Bath with shower, or separate shower - wwyd?

[oif]

We're struggling to work out what's the best solution for bathrooms in our new house (moving out of London to a bigger house and going from 1 small bathroom to potentially 3 bathrooms).

Currently we have 2DCs, 3yo and 1yo. Hoping for one more at some point.

At the moment we are planning to have:

1. en-suite off our bedroom with a separate bath and shower as DP likes walk-in showers and I like baths.
   
2. small en-suite off guest room with just a shower, loo and basin
   
3. family bathroom near kids' room, just for kids use
   

So the question is whether to put a separate shower and bath in family bathroom, or just a shower over the bath.

I'm tending towards shower over bath, primarily as that seems like less to clean to me, plus frees up room for more storage and a comfy chair. Also the guest en-suite is very close, so if a walk-in shower is needed up there, kids or whoever can use en-suite.

But would a separate shower in bathroom end up being useful as kids get older? I don't even know what age they would start using shower themselves (we never had a shower in my family house growing up).

Feels a bit silly not to put a shower in when there's room for it; otoh it's extra cost that might be completely wasted.

What would you do??? V grateful or any thoughts!

[Catsmamma]

if you have the room always a sep cubicle for the shower.

also if you have a combi boiler try and make sure at leas one shower is all electric then when your combi oiler breaks you can still have a hot shower.

I will NEVER live in a house without an electric shower! We had a very unreliable combi boiler that just kept breaking down piece of crap

[TunipTheUnconquerable]

Shower over the bath, so you have more options - it's useful in some situations (eg for washing hair in bath or washing out muddy wetsuits).

[ShoeWhore]

I'd do separate shower and bath if you have space. (A shower attachment is still useful on the bath for cleaning etc - my mum has this on her bath)

My dcs are now aged 6-9 and nearly always shower rather than have a bath. It's much easier and safer for them to walk into a shower cubicle rather than climb in and out of a bath (the 7 and 9yo shower themselves now, I still supervise the 6yo)

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

We have 1 shower room & 1 bathroom with over-bath shower.

The latter is really useful for all sorts of domestic activities - apart from just shampooing hair (of people both in bath & out), over the years it's been used for things like sluicing mud off football kit, pre-washing heavy things like coats, & washing animal stuff like hamster/rat cages & cat litter trays

You can do some of those in a shower cubicle too but it's a lot more convenient over the bath; as you will have shower cubicles elsewhere, I'd go with large bath & shower over in the kids' one

Ours is 15 years old & the bath has straight sides & a 5-fold door. I'd get one of those baths with a curved wider bit now.

[oif]

catsmamma - we're getting new megaflo boiler fitted. I should really find out more about what this really means. But anyway, I think it means no plans atm for either combi boiler or electric shower.

shoewhore - good to know re DCs showering; wasn't sure they would at that age.

I would defo want shower attachment with bath even if separate shower too, for hairwashing etc. as you've pointed out, but perhaps nice to keep this just as small handheld thing, then no need for annoying shower screen over bath

So now I think I'm leaning towards separate shower…

I think I am just slightly freaked out about having three showers and two baths in one house, having never lived in a house with more than a single bath and shower before!

thanks for all your replies

[Catsmamma]

yes to shower taps on the bath....very useful!

I have no knowledge about megaflo boilers, but an alternative source of hot water is always good!! :D

[clio51]

We have bath and shower cubicle, I would never get another shower cubicle again. The cleaner of it is a pain, we have shower panels(can't think of proper name) instead of tiles. This is easy to clean and much better than tiles/grout, because the grout will go black/orange over time.

The cleaning is a pain, 2 glass screens to clean which is hard to get marks off, then grout round shower base the adhesive goes black if you really don't keep on top off it.

I would defo have one over the bath, just one screen to clean, and if your having 2 other showers defo!

[clio51]

Ps I would go for walk in shower then no screen, I'm not lazy by the way just the less cleaning the better

[PigletJohn]

If you have a Megaflo it will normally be heated by the boiler but will (should) have one or two immersion heaters in it so it can be heated electrically when the boiler is out of action. You will not need an electric shower as a standby.

As the boiler is not a combi it will break down less often anyway.

[Poledra]

We have a Megaflow tank, it's the bees' knees! And yes, it has an immersion in it for when the central heating packs up.

I just wanted to ass, in your separate walk-in shower in your en-suite, do NOT have a fixed-head shower. We have this in ours (it was there when we moved in) and I hate it. You cannot rinse the walls of the shower cabinet properly - I end up filling a small bucket and chucking it at the walls to rinse them off after cleaning. And [[http://www.lakeland.co.uk/20284/HG-Mould-Remover this stuff] is fabulous for removing mould from the shower cabinet. Yes, to does smell like a swimming pool so is best used when you can also open a window to get rid of the smell but it does a great job with minimal scrubbing

[offblackeggshell]

Megaflows are the best thing ever.

Whatever you choose, have a shower on a hose as well as a fixed one. You'll need it for rinsing kids hair/dogs/gerbil cages/football boots, and for cleaning down the bath/shower.

Also, control at the opposite end of the bath/shower (or in the middle) mean you don't have to get wet when you switch it on.

[oif]

ooh good news re the Meglaflo - thanks for that.

and also for the mould remover tip - I am extremely lazy at all that scrubbing grout business…

We have made a bit of a drastic decision to cut the en-suite - so we'll just have family bathroom on 2nd floor for kids and guests, and bathroom en-suite on 1st floor for us. Both bathrooms with shower and bath, and every bath and shower to have a handheld shower hose of some form.

Chops a big chunk out of the budget and I hope I am right in thinking that apart from the odd couple of weeks of the year when we have guests we'll not really miss the en-suite. One less bathroom to clean!

[oif]

oh yes offblackeggshell - controls not directly underneath shower is very good idea. why don't more showers have this? I hate that 'turning it on and jumping quickly away from the freezing blast of water before you get drenched' moment.