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Shower - fixed and hand held or not?

16 years ago

I need some advice. We are putting a 3/4 bath in our upstairs remodel. It will be nice, but I don't need anything fancy (no spa jets etc). I know that I want a hand held shower because it makes cleaning so much easier. I've chosed one with a slide bar from Delta. The question is, do I need a fixed shower head too? Just DH and I. Intend to keep the house forever, so not as concerned about resale issues. Just wondering if I would regret not having a fixed shower head later, if I decide to go without one. Or, if I do install a fixed head too, is it overkill to have both in a simple shower? Thanks for any thoughts on this... I have a tendancy to go overboard.

Featured Answer

monicakm_gw

16 years ago

I've only been showering for the last 6 months while my bathroom is being remodeled. DH has a fixed shower head and a handheld. It's just the two of us and, like you, we have no need to worry about resale. Love having both and use both. I vote for the fixed AND handheld :)
Monica

Comments (9)

kimkitchy
Original Author
16 years ago
Oops! I mean "chosen" not... "chosed"... blushing at the proofing error! Kim
codnuggets
16 years ago
Unless you have a big enough shower to have two distinct zones, I see no point in having both. If your hand held is on a slide bar as you said, it will serve nicely as your only fixture.

Joe
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Are you going to have a standardd shower head too? Because the benefits of having both are great. First, it's just the two of us as well and we still had the slide bar secured so it could double as a grab bar. You know just in case there's ever a slip. Then we also wanted the advantage of being able to adjust the height of the hand held. As it turns out, we can use both the slider & the shower head at the same time and boy is that wonderful! Basically with the slider you have more options for height and a secured slider can be a safety feature. Even if you don't need it now, for resale, that's a plus. I think for us it was one of those things where if you don't know you won't miss it, we did it for practical reasons more than anything else, then once it was in, we saw how great it is and were tickled pink.
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gardenspice
16 years ago
A good handheld, and you do not need a fixed.
I love my shower that has a handheld with slider bar and I regret not putting the slider bar handheld in the guest bath.
try_hard
16 years ago
Gardenspice: What is a "slider bar"? DH and I are having a house built right now and we have selected a handheld shower head for the master bath. No fixed. We chose this because our dog gets baths in the shower and it's much easier to hose her off with a handheld head. We didn't even consider getting a fixed *and* handheld. Seems repetitive to me.
Thanks,
try_hard
...
heimert
16 years ago
While repetitive, it's not likely to add much to the cost. The valve won't add much, and the parts of the handheld won't be a whole lot if you get hte cheaper showerhead and hose (less than $100). I like the fixed head, since they're sturdier. But if you'd use the handheld a lot, then go with just that.
kaypeakay
16 years ago
tryhard - a handheld can be mounted to a vertical (usually metal) bar on the wall of the shower so the user can adjust where the handheld sits on the wall, if that makes sense.

kimkitchy - I vote for both a fixed and a handhled on a slider if the shower is large enough; if you and hubby ever need to (or want to ;) shower at the same time; and/or if you have children that would like to have their "own" height shower head. If you only have space for one, I would recommend the handheld mounted on the sliding bar, since that gives you more flexibility than one that sits in a little cradle mounted stright to the wall.

HTH!
kpk
kimkitchy
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all the feedback. I think a handheld shower head on a slider bar will do it for this shower! Cheers,
-Kim
osxaddict
16 years ago
we've got both in two of our bathrooms --both are made by Santec... I've not installed either yet but they look nice and should be solid for many years

For the person that didn't know what it looks like, I've got a link with photo in top rt corner for you...

Here is a link that might be useful: Santec faucets

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