Please Help With Valve & Water Supply Placement

15 years ago

We are progressing with our doorless shower. The wall is framed in. We have installed a Moen 3330 3-function transfer valve with a pipe extension for the hand-held slide bar. Please advise on whether this is the best placement for the valve and water supply. We're not sure if we should place the slide bar on stud #2 or #3 and where to put the water supply valve.

We plan to use the hand-held shower to shower our daughter who is disabled. She will be seated when I shower her. We need to decide whether to install a corner bench in the back near the #3 studs or use a portable bench in the center of the shower closer to the # 1 stud. If we do the corner bench and place the slide bar on the #3 studs, I wonder if I will get soaked by the water coming toward me. The black line shows where the bench would be.

If we go with the portable bench, it would be ugly because it looks like medical supply equipment. However, we could place it in the center where the wall would stop the water from coming out. We could put the slide bar on the#2 stud so the water is flowing away from the doorway. In that case, should we move the valve a few inches to the left so the slide bar isn't as close to the valve? We could also mount to the #1 stud so the hand-held could be used with the wall shower head. Would it look strange to have the power supply on one side of the valve and the slide bar on the other side?

Since we can't afford to purchase the hand-held and slide bar yet, I can't experiment to see how it would look and if the hose would hang properly. Any advice would be appreciated. The bottom photo shows the type of hand-held shower head that I am considering. (I like the way it extends out unlike others that seem to stand up

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Comments (6)

kendog2
Original Author
15 years ago
Can anyone help with the placement of valve and water supply? Thanks.
pepperidge_farm
15 years ago
The setup took looking at a couple of times to get a sense of what was going on, so let me just clarify:

The fixed shower head will be on the wall on the far left? and the handheld will be facing as you walk in?

If I understand this correctly, then:

We plan to use the hand-held shower to shower our daughter who is disabled. She will be seated when I shower her. We need to decide whether to install a corner bench in the back near the #3 studs or use a portable bench in the center of the shower closer to the # 1 stud. If we do the corner bench and place the slide bar on the #3 studs, I wonder if I will get soaked by the water coming toward me

Although that is true what you say, I imagine that you would be standing inside the shower on the left side of the valve, if she were seated on the proposed seat, which should be fine for water on you- but wouldn't that mean that there will be water spraying out of the shower? If that is OK, then I would think that is the best option- no portable seat, nice fixed bench, and hand held above your daughter.

But looking at the dotted line- does that give you enough room to get in and out of that shower? while assisting her? Will she be able to sit independently? In the corner, that doesn't give a lot of room, if you were to need a second hand? Will that ever be an issue?

I can't judge the dimensions, but I would think a long bench along that far left wall would be better, but then the handheld would need to be over there? That would look a bit like the sample pic, I guess.

Tell me what the setup is for the plumbing exactly and is it ok to move it....
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kendog2
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks so much for your suggestions. Yes, that is correct. The fixed shower head will be on the far left. Sorry I neglected to specify that. The dimensions of the shower area are 32" wide x 72"long. With the corner bench installed we should have enough room to get my daughter into the shower. She can actually walk okay. The main reason she needs to sit down for the shower is that she is unsteady on her feet.

It isn't all right for water to be spraying out of the shower. That is another reason we're considering the portable bench.

I hadn't thought of putting a bench on the far left wall. You mean put it on the same wall as the fixed shower head? I've never seen that done but maybe it would be a good solution. Do you think the bench wouldn't get in the way when my other kids take showers standing up? Also, I don't want to get wet feet while I shower my daughter. I wanted to be able to stand on the curb in the shower opening but I am probably hoping for it to be easier than it is going to be.
If we put a bench on the wall with the fixed shower head we would need to mount the slide bar on the #1 stud. Should we then put a couple of elbows in the pipe for the water supply and move it closer to the slide bar?

I have one other question. My husband is putting a slight slope on the top of the 5' tall so water can run off. Is 1/8" higher on one side enough or should it slope more like 1/4"? (He will be mounting a piece of glass on top of the wall to help keep the water in.)
pepperidge_farm
15 years ago
Hmmm, well... I'll let you assess if the water will run out the door if the shower head is there as you are looking at it... if that won't be a problem, then I think that is fine (stud 3), but if you think it may need rethinking:

Have you seen oolldd claw foot tubs that have the shower head mounted on the long wall- then the fixed head could be stud 1-ish to the left, and the bench could be the left wall with the handheld above? I think you wouldn't stay dry in that case (although it's hard to imagine you staying dry if you are really assisting her in either case- if you are just getting her in and out, then it should work, although, again, I think your feet would not stay dry in this case).

OR, you could mount a long shower arm that extends the fixed head out past the bench- such as a 15" or 18" one so the other kids would still be able to shower even with a bench there and handheld stud 1. see pic below if you haven't seen that...

Regarding the 5' wall- I think it would be treated like any curb, which I believe is 1/16th" pitch, but I would ask this in a separate question so Bill or Mongo can confirm the correct pitch.

Here is a link that might be useful: just to help you imagine the idea of placement picture
kendog2
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you. Those ideas will really help us to think outside the box. There are a lot of ways to do this that I wouldn't have thought of. I will let you know what we decide.
pepperidge_farm
15 years ago
Well, hope it helped!

That's my specialty- 101 alternatives- whether they make what I want to do or not! Drives DH nuts, but has led to some great solutions in our project!

Pics when you finish!!

Please Help With Valve & Water Supply Placement

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Please Help With Valve & Water Supply Placement

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