Height of the rainshower head? I'd bring it down no lower than about 12" above the height of the tallest user. It can be a bit lower, but try to stay at least 8" above the top of the tallest user's head. Depending on the style of head you're using, 18" to 24" extension will work fine. Most true rainshower heads will not perform well unless they are installed parallel to the floor. So installing them on an angle, as they might be when coming out of a wall? You'll get some "rain" and some "dribble". There are hybrid rainshower heads that are designed to replace a standard head coming out of a wall, but they're not true rainshower heads. They usually have fewer holes to give a more forceful spray. They are "in between" heads. I've not heard of cleaning problems with metal hoses. I suppose hard water could bring that into play. I do recommend getting a hose long enough so that you can use the head to wash down all surfaces in the shower. You can also get additional head hanging brackets, they're only a few dollars each, so you can mount a bracket to hold the head at knee height for shaving legs, etc. Metal versus plastic? Some metal heads are cheesey, some plastic heads are fabulous. I've showered in all types of settings, from razor sprays that are painful to the gentlest of rainshowers. From one shower head to full-blown 24 head spa setups that make you feel like you're in a car wash. When I built my own shower, there were no limitations. My wife had carte blanche, we had no budget. All we did was we put in two heads on two valves. A 12" overhead rainshower, it was about $100 for the head. On the wall I installed a Grohe Top4 Relaxa head on a vertical wall bracket. I'm 6'4", my wife is 5'1". The head is easy to slide up and down as required. It can also be taken off the clip to be used as a hand held. I installed another bracket lower on the wall for my wife to use when shaving her legs. She can sit on a teak bench and clip the Top4 head into that bracket while she does that. I have two separate on/off supply valves, one for the overhad and one for the handheld. They can be run independently or simultaneously. They are simple valves, Temptrol. It's an excellent valve that will never cause problems. $100 for the rainhead, I think it was around $175-$200 for the entire Grohe setup, the Top4 head, the bar, the extra long hose, etc, about $200 for the two Temptrol valves. $500 for the whole shebang. No regrets. In a tub/shower combo, a rainshower head could be brought to the ceiling. There are plumbing kits that have chromed or other finish tubing that can be surface mounted on the wall to bring the water to an overhead rainhead. But mounting a rainshower head on a typical angled arm coming out of the wall? You might not get good water flow out of that. I have installed in-the-wall plumbing so that a rainshower head could come out of the ceiling in a standard tub/shower surround. The setups have had the standard wall tub filler and wall shower valve setup, I've usually installed a diverter valve so the water could come out of the wall shower head or the overhead rainshower head. Nothing ghastly about that at all. I would not have just a rainshower head as your only head. As other have mentioned, it's a very gentle flow of water, and does not do a good job of penetrating hair to rinse out shampoo. Mongo

Hansgrohe is good overall (and they always look great!), but if you ever need to replace anything, their parts can be a bit expensive compared to some other brands, though this is not as much of an issue for handhelds. Also, Hansgrohe's changed their distribution recently, so make sure that if you're ordering it online, they have it on hand, otherwise they might have difficulty getting it. I've really not noticed much difference between water pressure without a handheld and with, but then again, all of my showerheads have that 2.5 gpm rating. If your old handheld wasn't 2.5, or had the restrictor removed, that might have been the difference. Some current showerheads/handhelds have removeable restrictors (just a little gaskety thing shoved in there somewhere) while some have it really well built in and just cannot be removed without destroying something. The sellers, unfortunately, can't encourage you to remove it, and so won't (or don't know) what kind of restrictor a given showerhead has. Best bet? Make sure you can return it if it doesn't work out... Personally, I had a Delta/Alsons In2Ition for years and loved it. I currently have a Sprite filtered handshower and while not the prettiest thing, it does exactly what we wanted it to - filter water and be a handheld! FYI: Some of the home-store staple brands (Moen, Kohler, Price Pfister) have been transitioning to "rust free" plastics from things that were previously brass (thanks CA low lead laws and rising metal prices)... but what that often means is that connections are plastic, and therefore easier to crack on accident. I saw one recently that came with a plastic shower arm! Plastic has it's place, I just think supporting weight in my shower is not one of them... You'll find most handhelds to be plastic-bodied regardless of brand, which is usually fine as who really wants to wave around a huge chunk of brass? Not me - I'll do my bicep curls outside of the shower, thank you. Where I've found the things I like to pay attention to: I want a massage function, a medium sort of spray function, and a trickle function. So that's all I look for as far as spray patterns. Different manufacturers call their spray patterns different things. You'll have to find out what Hansgrohe means by their names - there might be reviews or even images on the Hansgrohe site that shows the spray pattern to help you get a good idea. Another biggie when I'm looking: The quality of mounting brackets varies wildly and so do the hoses. I would suggest to try to make sure the mounting bracket (the bit that screws onto the shower arm) is brass or stainless steel if at all possible, otherwise you're almost certainly looking at replacing it yearly. Vinyl hoses will have to be replaced after a few years in most homes, too. Double spiral hoses (they look like these http://www.plumbingsupply.com/images/delta-shower-hose-ultraflex-u490-494-series-lg.jpg) have a high end look and last longer. However, if you love everything else about the handheld, both the bracket and hose are easy to replace - most handhelds have 1/2" ips connections on both ends, so you can get a replacement hose or bracket pretty much anywhere you like. Last thing - if you have hard water and no softener, definitely look for easy-clean nibs on the head, or even reviews by people with hard water to see if it'll just clog up on you after a month (another reason for the Sprite). So, that's my 2cents, hope it helps!

Delta Faucet has adjustable sliding hand held shower/grab bars. You get the benefit of a hand held plus the safety of a grab bar. They have traditional and contemporary styles. The traditional which looks like your picture is Model # 51900. https://www.deltafaucet.com/parts-product-detail?modelNumber=51900 You can design your own and buy any length and style of their grab bars, add the hand shower mount Model#: U6400, a shower hose and pick your own shower head.

Not all Slide bars with adjustable hand showers are grab bars. It has to say so and give the amount of weight it supports. Delta has both regular Slide bars with adjustable hand showers and adjustable slide bar/grab bars. You can buy it assembled or pick your own parts to pick the shower head you like. I liked a longer shower/grab bar and searched the Delta site for their longer grab bars and the separate hand shower mount and separate hose and elbow. https://www.deltafaucet.com/bathroom/product/51500 https://www.deltafaucet.com/bathroom/product/51600-SS https://www.deltafaucet.com/bathroom/product/51900-SS https://www.deltafaucet.com/bathroom/product/56302 Separate pieces to build your own https://www.deltafaucet.com/search-results?searchTerm=grab+bars https://www.deltafaucet.com/bathroom/product/U6500-RB Hand shower mount https://www.deltafaucet.com/parts-product-detail?modelNumber=U495D-SS60-PK -Hose https://www.deltafaucet.com/search-results?searchTerm=hand+shower+elbows