G'day,
An easy one to share with all...I purchased a house "born in the 1970s". The wall mounted tap assy is old the faucet leaks and the whole lot needs replacement.
I went out and purchased a std pair of H & C tap top assy from the local Bunnings. Brought everything home. Commenced to remove the caps and plastic covers to reveal...none other than that the existing spindles have actually been cemented into the wall cavity, i.e. whomever originally put the spindle assy in, they completely cemented around the whole spindle and made it part of the wall (you can't removed the spindle unless the cement is carefully "hacked in2"). Now I realise that things were different back in the earlier days...but...applying cement around the spindle unit? Were the spindles back then impervious to breaking down?! I think not. It now makes the job harder & longer than it had 2B. Oh what a joyful weekend I'll be having.
Cheers 
Been there, done that, I feel your pain.
The muppet who did this, believe it or not, was a professional tiler. *sigh*
Bunnings sell a grout removal bit for a dremel, which works a treat. It's expensive, $30 or so, but also rips through tiles. Which is important when you try to get the tap out, as in my case the hole in the tile wasn't big enough for the tap body.
Fun and games. Good luck.
I'm a plumber, I just take a hammer and flat blade screwdriver and chip it all out. I do it all the time. Not a big deal.
Yeah thanks I've already started to do just that. It just boggles the mind that any1 would do such a thing...anyhoo...thanks again...cheers 
When it was initially installed the valve had a plastic "plaster guard" that showed how deep the valve should be set in the wall and gave clearance to remove the stem later. The tile guy probably threw it away for unknown reasons.
