Another question on handheld shower head

16 years ago

If you have the handheld, do you use it as your shower head? In other words, do you ever stand under to take your shower? Or, do you use it to clean and/or take it off and hold it while you use it? I am thinking of getting one and we will have another showerhead, but it will be large (possibly Moen's Velocity). It says this large one does have a concentrated spray, but I am concerned it won't be enough pressure to clean my thick hair, so I want the handheld as the back up shower head. Is this realistic? Do they angle down so you can stand under them?

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Comments (9)

widgie
16 years ago
HI...I have a handheld as my main showerhead...my husband has a traditional showerhead on his side of the shower, but I never use it. Mine is a Hansgrohe on the sliding bar, and it is awesome...I mostly stand under it for my shower but have the option of holding it in my hand. It has great pressure and I love the little integrated soap dish. I wouldn't expect all handhelds to be this good, Hansgrohe is supposed to have the best one. You can set it for any angle...
Hope this helps...
astridh
16 years ago
Hi, I also use a handheld on a sliding bar as my only showerhead. I live in a part of California where water is restricted, so you can't always put in two separate heads, although you can use a diverter. I had a Grohe in my old house; loved it and will put one in my new master with the Grohe Thermostatic valve. I just put in a Hansgrohe in each of two kids' baths. I'm using that now as our master bath is under construction. I like the Grohe valve a bit better but have no problems with the Hansgrohe handheld, and it is cheaper. I've never missed having a wallmount shower head. The pressure is fine, and both Grohe's and Hansgrohe's have an adjustable bracket that you can aim where you like. It feels just like a regular shower head. They make several different hand held shower heads with different types of spray, also.
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I bought a Hansgrohe hand held mounted to a bar along with the tub spout. I bought: Wall bar Handshower Wall supply Hose Tub spout Thermobalance II TRIM KIT Thermobalance II ROUGH IN VALVE (the II means two options for the water: handheld showerhead or tub spout, or fixed shower head or handheld) I bought the one with service stops, which you may not really need. If you only need a single shower head and no tub spout you would want the Thermobalance I. There is also a Thermobalance III if you want a fixed shower head, hand held, and a tub spout. I LOVE the thermobalance valve. There is one knob or lever for temperature and a separate one for volume. I like to be able to turn on the shower every morning and get the perfect temperature every time without fiddling with it. I highly recommend it. Also, you can't get scalded if someone flushes the toilet. I bought all of this from Faucet.com. I got the faucets there, too. They had the best prices, service, and helped me figure out what I wanted. If you talk to someone, they can sell you any combination of parts. You are not limited to the combinations on the web site.
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We're doing both in our primary bathroom (is a small house) and a handheld only for the extra basement bath. I can't speak to actual function since it's not done yet. When DH and I discussed it, we agreed we both prefer a regular showerhead for daily use (mounted high since we're both tall) with the handheld mostly for kids/dog/cleaning. I admit I was also biased since my folks have a handheld and I *hate* it--the spray is narrow, the angle is weird, and it gets knocked off its holder occasionally and sprays water every which way. When we were shopping, the sales guy did say that the designs have improved significantly since the parents put theirs in 10 years ago, and he's probably right-- they are probably much better now, and would work just fine. For us, since the walls were open already, and the plumbing/tile is all new, we decided not to chance it and just put in both with a diverter. (we put the handheld on the opposite wall) The cost differential wasn't huge since the hansgrohe 3 way valve was not much more expensive than the 2 way. The spare bathtub doesn't get daily use, we opted for a handheld on a bar, since it seemed to offer the most flexibility. Hope that helps and good luck with everything!
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Since this is a "medical" and as such might be a temporary need, and you say you have no desire to run more than one head at a time, the simplest and least invasive would be to replace your existing shower head with a hand held retrofit kit. Yes, you can buy additional brackets so the head can be mounted elsewhere on the wall. And you are correct, the bracket needs to be matched to the head, they are not necessarily universal. A lot of showers I build, I also make a teak bench for them. In addition to an extra bracket or two on the wall, often times I'll add a bracket to the edge of the bench. I'd look for the longest hose you can find. Personally I find the segmented metal hoses lay flatter and loop over themselves less than the plastic hoses. Plastic versus metal head? Plastic is fine in a decent head, but in a $9.00 head the entire thing might be too lightweight and spray water everywhere regardless of what material it is made from. Mongo
