Shower advice needed, please

[Suelle]

Does anyone have experience of this type of walk-in shower enclosure, please?

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/sat ... 00-x-800mm

Does the configuration of the screens/walls stop any water getting out of the enclosure, or does some spray still escape? I don't want a wet room, but like this idea, if it works.

[earthmaiden]

I've been looking at that kind of thing lately too and wondered about that! I plan to go for a unit that size with doors which enable one to[
to stand in the whole area. I like that as you can step away to escape the spray for short periods and also can take a stool in if you can't stand for long for any reason, especially as you get older. The 'outer lobby' seems a bit of a waste of space otherwise.

[StokeySue]

I've used a couple in hotels, they seem to be fine IF the water drains away fast enough

Speaking of hotels - if the shower is the kind that is a thermostatic mixer, as mine is, mixing hot from the combi with cold, hotels always have surface mounted ones. They don't look as nice as conceled ones perhaps but they are cheaper and,more importantly, once fitted they can be replaced by a competent handyman quite simply, and the thermostat is the only component likely to wear out and need replacing. Took me ages (and some cash )to work that out

[Ratatouille]

DD wanted to install something similar from the same company in the house next door but the plumber wouldn't unless it also had grab rails and a shelf/container for toiletries. he said current regulations wouldn't allow it because it is not safe to have to bend down to pick up the soap !
As I get less mobile I can absolutely see the point.

[suffolk]

Has he never heard of soap on a rope?

[Suelle]

DD wanted to install something similar from the same company in the house next door but the plumber wouldn't unless it also had grab rails and a shelf/container for toiletries. he said current regulations wouldn't allow it because it is not safe to have to bend down to pick up the soap !
As I get less mobile I can absolutely see the point.

I think what ones puts inside the shower cubicle can suit ones mobility, dexterity and decorating taste. I'd definitely have some sort of shampoo receptacle and possibly a grab rail too.

At the moment I'm more concerned about whether the concept works well, or whether I'd be better off choosing a shower enclosure with fully closing doors.

[Zosherooney]

My shower in the room above the new garage is just being installed. 3 walls of the bathroom form the sides of the shower and I have a bi fold door (glass) door for the '4th' wall which keeps all the water in the right place. The shower pan is 900 x 900. It is bijoux but it is all you need for the designated area. We will be adopting the same '3 wall' idea for the new bathroom on phase II, it saves buying a shower cubicle. I have decided to do away with tiles and grout and have gone for this https://www.panelcompany.co.uk/cascade- ... CoQAvD_BwE

[karadekoolaid]

I´ve not used that specific shower unit, but I have used many, many which are similar. The concept works fine.
Never mind soap-on-a-rope; use shower gel!

[suffolk]

You still need a shelf for shower gel, if you're not going to bend down to pick it up ... which was the plumber's objection to the set up

[Ratatouille]

Perhaps you can get shower gel on a rope

[karadekoolaid]

Dead right, Suffs - perhaps a Velcro wrap around the right arm!

[PatsyMFagan]

I've used a couple in hotels, they seem to be fine IF the water drains away fast enough

Speaking of hotels - if the shower is the kind that is a thermostatic mixer, as mine is, mixing hot from the combi with cold, hotels always have surface mounted ones. They don't look as nice as conceled ones perhaps but they are cheaper and,more importantly, once fitted they can be replaced by a competent handyman quite simply, and the thermostat is the only component likely to wear out and need replacing. Took me ages (and some cash )to work that out

I second SSue's suggestion .. I recently had to replace my shower. The new one has a shelf fixed on the up/down rail .. so very useful for shower gel .. However, a lot of showers these days have a (clear) retaining ring that holds flexible hose against the up/down rail … not ideal when you sometimes need to use the shower head for rinsing hair of dye (or indeed showering a dog ! ) I had to remove this retaining ring for both these reasons

[Amber]

We have a wet room style power shower with a 900cm plain glass screen...we love it.

