Here's the easiest, or should I write an easy solution, hopefully in words and terms that you can understand. And hopefully within your budget. Symmons makes a very good pressure-balanced valve, the Temptrol line. They sell them at Home depot for around $90 give or take, depending on what comes with the valve. They may sell the valve alone, I'm not certain. I've usually seen it packaged with a shower head and tub faucet. I'm not terribly familiar with big box plumbing. If they don't sell the valve alone, you'll want a "basic valve kit" that comes with a pressure-balancing valve with a built-in tub/showerhead diverter lever, a faucet spigot, and a shower head. They make a few variations of this, but it's general designation is "96-2". Although it comes with a shower head, you can buy your own handheld hose and head to attach to the arm that comes out of the wall. Or if they do sell just the valve by itself, buy the valve, plus a tub spigot, plus a handheld outlet, a handheld hose, and a handheld head. Yes, there are variables because you're asking for a slightly non-standard set-up. Then you want a second Symmons Temptrol valve. If you can't buy just the valve, buy the 96-1 valve kit, which is the same valve as above but it just includes the shower head. No tub spigot. That will feed the rainshower head which you'll have to purchase on your own. Although the valve still has the diverter lever, when it's plumbed to just a shower head, in this case a rain head, the diverter lever will act as a volume control to the rainhead instead of a diverter to the tub. You'll have a hot and cold water supply line coming into your shower. Split both lines with a copper "T" fitting so you have two hot water and two cold water lines, one to feed each Symmons valve. The 96-2 valve will feed either your tub or the handheld. You choose which with the diverter lever built in to the valve. That's your typical bathtub/shower setup. The separate 96-1 valve will just feed the rainshower head. Two different controllers, but it keeps thing simple and affordable. Plus you now have the ability to select different temperatures for the two shower heads. There are other ways to do this, but I'm trying to keep this simple and inexpensive for you. Symmons does sell valve kits that have all the goodies you want, but they can get expensive, up in the $500-$800 range, but they don't allow the two shower heads to be used at the same time.

agree with ravencajun that there are some really nice handhelds out there that rival or even beat a basic fixed head, plus their utility for cleaning is critical to me. Another option is to place the handheld on a slide bar so you can adjust to different heights. This is especially nice for kids or folks with very different heights. Unless you have a wide tub, I would be inclined to go with a really nice handheld on a bar and the tub spout, otherwise as linelle pointed out it will get busy with so many fixtures. Plus you will need additional diverter valves and trim for extra fixtures and you may decide that money might be better spent on upgrading the shower head (or some other part of your redo) We went all out in ours, but it is a good sized shower only - but you can see what it looks like in the picture below with two fixtures on one wall. I forget the exact dimension, but it is probably at least 40" across. Here is a link that might be useful: Master redo

Redoing a small bathroom used by two small children, and would appreciate suggestions for the tub/shower plumbing set-up. My apologies if I'm not using terminology correctly. (This whole plumbing thing is like so many other fields - the concepts are easy, but learning the vocabulary is hell!) Right now, we primarily use it as a tub, with a cheap hand-held shower screwed into the shower arm. The oldest kid (6 yrs old) would like to start taking her own showers on occasion, but the showerhead is too high for her to reposition. I'd like something practical and a little more elegant looking. I'm looking at several options: 1. I could go with a tub spout and a slide-bar mounted handheld shower. But thinking down the road when the kids are older, I don't think it's wise to tile the area and not include a shower arm. Can the hose for the handheld shower be attached to a short shower arm? I don't like the after-market look of a handheld shower screwed into the usual 6-inch shower arm. Also not sure I like having even a slidebar. 2. I've also thought of having a tub filler, fixed showerhead, and a handheld shower wall-mounted down near the tub filler. Cleaner-looking to me than a slidebar. I'd need a 3-way diverter if I went this route, right? 3. I really like the clean lines (not the price, though) of a product like the Axor Starck X wall-mount tub filler with handheld, or some of the Dornbracht products. But since these all have volume controls on the spout, how do I combine this with a fixed showerhead? Do I need a diverter, or could the plumber just make a T in the cold and hot water lines, and run one end of each to the tub filler and one to the shower control? If I need a diverter for the shower, then if I want a bath wouldn't I need to turn on the water back near the divertor, and then turn it on at the tub filler? Also, I've seen a product sold at www.expressdecor made by Kraus of brass(or so it is claimed) for cheap ($60). Too good to be true? Has anybody ever ordered from them, or seen this product? 4. Last but not least, I could get a tub spout with a side outlet, and add a handheld and a wall mount. But the only spouts that I have found are not very attractive. What have any of you done, and extra points (well, at least extra appreciation) if you could post a photo? What should I definitely NOT do?? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

The photo above is a Grohe, which I do like. I would like to find more options, however. I think we're going with an Americast tub vs. cast iron. The Kohler villager seemed to be narrow at the front end, IIRC. I shower and never bathe, so heat retention performance isn't important to me.