In my bathroom with vaulted ceilings we built an alcove shower instead of an open one and dropped the ceiling to 9 feet in just the shower. i wanted warmth and this achieved it. not sure if this is an option for you with the sky light. The ceiling in the shower is not cathedral it is flat with a rain can at 9ft not thirteen like the highest peak in the room.

Not open and airy but a warm steamy encapsule with pot lights and a thirty six inch round window across from the glass and a double hung next to it and on the third wall across wall side of the stall.

Even if i forget to turn on my fan and were to take a thirty minute hot shower my mirror never even steams up.

IMO a good way to handle the issue. BTW you turn the fan on before you turn on the shower it is too late by the time moisture is detected. We leave ours on for about an hour after too.

Either confine the space of the shower as suggested above, or take a blanket in with you every time you shower. Your choice.

Looks like a choice between visual comfort and velocity of molecular movement comfort (the faster the air molecules go, the warmer things are)..

And if those molecules are moving away from you, there're taking the warm with them.

Thanks to all for the input. I have to laugh when I see all these pics on houzz of vaulted bathroom showers and not a fan (or even a light/fan) in sight - they are asking for trouble. I don't like being cold...but I want my daylight shower (and thought the ceiling is18', the room is only 12 x 17....so all that glass makes the room feel larger.) Thoughts on enclosing the shower with glass up to the ceiling (maybe using some planned columns to help provide support at each corner so the glass is more like a "window" in between the columns - but to the full height of the existing ceiling (with appropriately beefed up fan)? I think it won't be cold for long - ceiling is nowhere near 18' at that point (more like 12' (13 maybe?) at the highest possible ceiling point that is over the shower I would guess).

I have to wonder if the position of that fan has something to do with it as well. I feel like it should more over the center of the shower.

Nothing will really help with the cold except a ceiling to the shower. Maybe talk to a glass shop and see if you can do new glass walls and some sort of ceiling in the shower out of glass - but that creates a whole other venting issue

PS - I did see this enclosed, valuted shower on decor pad (although it screams big bucks to me....)

https://cdn.decorpad.com/photos/2018/04/09/vaulted-ceiling-walk-in-shower.jpg

I agree the fan is too far to the side of the shower...

Can you move the shower? Maybe post a floor plan. With three windows in my bath my three wall one 5ft glass wall placed properly in a small 13x8 room feels bright, large and warm. the sky light does not need to be in the stall maybe just infront of a 5 ft glass wall to give you the open and bright feel while maintaining heat.

The glass enclosure is cool but ugg image keeping the tracks clean and mold free. frameless is better by far.

That glass enclosure is awesome! Maybe they can do something similar with less framing. Yes It would be costly and possibly difficult to clean :(

Actually I was wondering about something like this:

It's a steam shower - it has a glass ceiling. Not sure how the exhaust is done.

I don't really have the appetite to move major plumbing...We redid this bathroom ourselves 10ish years ago (Gutted it. Took out 2 windows/added the big window above the tub (which meant brickwork outside); added the skylight; vaulted the formerly 8' ceilings (with a little help from a friend who was a contractor and knew how to do that!); replaced the mauve 1980s tub, sinks, toilet - and yes, carpet! LOL. We spent lots of money on the layout (which we do really like other than the shower issue which, worst case, we fix by "roofing" it in some way. We are going to make one minor change to the shower. Right now, the front "corner" of the shower (the wall shared with the vanity) is unused shower space. Shower handles are on that wall inside the shower, but nobody "uses" that space when showering because the heads are in the middle. By eliminating that space (and squaring off the shower to 4'x4' plus a 1' bench inside) will will have space for the linen closet that we didn't design into our DIY - my biggest regret by far! Otherwise, we will replace all counter tops, all tile (except - maybe - the floor, and that is a big maybe because it is not a color I want to head towards), lighting fixtures, faucets, but we are trying to keep the bones intact as much as possible.

Debbie - I have never seen a steam shower like that before (but maybe what an earlier poster was trying to describe to me - a "skylight" in the shower). That has serious possibilities! Awesome idea!

I had never seen a shower like that either - I stumbled across it in google... I would have a chat with a glass shop - I am sure this is not the first time this has come up!

In the winter shower in a different bathroom. Thats what my husband does.