We were a bit miffed last week to find the hotel’s cleaner had left a large floor squeegee behind . After a shower the next morning, we understood why. It was the most powerful shower (rainfall and usual shower head) I’ve ever had, and it went everywhere! Fortunately it was a fully tiled wet room style shower room.

[Rainbow]

I've used showers that are open and have always found water gets out and makes a mess!! Maybe they just didn't drain fast enough, but I think I'd still splash water out of the enclosure
Personally I'd never have a shower that wasn't fully enclosed and I'd rather not have tiles and grout to keep clean!!
Unfortunately the alternatives aren't at all popular over here so we are back to tiles at our new place now!

[Suelle]

Thanks, Rainbow - even one person confirming seepage of water is enough to convince me a fully enclosed shower is probably preferable.

[uschi]

Has he never heard of soap on a rope?

Or the trusty "Seifensäckchen" (soap bag), beloved of my East German relatives and us, too. Nylon soap bags with a rope to use up leftover soap and to get a good scrub (no nano particles here).



There is also a more stylish, but less robust version available.

[StokeySue]

I remember a version ofthose from the 1950s and 60s Uschi
Ours looked more like the netting oranges come in, and were only used for collecting the last slivers of bath soap for hand washing, so the contents was a patchwork of different soaps, often slightly grubby

[uschi]

The ones at the top are made of something like coloured fishing line, so they are very durable and give a good scrub/massage. All you do is give them a good lather and rinse, then they are clean again and dry quickly and easily.
Mind you, I don't just use them for leftovers, the mainstay is always a big bar of baby soap, so not grubby at all.
I have problems with shower gels and the like, but the soap-sack keeps me clean and squeaky.

[earthmaiden]

On the subject of water not draining away quickly enough, when MIL went into a first floor sheltered housing flat she decided to have a large shower cubicle installed in place of the bath. She chose one of those companies that advertises baths for the less able and one of the things they deemed necessary was an electric pump which came on when the shower went on (I think) and stayed on for a few minutes at the end of the shower. It was very expensive and I could never see the point but thinking about it now, maybe it is something to consider. I don't really see why, if when showering in the bath, the water gets away ok, why it wouldn't if you install a shower with the drain in the same place. I do know that they fit a strange configuration under ordinary shower trays though, I wonder if it makes drainage less efficient.

[StokeySue]

Sury if water doesn't drain efficiently from a shower over a bath it doesn't really matter, a bath can hold around 80 litres of water. But a shower tray only holds - what - 15 or 20 litres?

Remember Teresa found her wet room did not work without a pump

[earthmaiden]

Sury if water doesn't drain efficiently from a shower over a bath it doesn't really matter, a bath can hold around 80 litres of water. But a shower tray only holds - what - 15 or 20 litres?
Remember Teresa found her wet room did not work without a pump

Quite so. My point was that if I have successfully showered in the (non sloping) bath for 20 years without standing in a pool of water in the process, why, if I have a shower stall installed in place of the bath, which will use the same drain, would the water drain away more slowly? I think the way they plumb in the pipe between the shower tray and existing drain is a factor. It does seem as though a pump is well worth considering if there is any doubt, although it would add to the cost. Hopefully a non-cowboy plumber would give good advice.

[StokeySue]

Ah, didn't follow you, sorry earthmaiden

All I can think is that the drain of my bath is a good 15 cm above floor board level, but in a shower tray I suspect the drain would not be much above floor board level, so maybe there just wouldn't be enough vertical drop to speed it up before it went into the more or less vertical (edit: I mean horizontal, I often make this error!) pipe that runs between the joists? That would be even more of an issue with Teresa's wet room

Going back to soap, I might have another look at cleansing bars and special soaps, my skin tends not to like actual soap much

[uschi]

Have you tried ordinary baby soap, Sue.
My face does not like it, but it's fine for the rest.

[StokeySue]

Baby soap is still soap, not a mild low pH detergent which suits me better And I don't like the smell of baby powder / soap, so unless someone makes an unscented one I shan't be trying it out.

