Long-term experience with the IBox from Hansgrohe

Hello everyone,
we want to renovate our bathroom and have decided on the flush-mounted system with the ibox. Our installer advises against this system and recommends a surface-mounted system (which I don’t like because of the visible bar for the rain shower). He says that the IBox gets encrusted after years (5-7) and he has often had the problem of not being able to remove the insert from the housing anymore, which is why the wall has to be broken open. We have a water hardness of 0 and have never had a problem with our existing surface-mounted system for 27 years.
I would be interested in your experiences and tips here.

Regards Ronald

Below are some further suggestions:

- please search in the portal under "Grohe"... there are some direct and indirect hints

- lifespan/obsolescence:
Scaling is one thing.
Wear-resistant construction of plastic parts in the control is another.
=> After long discussion, we ultimately decided 51% in favor of surface-mounted.

- we currently have a topic running here in the forum about the 3-stage Select showerhead after 5 years... it is the small (plastic) parts that cause problems and then the entire block must be replaced if the part is still available at all... (spare parts stock: Grohe seems exemplary here).

- Hansgrohe, unlike other providers, is quite accommodating in case of an accident regarding the fortunately rare failures (for us the thermostat, which after 2 years adjusted itself towards warm)

Surface-mounted/concealed will always be a compromise. A plus/minus list with evaluation helps here.

With a water hardness of 0, the part should function flawlessly for decades. We have 24 and I still have everything built-in. I’m not going to hit anything in the shower every day just because there might possibly be problems with the built-in fitting. And even if you have to break through at some point, if you still have a few tiles in stock, that’s not a problem either.

I have a question about the iBox. In the shower, it's not a problem, as we can install it behind drywall here. However, at the bathtub, there will be a Poroton wall. Can I get the iBox in there, or do I need to come up with something?

I have a question about the iBox. In the shower, it's no problem, as you can install it behind drywall here. However, at the bathtub, there will be a Poroton wall. Can I get the iBox in there, or do I have to come up with something?

I chiseled out the wall and recessed it into the wall. I wanted to have the same fitting everywhere.

Yep, that's no problem. A corresponding hole will simply be made in the wall. It should stay somewhere under 10cm depth, so it shouldn't be a problem for most wall structures.