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10bac10- I’m so flattered that you like my basket weave. Dimensions are below. It’s marble tile. In my opinion, using marble is not a decision to be made lightly. There are many posts in Houzz which essentially say ”Stop! Dont use marble!” But , a good friend has had a similar marble in her shower for over 10 years, with not a trace of issue. She takes special care with it and uses specific products in her shower. i don’t have marble anywhere else in my home. My basket weave is 4 feet high and 2 feet wide and bordered with a neutral colored but slightly veined pencil trim which blends with the basket weave and which I think helps to frame the basket weave. (See photo; color may not show accurately due to my crummy camera). The veins shown in the enlarged photo aren’t visible from a distance and are a subtle accent even when seen close- up. Both trim and basket weave are marble. My large and plainer wall tile is not marble. Because the basket weave is marble , I tried to avoid using it on the floor - but it looked unbalanced to me when I only had it on the wall. Again, as noted above, a friend has similar marble and has had no etching, starbursts, etc.,,that marble can get To achieve this, she uses only ph balanced shampoos, conditioners , cleansers, and soap in her shower. I do the same. I wipe down both floor and wall tile after each shower - to speed the drying process- and run a ceiling fan. I squeegee the shower door after showering, It has a special coating to repel water spots and it works beautifully. All my shower tile has been sealed and will need resealing periodically, I don’t find any of this effort a challenge but maybe that’s because I really enjoy having this bathroom after living with a truly awful one for many, many years.
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kelleg69
Original Author
16 years ago
THANK YOU! This is the kind of info I need.
jess1111
15 years ago
I've got a Bidush and use it like a bidet shower.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bidush
cindy_socal
15 years ago
Great information - I'm looking at Hansgrohe for a master shower and want to put in a wallmount AND handheld. Lizabeth and astridh, can you adjust water pressure with the Hansgrohe? And which handheld do you have? I'm hoping to use the handheld/wallmount combo for those times when we both want to shower at the same time.
astridh
15 years ago
I have the Hansgrohe Retroaktiv 2-jet handshower. I think the number was 0612-7000 (I think 7000 = chrome). I chose it for its somewhat old-fashioned/Victorian look. They lots of different handhelds, most look more contemporary. 2-jet means that you can select two spray options which they call "full" and "massage". I would call them "regular shower" and "narrow pulsing". You adjust the water pressure on the wall valve. I always use it on the highest pressure, though. I have just the wall bar, but you can also put in a diverter valve or use two separate valves, one for the wall bar and one for the wallmount. I bought through faucet.com and had no problems. By the way, I also like the Hansgrohe thermostatic wall valve. It has the thermostatic temperature control and the volume on one unit. You can leave the water temperature on the setting that you like and just turn the volume up and down. I thought that Hansgrohe was a good value.
widgie
15 years ago
I also have the thermostatic wall valve...but my handheld is just the 1 spray type...I've found that I never use the other sprays and liked the all-over pattern of the spray..hope that makes sense. I'm about to do over my guest bath and will use the same set up in there.
suero
15 years ago
My husband has a fixed showerhead, I have a handheld. Both are Grohe with thermostatic temperature valve. I almost always have the water volume up at the highest setting, and I set the spray setting to the smallest pattern for maximum pressure when I want to rinse the shampoo out of my hair.
cindy_socal
15 years ago
Thank you both, very much.

We are looking at the Retroaktiv pieces; it will be the same 2-jet handshower that astridh has. Through some research at the company website, and a knowledgable guy at the plumbing supply, I found that we can install a Thermobalance III valve & trim, but have it plumbed for two showerheads, and it's possible to have them both on at once.

I'm glad to hear first-hand that you like them. I love the looks, but DH wants to make sure he can control the water pressure.

Cindy

Another question on handheld shower head

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