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Shower - Full Wall or Pony Wall

6 years ago

I am remodeling the master bath and swapping the horrid tub/shower combination for just a larger shower.

Should I opt for the short end to be a pony wall with glass or just a tall wall.

I am having a bench built at that end of the shower and with a tall wall I could have a niche built into that wall.

Originally the designer only had a niche for storage at that end but I told her that given that I wash my hair etc. under the shower head, I need storage at the end for hair stuff and liquid soap so I am going to have some kind of corner shelf unit installed at the shower head end.

I guess it would be convenient to have extra storage in the shower for the kind of stuff I might do sitting down like shaving or whatever.

There isn't any window so natural light isn't an issue and there sure isn't going to be a view that is blocked by a tall wall.

Any thoughts in terms of aesthetics and/or functionality?

Thanks

Featured Answer

roarah

6 years ago

I prefer a full wall when the view behind the wall is a toilet. Cheaper than half glass, more convenient for storage and blocks the toilet fully to me it is an easy decision.

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Comments (8)

just_janni
6 years ago
If you could sketch a layout - that would be helpful... It's hard to visualize your space.
Helen thanked just_janni
Helen
Original Author
6 years ago
Sorry I thought I had attached the plan - here goes.

The arrow points to the wall in question - the opposite end towards the door is where the shower head is. I will be installing a handheld shower towards the middle of the long shower wall so I can use it either standing or sitting on the bench.
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So your tile guy didn't mind working around the switch apparently and looks like he did a good job. The liner is centered exactly,. Nice. So how high is your tile wall? Can you post another pic of the shower area? Where the wall meets the shower. my bathrooms have a similar black and white vintage tile theme but simpler (bullnose instead of prettier chair rail) to save $$$ but I do have the same cove tile at the bottom and I wish I had thought to do it in black instead of white. Darn. Love your red wall.
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If you have to go with a visible niche, here is what I did. I went to Bath and Body Works and bought several bottles of shower gel. The shower gels come in clear plastic squirt bottles with silver chrome-looking tops. I emptied a couple of shower gels into spare bottles, removed the labels, and put my other products in the empty BBW bottles. Then I marked them on the bottom with a sharpie to identify: B for body gel, F for face wash, S for shampoo, C for conditioner. You can’t see the sharpie marks. The bottles look really nice in the niche. BTW I have a custom niche that was sized to work seamlessly with the tile I chose. EDIT: I would consider doing the border on the bottom of the walls like a baseboard to make the shower floor look bigger. Re the niche: I was warned about water seepage as well, so I towel dry the niche after every shower. It’s not a big deal. Also, my custom niche was framed out inside the wall so I could put it where I wanted. (My shower is small: 30x 60) Also think about how much water will be hitting the niche. In the pic with the pony wall, there might be a lot of water coming at the niche. My niche sees hardly any water because the shower spray hits the floor several inches before it gets to the niche wall.
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Call your own shower glass vendor (or more than one) - tell them what you want and get a price from them / measure as it is now and as you would like it to be and get both costs from them including installation - do not go to the builders vendor as they may have an agreement - since your builder is using his own vendor he will get you the cheapest set up. Is it frameless? framed? I would ask builder for photos of what he is planning to install with the measurements and ask him for his price options to make the pony wall narrower with a larger door / opening - discuss with hubby what is the size you want the opening / door to be and work from there.. your builder will probably not give you the price of the glass unless your contract / estimate / bid states materials costs.. I am a plumber and we work on flat rate - we use standard items unless clients want something other and we price on flat rate not time / labor / materials... I am sure you are stressed right now.. it will all work out - if you can live with it the way it is then do so - if not make the changes :-)
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Thank you! The 1/2" looks great, so that makes me comfortable moving forward with that. Yes, reviewing the guidance for the shower glass, I noticed the same note on needing it to be flush along the edge that the glass will wrap, so need to figure that one out too--but we may try to use the 5" top there and hope that it is exactly flush and not a fraction of an inch too narrow. That wall is measuring at 4.5" right now and will only have tile on one side, so I *think* it will be just shy of 5" finished, since the tile is 1/4" thick.
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MongoCT
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Because of the shower configuration you describe, I don't see an advantage to a traditional height pony wall at that location and I'd recommend that the end wall be closed from floor to ceiling.

I'm not seeing a window in that plan that could admit natural light, but if there is one and it's just not on the plan, or if you simply want to lighten the look of that end wall, you could have a pony wall with a glass partition on top.

Regardless of how it's constructed, I'd prefer a full height wall as the partition between toilet and shower.
Helen thanked MongoCT
Helen
Original Author
6 years ago
Mongo - To clarify, if I had a pony wall, there would be glass on it. The issue is whether to go with a pony wall with glass or a full solid wall with tile which would enable me to have the niche at that end for storage.

With the pony and glass, I couldn’t have a niche at that end.
Helen
Original Author
6 years ago
OK. Thanks - The consensus is that there is nothing to be gained from having a pony wall since there is no natural light and no view and I would gain the storage niche above the bench at the end.
just_janni
6 years ago
And the pony wall only adds another seam between different materials for gunk or a leak. :-)
Helen thanked just_janni
Helen
Original Author
6 years ago
jannicone - I never thought of that. That - leaving aside anything else - is the deciding reason. :-)

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