Shower Head placement?!?

10 years ago

Or heads in this case. Our masterbath shower is still in the planning stages but demo should start over Memorial weekend. We are planning on a 5'6" x 36" (upto 42") shower. DH wants 2 shower heads, wand and possibly rain head.

I hoping we could get by with a single shower head and a wand set up to run individually but I'm not sure DH is quite convinced yet.

I am however very unsure on where to place the shower heads. Do I do one on each end of the shower (the 36" or 42")? Or do I place them both on the 5'6" wall?

If they are on the long wall how much splash am I going to have on the glass wall behind it? Should this be a concern? We do have hard water.

Does it make more sense to confine the plumbing to one wall as opposed to two separate ends of the shower? All 3 walls could be accessed from the back side. Two sides share walls with the hall bathroom and the 3rd (36" or 42" wall) is a shared wall to our bedroom.

I'm probably over thinking the whole thing but I plan to do this only once. My thoughts were if the plumbing was all one wall then on the smaller walls I could do the shower niches.

Any suggestions would be great.

Featured Answer

MiaOKC

10 years ago

We are in the planning stages for our master bath remodel and considering some of the same issues. My two cents: we currently have a 36"x48" shower stall with bypass sliding glass doors on the 48" side. The shower head is at one end (on the 36" wall). Taking a shower causes water to splash all over the 48" inch doors and they are a pain to keep clean. I don't want our new shower to have to be squeegeed at every usage (my husband would always forget so I'd be stuck doing it and get really ticked, I think!). We're looking at some of those frameless glass doors that are treated with something to make them less spotty, but they cost a small fortune.

It sounds like the splashing would be even worse if you had the showerheads on the long wall (since ours get splashed the full 48" with some falloff after about 30-36" - might get more splashy with my husband, he's taller so causes the spray to fly around higher), you would have the same problem. Also, with the heads on the long wall, would your back be to the doorway while you are showering? That would make me too nervous when in the shower.

We always have placed the niches as far from the spray as possible, and up higher so no water gets on the shelves and gets gross, or rusts the shaving cream can which leaves a stain on the shelf. The drier the niche, the cleaner it will stay. Some of the design books I've been looking at make me think "ugh, must have a heck of a time keeping that niche from molding."

If I had your setup, I'd say shower heads at either end on the 36" walls, niches on the long wall near the middle at shoulder height. I was surprised, after putting two niches in my last shower, that I really could have used three. Line up all your products you plan to have out, measure how many linear inches, and plan for that plus a little extra in niche linear inches.

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Comments (12)

dekeoboe
10 years ago
Can you post a sketch of the proposed shower area? That way everyone can better understand what you are describing. Be sure to show which walls are full height, half height and where the door or opening will be.
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I'll throw something different in the mix. I put in a large 12" rain shower head from the ceiling and put one hand held massager on a 36" long bar as well. I then have the best of both worlds. I love the long bar cause I can position the handheld all the way down to operate like one of those wall tile massager without all the extra plumbing. my2cents!
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Grohe has designed this unit as a "retrofit" model that would normally be mounted to an existing 1/2" shower head supply that is commonly located 6-6 to 6-8 above the finish floor putting a standard shower head face at about 6-3 +/- 1" AFF so shorter people can adjust the head which often annoys taller people. Is that the case here? If so, what is the actual height of the pipe AFF? For this shower head Grohe doesn't appear to agree that the point of a rain shower is to have the water fall over you; it offers different spray patterns with manual controls on the head. I'm curious to know why you selected a retrofit unit for a new house and why a 6" extension would not be an acceptable solution if your husband wants a higher shower head and you are either tall enough to adjust it or don't care about adjusting it. The 6" Grohe extension appears to be a perfect solution for only $60 at Amazon and free installation. In any case, the adjustable handheld shower wand is clearly not intended to be used as a full height shower head so if you want to use it for that you should put it on a separate taller mounting rod adjacent to the shower unit.
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This is a bit off topic but the space between the vanity and the shower looks tight along the path to the walk-in closet. The gas chamber looks confining (think public toilet stall), especially with a tall ceiling. Because of that and the shower head arrangement, it leads me to believe there are other areas in the house that could use some adjustment. Has the construction started on the house? If not you may want to post the floor plans and exterior elevations and site plan to get some review. But as always . . . WARNING: Posting your entire floor plan opens you up to facts you may not want to know, but should. Be prepared for suggestions that will make for a better design. Keep a thick skin, open mind, sense of humor, and a glass of wine within arms reach. You may not enjoy it, but everyone else will and you will be better off in the long run if you heed well the advice.
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Hi. Our shower is 5 1/2 feet by 5 ft 2 in… and the bench was built 18 inches deep along one wall. We have a similar shower head placement as your plan. I’ll add pictures. It’s quite spacious for one… but two would be a crowd. The extra foot you have may make the difference for you though…. And depending on how deep your bench is… that could add or subtract space. I’m wondering if your bench placement will work out fantastically or be in the way. Maybe someone who has that placement will chime in. Best wishes on your build!
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palimpsest
10 years ago
If you want both heads and the rain shower to run at the same time, keep in mind that you may need to have a dedicated water heater for that shower and depending on your water pressure, something to amp up your pressure, too.

A client of mine did a shower with several heads and several body sprays, and the plumber calculated that if it ran off the water heater for the house it would deplete it in slightly under 5 minutes. They needed a special set up just to run that shower. Yours doesn't sound so elaborate but it still could be a consideration.
itltrot
Original Author
10 years ago
Geez. This shows how tired my brain was yesterday. I meant to load a layout of the bathroom. I'll do that as soon as I have access to the plans. Sorry!
itltrot
Original Author
10 years ago
This is the basic layout. A few things have changed in the space but nothing that impacts the shower other than measurement discrepancies. The shower space is actually 66" plus the wall.
dekeoboe
10 years ago
Do you plan to have a shower door? If you opt for just one shower head and a hand held, you could get away without having a shower door. Our basement bathroom shower is very similar in size and we don't have a door there, just the glass above the half wall. The controls are on the half wall on the left side. The shower head in on the short wall on the left and the hand held is on that same wall near the back corner. We don't have a niche in that shower as it is only used by guests and I was too cheap to put one in there.
itltrot
Original Author
10 years ago
We are planning on a door and rest in glass. No pony wall. DH and I often shower together and DH wants someway to get wet when I'm hogging the shower head. LOL.

He really wants a rain head but I worry about plumbing in the ceiling/attic, we are in northern Oklahoma. I'd rather skip the rain head and just go with shower head and wand. Mainly the wand for ease of shower cleaning.
kirkhall
10 years ago
We have a wand and showerhead in a 60x34" space (one at each end) and it works really, really nicely for the 2 of us when we shower simulateously. You can choose either the fixed head or the main head to be a "rain shower" (not a huge one, but still have the effect) if he is dead set on a rain head. But, truthfully, the people I've talked to who have one don't use it. The wand, on the otherhand...
LE
10 years ago
Dekeoboe, how wide is the opening for the "door" in your photo?
dekeoboe
10 years ago
lori - it is 29".
busybee3
10 years ago
our shower is similar in size (abit wider...) and have a fixed head on a shorter wall and the 'wand' on the long wall- but close to the opposite end of the other head- i like our setup!!
busybee3
10 years ago
our shower is similar in size (abit wider...) and have a fixed head on a shorter wall and the 'wand' on the long wall- but close to the opposite end of the other head- i like our setup!!

Shower Head placement?!?

MiaOKC

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