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Shower bench or shower niches?

12 years ago

An oops in measuring means my shower is now 6 inches shorter than I thought it was going to be. Now the interior dimensions are going to end up 50 x 43. I had planned for a shower bench, and two shower niches, on opposite walls. This is a MBR shower for one person.

I can probably still get a bench on the wall with the controls/handheld, but if I do that, I can't also get niches on there.

Which would you chose - a shower bench or niches.

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Comments (9)

astralfarmer
12 years ago
Do you have room somewhere in the bathroom for a nice, small teak shower bench/stool that would fit in with the decor? My personal preference would be to have the niches and keep a bench handy elsewhere. In addition to a niche for amenities I plan on adding a small niche at a convenient height for my foot for shaving my legs. Or, if there is an area right outside the shower for a nice shelf you could go with the bench.
nycbluedevil
12 years ago
How about just the bench and getting a great basket or tray (that drains) and putting your products in it? That way you can get both. This might work especially if the bench is at least partly shielded from view from outside, if you care about your products being out in the open. The niches are useful but they do take some extra cleaning and I have to say that I don't love them. (there have been threads on the value of niches--people have definite views!) The bench is a really nice look. I am not sure how much anyone really uses it to sit (maybe as I age, I will sing a different tune) but it is nice to prop up the leg when washing or shaving.
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Tiling shower, various questions re niches, bench, epoxy grout
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We are currently at the point of putting up durock in our new shower. We will be painting redgard on top of the durock. We are using a Kohler cast iron pan and have built in a bench at the far end. We are DIYing it and neither of us have done a bathroom before so we are trying to do all our due diligence so our bathroom doesn't look like crap in the end! I have a bunch of questions I'm hoping some of you would be willing to help with. First, let me explain our design choices so you have an idea of the look we're going for. We're doing a white subway tile in the shower (Interceramic cheap stuff from Lowes). We bought the 2x6 bull nose pieces to run around the sides in the opposite direction as the subway tile. Chrome thermostatic rain shower. Frameless glass shower doors. The floor will be marble with a basketweave tile rug in the center. The vanity is white with carrera marble top. So here goes my questions: 1. Durock, fuzzy or smooth out? I've read that the fuzzy side should go out when using thinset, however I'm unclear on whether or not we should use the fuzzy side considering a layer of redgard will be painted over prior to tile. 2. Niches. We are adding two niches. One larger one, probably around a foot tall, and one narrow one directly below it for razors, etc. The back will be basketweave marble, the sides will be white subway tile we're using on the rest of the shower. We've read floor elfs tutorial on building a niche (THANK YOU) so I think we understand the construction. My question is for the "shelf" part. I'd really like to use a solid base however our budget is busted for getting something fabricated. Would it be possible to use a 3/8" marble tile and somehow polish the outer edge so its not raw ourselves? Which leads to my next question. 3. The bench. We have a bench we've constructed out of 2x4's and plywood. Again, I would really love to have a solid surface instead of tile but having something fabricated is not in our budget. I was considering using 2 18x18 marble tiles which should fit perfectly but would this look strange? Also, same problem of needing to polish the raw edge of the tile. Also, is marble just bad news for a top in the shower which will probably be coming in contact with shampoo, soap, shaving cream etc? I'm concerned about etching and looking like garbage. Any other suggestions on material we could use that'd be in keeping with the rest of our "look"? 4. Grout. I've discovered that I really love the look of white grout with white subway tile. However, I can't stand devoting a lot of time to keeping the shower clean. And I really can't stand dirty grout but I also hate to scrub it. We have a hand shower so we can do a quick rinse after showing to get rid of soap, shampoo residue but the odds of us wiping the entire shower down after each use are slim. Will a white epoxy grout on the walls just be a huge hassle with keeping it clean? Is it worth the premium vs just sealing a regular grout? And, lastly, any direction to a good tile tutorial would be appreciated. We want to make sure we don't have funky looking cuts or awkward looking tiles. If you've made it this far, thank you!! This endeavor has turned out to be a ton more work and research than I expected and this site has been an invaluable resource!
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Tough to comment without there being a plan attached to look at. I would recommend for maximum flexibility that you forgo the built-in bench and just use a teak bench, or something similar. It can be used in the shower or outside the shower as needed. It preserved maximum flexibility for shower usage...and wood can be a bit more comfortable than tile to sit on. Whenever anyone plans on a bench or sitting down, I always encourage them to have a handheld on a hose somewhere in the shower. That way the handheld can be used specifically rather than generally. A second wall bracket can be placed on the wall down low for leg shaving or for whatever. For niches, I want utility first. To be able to stand under the spray and easily reach for a bottle of shampoo without having to take a step. I prefer a sidewall for the niche, to the bather's left or right, instead of it being on the wall directly in front that the shower head is on. Then there is visibility. Some like to hide it, but to me, that's the least important. If your shower's sight lines are all equally unequal regarding niche placement, then go for water spray and ease of reach. As to "other stuff", try to place the shower controls so the shower can be turned on without having to step into the shower. The goal would be to stay dry when you turn it on. Depending on the size of your shower, when I get over 4' square in footprint I start looking at 4 can lights in the ceiling with gasketed shower trim kits. More even light, fewer shadows. Ventilation. Don't skimp on it. Good ventilation (proper CFM, proper duct size and length for overall proper air movement) will be your #1 thing for minimizing shower maintenance in terms of latent moisture causing mold/mildew, etc. Fan noise is a big reason people don't use their fan. So consider a remote fan. Also, have the fan on a timer switch. You turn the shower light on, the light and fan turn on. You turn the shower light off, the lights turn off but the ventilation fan runs for a preset time...usually another 20-30 minutes before it automatically turns off.
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With those formal shapes on the floor and shower walls I wouldn't go free form on the niches. I would do 1-inch square glass tiles with some subtle color that references the floor. Or maybe see if you could cut the floor tiles to somehow work in the niches. Follow the lead of your inspiration rooms - you've got stunning floor and wall tiles- let them star and don't give them too much competition. Otherwise it starts to look too busy IMHO. Edited to add another option would be a solid color tile if you could find one matching one of the colors in the floor and a complimentary shape to the shower and floor. Free form circles just doesn't do it for me in your setting.
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Comments (14)
is it a change order? something that you've asked for later in the process? if yes-these typically cost more because of some inconvenience..labor taking more hours than expected, meaning a whoever does your shower has to be rescheduled for another place he also needs to be, etc. I don't know industry standard for these, but I can share with you some of my experience. Say we added arches to interior of our house, because such is its style. Adding an arch costs typically 800$. When my DH wanted to add one more arch many months after other ones were completed-the GC told me "You want another arch-I'll give you an arch, but it'll be 400 $ more because I need to bring my framer again, and my painter again, etc" So we waited until we're done and asked our (quite talented) handyman to add an arch, and it was 800$ again -with framing and everything, It's not neccessarily about niche and bench..it can be about them having to reschedule stuff and who knows what else. If it's not a change order, I hope you'll get more informative answers.
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e4849
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for your comments:

I do have a place to put a portable bench/stool. I would probably use the bench for shaving more than anything else, anyway.
nycbluedevil
12 years ago
How about just the bench and getting a great basket or tray (that drains) and putting your products in it? That way you can get both. This might work especially if the bench is at least partly shielded from view from outside, if you care about your products being out in the open. The niches are useful but they do take some extra cleaning and I have to say that I don't love them. (there have been threads on the value of niches--people have definite views!) The bench is a really nice look. I am not sure how much anyone really uses it to sit (maybe as I age, I will sing a different tune) but it is nice to prop up the leg when washing or shaving.
golfschnell
12 years ago
In a smaller shower space (tore out old tub) in my guest bath I did a large rectangular niche on the back wall, 2 built in shelves in each corner (1 above an 1 below the niche footprint), and a fold-up teak seat on the wall opposite from the shower heads. The fold up seat is great as it takes up very room, is comfortable when down, and you don't have to lug it in and out of the shower.
Olychick
12 years ago
I have a smallish (by today's standards) shower. I wanted a bench the length of the shower, but it was too crowded. I compromised on a corner bench and even though I don't really like them, it turned out great. I got one of the larger prefab ones and it's big enough for a fanny or a foot. Might that work?
numbersjunkie
12 years ago
I just did a shower that was 60 x 33 approx. I have niches on the long wall, and a portable bench I bought from Amazon on the short wall. Love both the niches and bench. Plenty of room, unless you shower with a friend. ;-)

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abd1
12 years ago
Our shower is 54"x54" and we wanted a niche. However, one of the sides of the shower is an exterior wall and the other side has the main valve and a lot of plumbing in it, so we just couldn't find a great spot for a niche. So we decided on a corner bench with a corner shelf above it. We don't really plan on sitting on the bench much, and most posters who I read said they didn't sit on their benches either, but we do use it to place shampoos and product and its a great place for my wife to put her foot on when shaving. The upper shelf is used for soap. Here's a pic:

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User
12 years ago
I'm pretty sure our shower is smaller than yours and we have both, may not be exactly what you envisioned, but I love how functional the space is. These are from when it was still under construction, we used glass shelving in the niche:

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