I used to manage better with the transparent glycerin soaps than the opaque ones, but not that well

A quick Google suggests a couple of Italian brands out there, so maybe I'll have a look when I'm in Italy soon

[TeresaFoodie]

I've not used the type of shower where advice is needed, but with regards to my wet room, I think Sue has hit the nail on the head re why mine needs a pump. The relatively small amount of water used doesn't have enough oomph behind it to push it towards the drainage outlet which is either completely on the same horizontal level or ever so slightly higher, therefore without the pump the water is just going to fill the pipe from the plug hole and then start backing up into the room.

[TeresaFoodie]

Nobody want this while they're rinsing their hair colour off.

[uschi]

Sue, I know the problem. What suits one skin doesn't suit another. I have problems with synthetic "soaps", for instance, others love them.
There are always those, "build your own soap" kits to turn to, for the ingredients and (perhaps) scents of choice. We used to have shops selling everything you needed to brew your own cosmetics in every town, but sadly the trend seems to be over now. It all goes via the internet.

[StokeySue]

As an ex-chemist, soap is very much synthetic! And however you make it soap is chemically much the same - what makes it soap is a

To a scientist soap is definitely synthetic - and all soaps are chemically related, and I'm pretty sure it's soap my skin doesn't like


I did a bit more digging and came up with some very expensive facial bars, a brand called SebaMed that I'll look at, but it contains colour, talc and perfume. Aveeno do a bar that sounds ideal but for some reason the don't market it in the UK, though it comes up in a search because of course you can get it through the internet. I like Aveeno, so that's ratherannoying

[suffolk]

Sue, have you checked the Aveeno baby range ... I sometimes find that they do similar formulations (as far as I, a non chemist can tell).

[uschi]

As an ex-chemist, soap is very much synthetic! And however you make it soap is chemically much the same - what makes it soap is a

To a scientist soap is definitely synthetic - and all soaps are chemically related, and I'm pretty sure it's soap my skin doesn't like

Ah, I didn't phrase that correctly, then. Maybe "traditional" would have been better than "synthetic".
I was thinking of what is called "Syndet" in German. These dry out my skin and give me hives.

[Ratatouille]

Su for you to try.e neither Mr R or i can use most soaps, that was until we met the pur olive oil soaps here - Savon de Marseilles. I'd be more than happy to send you a couple of sample bars.

[Amber]

I have very sesnsitive skin and don’t use soap (apart from hand-washing), but through trial and error I’ve found that common Radox gel (esp the dark green one) suits me fine. I use it as a shampoo too. However, after staying just a few miles from Rats, I can vouch for the local olive oil shower gel. It’s not my favourite smell, but very good for my hair and skin. It was supplied in our gite and I scoured the shops in St Sat till I found the same one.

[Zosherooney]

I use aqueous cream on my face and have done for years, suits my skin type.

[StokeySue]

Unfortunately aqueous cream BP contains sodium lauryl sulphate and that doesn't suit me either, there is a move to reformulate the cream as SLS is a very common trigger for rosacea, so not a good place to put it.

For me no soap, no SLS, no witch hazel. I did have a problem with some colouring in bath products, but I think all those have been withdrawn. Scents don't affect my skin

A bit more googling revealed that one of the main online UK retailers of the Aveeno bar is Pak, whose main store is less than a mike away, so I'll pop in some time and investigate

[Kitewatcher]

Please leave something in the budget for non-slip flooring. A God send IMO.

[earthmaiden]

Funny you should mention that kitewatcher, the same thing occurred to me as something to add to the tick list this morning!

[Amber]

We have ‘non-slip’ tiles. They’re not allowed to call them that any more, but they very definitely are non-slip!
(I have a bit of a ‘thing’ about slippy floors... )

[Rainbow]

The place we're in at the moment has high-gloss white porcelain tiles throughout - including the showers!! There should be building regs. about it
I bought a plastic shower mat to put on the shower floor - not very elegant (it's transparent plastic, so not too bad!) but much better than slipping over, I feel!