Axor Concealed Shower Mixers

A concealed shower mixer puts the working body of the tap inside the wall and leaves only a plate and a control on the surface. This page carries that side of an Axor shower from Hansgrohe: single-lever concealed mixers, shut-off and diverter valves, the finish sets that cover them, and the in-wall bodies themselves, including the iBox universal most Axor trims are built to fit.

This Page or the Thermostatic Page

Bella Bathrooms splits Axor shower controls in two, and the difference is what the control does rather than where it sits. Everything on Axor thermostatic shower mixers holds a temperature you have set, which is what you want on a family shower or where supply pressure moves. This page is the manual and mechanical side: lever mixers you balance by hand, valves that open, close and divert between outlets, and the rough-in parts both sides share. Plenty of bathrooms use one of each.

Basic Set and Finish Set

Almost nothing here is a single purchase. Hansgrohe builds concealed installation in two halves: a basic set is plumbed into the wall while it is open, and the finish set, the plate and handle you see, goes on after tiling. The iBox universal is the shared basic set behind most Axor concealed mixers, built with enough depth tolerance to absorb the thickness of the tiles. Check which half a listing is before ordering, because a finish set alone will not run water.

Reading the Titles

Abbreviations do a lot of work here. Conc means concealed installation. F-set and Fs both mean finish set. Outl or o is outlet, so a valve for three outlets feeds three things, such as an overhead, a hand shower and a body jet. Sq, rd and SoftSq are the plate shapes, square, round and SoftSquare, which is a square with softened corners. On the ShowerSelect ID valves the outlets are switched with a large Select paddle rather than a turn of a handle.

Carry on from here: the full Axor range, Axor taps for the rest of the brassware, and the range pages for Axor Starck and Axor Citterio, the two designer lines most heavily represented here. Bring your tile thickness and wall build-up to the Kramerville showroom, because concealed work is far easier to specify than to correct.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a concealed shower mixer?

It is a shower control whose body is built into the wall so that only a plate, a handle and the outlets remain visible. The result is a much cleaner wall and nothing protruding at shoulder height. The trade-off is that the wall has to be open when it goes in, so the decision belongs at planning stage rather than at the point of choosing finishes.

What is the difference between a concealed shower mixer and a thermostatic module?

Both are built into the wall. A concealed mixer is manual: you set the balance of hot and cold yourself with a lever, and the temperature can shift if the supply pressure changes. A thermostatic module holds the temperature you set and reacts when the supply moves. Bella Bathrooms lists the thermostatic Axor modules on a separate page, and many bathrooms combine the two.

What is the Hansgrohe iBox universal?

It is the concealed basic set that sits inside the wall and does the plumbing work, with the visible finish set fitted over it later. Because one body accepts a wide range of Hansgrohe and Axor trims, the shower control can be changed later without reopening the wall. The current generation is the iBox universal 2. Both the basic set and a concealed part are listed on this page.

Do I need to buy a basic set and a finish set separately?

Usually yes. Axor concealed products are supplied in two halves, the basic set that is built into the wall and the finish set that covers it, and they are bought as separate items. Read the title carefully: anything described as a finish set or F-set is the visible half only. If you are refurbishing and the existing basic set stays, a finish set on its own may be all you need.

What do sq, rd and SoftSq mean in the product titles?

They are the plate shapes offered on the same valve. Sq is square, rd is round and SoftSq is SoftSquare, a square plate with softened corners. On the Axor ShowerSelect ID valves all three shapes are available for the same three-outlet function, so the choice is visual. Pick the one that matches the rest of the room, since the shape recurs across Axor accessories as well.