Do you have proper insulation on the sloped ceiling?

Is the skylight installed properly and watertight?

Just thinking of other reason for the mildew/mold ...

Worst of the problem is localized to the shower-my fan above the shower is actually rusting. you can just make that out in the pic i posted if you really look. i have never seen anything that would leave me to believe the skylight is leaking. no drips, runs, water on the floor/tub below. I have, on many occasions, WITH THE FAN TURNED ON BEFORE I GET IN THE SHOWER, created a steam cloud in the room (generally hanging a few feet above the shower glass wall…). if heat didnt escape so easily from the shower, i think we wouldnt run it so hot so long and would not have as much of an issue.

I agree with the comment to investigate if it is a roof or skylight leak making the "mold" at that junction. If you are going to do work anyway, cutting into the drywall to investigate internal moisture may be worth it. I really love the current open look. Can you try adding a more powerful exhaust fan instead of doing a remodel?

Can you post a measured floor plan?

We had a bathroom with a similar ceiling layout for thirty years. Our shower was in an alcove, so we didn’t have the warmth issue, but in spite of a good fan, and good fan practices, we did have some steam issues. Problem solved when we replace the skylight with a venting skylight by vellux. Even leaving it open an inch solved the problem. Never had a rain issue. We liked it so much we did the same in our current home when we built it. Good luck

My master bathroom also has a vaulted ceiling above the shower - starts at 9’ and vaults to 11’. My SO takes extremely hot and very long showers. I am in the middle of renovating this bathroom - the existing shower has been ripped out. I didn’t have any type of mold/mildew issue anywhwere around the shower (or elsewhere in the bathroom). Also, my fan was not located nearly as close to the shower as yours is.

I feel like there is some type of issue with your fan or it’s placement.

Some questions:

1. When calculating the size of fan needed for the bathroom, was the vaulted ceiling accounted for in the total cubic feet?

2. Was fan installed with the required 3’ of straight duct work? Also, my understanding is that some fans are not suitable for placing on a slope.

3. Is there sufficient make-up air? Fan won’t work correctly if not. One test is running fan with door 1/2” open - if air flow tries to close door, there is not enough.

4. Is duct sized correctly? If duct run is greater than 20’ (think that’s the correct number), it should be sized up one size.

5. Is duct insulated? In the photo, it looks like there might be mildew/mold around the vent. This will happen when water forms on duct work when not adequately insulated.

6. Is the duct a straight run? How far away does it vent to outside? Shortest and straightest route is preferable.

7. When the fan is directly over the shower, it can cause a cold draft in the shower, which will cause the person showering to get colder - which will lead to hotter water being used.

I‘ve been told that the best placement is a little bit outside of shower area - and should be located so it is between shower and bathroom door (just a few feet from shower on ceiling).

For some reason, either due to size/air flow/placement/etc the fan is not removing the moist air as it should be.

I’m just another homeowner - who has done some research on this issue but has no special training/knowledge in this area. Keep that in mind when reading my suggestions/advice!

Put a tempered glass roof on the shower; the kind they use for walkways. You'd have to beef up the support for it though. Light in, lid on, heat stays inside. It might even be possible to suspend a sheet of the glass a few inches above the shower, so the shower walls don't have to carry the weight of it, and there is some space for the steam to get out and be handled by the fan. Here is some kind of resin skylight that might be adapted if the weight is a problem. Just brainstorming!

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Dmac, after 10+ years, I found out TODAY that the fan runs and exits through our eaves (both shower walls are outside walls), and…DH never cut the hole in the eves where the fan is supposed to exit. The air cannot get out. Seriously. I’m at a loss for words.

Arg. Well, that explains it.

Looks like you solved the mold issue!

Sigh. Yep. However, I am not going to stop at just cutting out the exit hole for the fan. When we redo, you have all raised lots of other good issues I’ll address in terms of fan size and placement as well as ways to enclose the shower for more warmth without losing the natural light. Had I not started this topic with all of you I may not have talked to DH and ha may never have recalled what he forgot! Many, many thanks, Houzzer’s!!

Kim - guess I need to edit my comment:

”8. Check to see if the duct work for your fan is actually vented to the outside.”

😂

Glad that you’ve figured out the issue. It seemed really odd to have a mildew/mold issue in that spot!