I'm about to begin work on installing a shower. The way it is set up, once the shower is completed, it will be ensconced in some sort of tile on the shower side and on the backside of the valve will be a cinder block wall - so there is going to be no way to access the valve body (the brass housing part) for replacement without taking out some tiling inside the shower. The plan is to build a false wall to provide space to mount the valve body and to run the plumbing between the false wall and the cinder block. I will buy and stash extra tile and grout (and hopefully be able to locate that should the need ever arise), but I would like to push any need to access/replace the valve body as far down the road as possible.
I've installed a few of the Moen (I think) shower valves that have the replaceable cartridge that comes out the front via the eustacheon, but those seem sort of cheaply made to me (like everything else nowadays). This is a shower valve only (no tub spout). If anyone has any suggestion for a very high quality valve/handle set-up for this, I would love to hear that.