Our rain showerhead will be installed this week so I'm still waiting to find out if we made a good choice but here are my thoughts... 1. I need help deciding if 8 inch is wide enough to enjoy the rain shower experience. I am concerned that if I go larger, I will have an issue with less pressure causing it to be less enjoyable. Besides the diameter of the head, there are also varying numbers of nozzles and also the GPM rating to consider. I would look for the highest GPM, which seems to be 2.5, from what I found. 2. I also don't know whether to ceiling or wall mount it. 3. If I do wall mount it, how long should the arm be? I also prefer the look of a ceiling mount but agree with nycbluedevil. 4. If I ceiling mount on 8 foot ceiling, how long is the arm? It will depend alot on the height of the rainhead that you choose because I found that they vary quite a bit. We have a tiled 8' ceiling and just had to choose a different rainhead because we decided to go with a shower door that went right up to our soffit. The door cleared the 5" stub left by the plumbers but none of us realized at the time that our rainhead was unusually tall. We ultimately found a rainhead with a lower profile and won't be using an arm at all. 5. Is there a disadvantage to a arm with a hook rather than a straight design w/wall mounting? I can't think of a disadvantage other than any limitations (outside walls, etc) you might have on where you could run your plumbing. Can I mix other vendor hardware - is polished nickel the same across vendors? It's not the same across vendors but it can still be mixed in many cases. We have all Sigma faucets but will use a Jado rainhead in place of the Sigma rainhead. Jado calls their polished nickel "platinum nickel" but it goes just fine with my Sigma faucets. Sitting side by side with my Sigma rainhead, it might look ever so slightly cooler in tone but that would never be noticeable once it's installed. If you decide to mix vendors, I'd just make sure that one (or both) have a return policy if you don't like how they match. Here is a link that might be useful: My previous thread about rainheads

I talked to the plumber this morning to check this out and he said it is usually not a problem. Sometimes, it is, but usually it isn't. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that it all works. In my case, I don't need to change any valves, I just need a shower head and a valve cover for the shower. If I'm lucky and I have space they might be able to use the sprayer in the bathrub, but if they can't I'll just use the tub filler faucet and handles. I am pretty happy to hear it, I've got a 10% off coupon for Overstock. I recently ordered a chandy there that turned out to be great and I want to give them another try with the fixtures...and I found something I can afford!

I would go with 1 or 2 regular shower heads and 1 handshower on a slide bar. The handshower on the slidebar comes in handy for shaving legs, showering kids and for cleaning the shower. How many regular shower heads you have will also depend on shower setup (i.e. door placement). The rainshower head mounted on the ceiling is a personal preference thing. We have one and DH does not like it (even though he was the one that specced it). I use it at the end of my shower as a refresher--I run it just long enough for the cold water to dissipate through while the warm regular shower is still running, then I turn them both off. DS2 loves having the rainshower, the regular shower and the handshower going all at once on him (keep in mind he's only 7)--although it does make it feel spa-like without all those wall jets that require so much water pressure and volume. Hope this helps!

A 2/3rds-height toilet wall would contain pretty much all of the water. You could go 3/4 for more protection and a bit more shower privacy. My shower is about the same size and the wall opposite the shower head doesn't see much water up high. Rainheads are a nice for what they are. I have one as a secondary head and we both like it. But as a primary shower head, no I don't recommend them for that. For large showers like yours, I do recommend a handheld somewhere in there with a long hose. Handheld heads offer the same spray strength and patterns as fixed heads. Having one of your heads on a long hose allows you to easily rinse down all corners of the shower when cleaning. Handhelds can be on a sliding bar or on fixed brackets. Consider mounting the shower valve by the shower entry. That way the shower can be turned on without having to step deep into the shower. Depending on where you locate the shower head that is closer to the door? If this will be a doorless entry consider tiling the floor outside the shower entry. The bathroom floor between the shower and the vanity might see some droplets.