take the jig/template to a pro and pay them to build it, or do what I did: Hand the jig and parts to your brother with a few tubes of that new-fangled copper pipe epoxy and have him build it while you pretend to do other work, like the rough-in . The epoxy holds great (we pressure-tested the daylights out of it) and it's the only way an inexperienced plumber is going to get all those connections fitted together without leaks.

Once you've got your manifold built, make sure you've done the rough-in a precisely as possible for the rain tile panel installation. If you're not doing rough-in because you plan to install the Kohler rain tile panel in a pre-existing shower, then get your money back and go buy a large rain effect shower head instead, you have no hope of the rain tile panel fitting properly without tearing the ceiling out and starting with fresh framing (remember, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem).

The dimensions on the instructions don't give you much room for error, and they are right. This crazy thing has to fit within some very tight tolerances.

Buy three different sizes of 1/2 inch brass NPT nipples. Four each 1 inch, 1-1/2 inch, and 2 inch. Even if you did the rough-in to perfect dimension, you still are going to have a variable thrown in from the thickness of the ceiling tile and thin-set mortar. You must resign yourself to trial and error...this is no place for a type A personality, and admitting that this cannot go perfectly at any point from here on out is the first step to recovery.

Eyeball the nipple lengths and check the measurements in the instructions, then choose whichever of the three lengths you think will match up best for your installation. Don't put Teflon tape or thread compound on the nipples yet. You have less than a one-in-a-million chance of this going perfectly. I did the math.

Screw the nipples into the manifold you (or your brother) built, then place the chromed plastic panel over them. It should fit tight enough over the nipples to just hang there.

Now, unwrap one of the four shower tiles. You'll need a tiny Allen wrench for the little set screws on one edge of the chrome plate. Twist those screws in (clockwise) to release the chrome face plate. Yes, I said "in". This thing is crazy, but they made them so that as the set screws are twisted in they clear the edge of the plate. I guess it saves you the possibility of screwing them too far and and dropping them...in which case they would be lost forever since they are practically microscopic.

Carefully peel the grey silicon membrane off and set it aside with the chrome plate. Under it you will see two hollow brass screws. They don't look like screws, but find a larger Allen wrench that fits them and twist counter-clockwise. Once they're out the black plastic body will separate from the brass water-way unit.

Take the Phillips head screw out that holds the brass unit together and pull out the half that screws onto the nipple. Use a ratchet and the supplied socket adapter to tighten the brass unit and the nipple into the manifold.If it screws tightly up against the plastic cup in the panel, start over with the next length up nipples.

Once all four are secured insert each of the second halves of the brass housings (pay close attention to the notch on the edge and ensure it lines up with the double tab in the plastic housing on each) and secure them snugly with the screws; after you've hunted everywhere in the work area, your workbench, and the floor because you can't remember where you set them but finally found them on your desk by your computer where you recently discovered that according to proplumb203 on the pipe and fitting forum no one has ever successfully installed Kohler rain tile.

If the panel pulls up snugly against the ceiling just enough to slightly compress the black foamy gasket, congratulations, you can take it all apart and repeat the process after you've applied Teflon tape or thread sealing compound to both ends of all the nipples.

Next, reattach each of the black plastic plates, then carefully press the edges of each of the gray silicon membranes back in place. Lastly, attach the chrome plates by hooking the edge without any holes over the edge of the black plastic plate and turning the tiny Allen screws OUT to secure them. Watch carefully and make sure to stop turning sure the set screws once they are flush with the surface of the edge of the chrome plate.

The installation should be complete and all four tiles should be able to be adjusted independently with a very light touch.