Shower over bath advice needed - small bathroom!

[Heathscc]

Hi All,

I'm looking for advice re my bathroom renovation. I have a tiny bathroom which measures 1.8m x 1.7m. I have a very high ceiling - 3m. It's my only bathroom.

I'm keeping the bath as I love to have a soak but I need a shower above it.

Originally, I was going to go for a double head shower - the type with a rainfall head and a moveable attachment. I've never had the fixed rainfall before (just the single one) but I figured they're the 'done thing' now so was going to go for one.

However, I'm not sure if it will look silly as when I looked at measures, they're kind of big - like 52cm from the wall.

Here's where I'm hoping mums can pile in. Has anyone got a double head shower in a small bathroom that they regret?! Does anyone wish they had one?!

Do you recommend these type of showers?

Basically, any shower over bath feedback would be super helpful as I'm feeling overwhelmed with options!

Thank you so much in advance for any feedback/experience you can offer :)

When I got my bathroom redone last summer, I got the double shower head because I liked the way it looked.

I never ever use the big rainfall head - only the ‘normal’ head with the flexible hose. Sometimes the rainfall head drips cold water onto me mid-shower. Wish I’d just got the single head fitted.

My SIL has one over the bath, looks perfectly fine. I don't personally like them because I don't like the water coming straight down over my head.

Are you also replacing your bath? If so, I would recommend a shower bath - same as a normal bath except it has a subtle texture on the base so it’s not slippery when showering. It’s not noticeable when you use it as a bath either.

I have a standard shower over my bath, quite happy with it. I would recommend a glass shower screen and if your water pressure is high, make sure it is big enough to keep the water off the floor (mine is a 3 section on that folds out of the way).

Also it’s worth paying extra for a shower screen with anti limescale/easy clean coating.

I hate overhead showers, and can’t see the appeal in any bathroom. In a small room it will look awful too.

I have a similar sized bathroom to you, if not a little smaller! We have a shower over the bath (though it's not a double head shower) and I think it looks fine.

Happy to post a picture if it would be helpful.

We have one over our bath in our small bathroom. It looks absolutely fine. It's a good compromise if you don't have much space; it's a really decent shower but also means you can have a bath. Having the flexible one is really useful too as we have a three year old who occasionally needs a hose down. Wouldn't have any other arrangement.

I have a similar size bathroom and have a angled over head shower, so it doesn't dump the water directly above but at a slight angle. I put the hose attachment on the bath taps to allow for easy cleaning.

Our pokey bathroom is much the same size as yours. We're going to remove the bath and renovate the room, add in an offset quadrant shower cubicle (900x1000 if I can ever find the damn thing) and put in a shower like you describe.

I miss the overhead shower - it so much better for the power of the water hitting you, and I just find them so much ore relaxing. We also need the hose type one as we have dogs who occasionally need a shower/bath and I like to have it as an option for cleaning ones undercarriage if required.

So I'm looking forward to it being installed!

'An' angled grrrr

I had wanted one, but I stayed with a friend & tge keep the water flow on the lower side to save water and (for me) it makes the rainfall bit utterly pointless, so I'd say if you're going to worry about water usage or gas now too, I wouldn't bother.

I have an Aqualisa & it's fine BUT I get less pressure than I did when it was just a rubber hose hung up from the bath taps because the water is mixed in the loft.

it is nice to just press a button and have it at the temperature I've previously set though.

it looks nice, I think rainfall showers can look a bit 'pretentious' over a bath. But it's really what YOU want. My bath probably looks a bit 'pretentious' as it's 800 wide, which is big for my small bathroom. I only got it because I wanted a large walk in shower but It would have had to have been raised a huge amount (for the fall off as I have a concrete flood and the waste is the diagonal to where the shower waste needed to go) so I thought if I can't have a nice flat one & have to step up a huge step, I may as well put it over a bath and if it's going over a bath it's going to be as wide a bath as I can get/fit!!!

I was SO mad as I'd waited ages to do the bathroom & planned it loads, only to not be able to have the large walk in shower I wanted!🤬

still the bathroom is fabulous & I still love it as much as I did when it was finished 7/8 years ago. Still feels new!

Good luck with yours!!

Our downstairs bathroom is even smaller (approx 1.5x1.8). We have a shower above the bath. It is a large shower with rigid riser and large shower head. We have a separate hand held shower on the bath taps. The shower looks really nice as it's in keeping with the style of the taps and bathroom tiles. The downstairs bathroom gets used all the time now

Cleaner here, a few of my customers have the rainfall shower and never use them, they always use the detachable bit, I did have a customer who just had the fixed rainfall head and it was very difficult to clean the shower as you couldn't hose anything down.

Really don't bother with the rainfall head - look lovely, perform crap. Style over substance.

Get a good shower head which adjusts for different power that can be lifted out of its holder to aid bath cleaning.

We've got one. It looks good, but I wouldn't get one again. I never use it, and now it's so clogged up by something or other that if I ever do switch it on accidentally, water shoots out in all different directions!

I don't like the rainfall ones, as I don' t like the water falling straight down on me so we have the angled, removable sort and it's fine.

YES to getting a bath with a slightly raised surface for grip, we have it at one end of ours, which is where you climb in and out but if you step down to the other end it is lethally slippery (enamel bath) especially since we got our water softener last year. It wouldn't feel safe climbing in and out or standing on one foot to wash the other one without the grippy bit.

Exactly my issue too. Without wanting to sound pervy, can anyone send photos for inspiration. I had been thinking about a small stubby deep bath but can't find one that looks good (in the kind of Japanese soaking tub style) and I guess it is even less compatible with a shower above.

I can recommend the 'nice splash' shower head if you're just having one detatchable head it adjusts from wide spray to a small targetted spray. And the old reliable brand triton showers, if your having an electric one , can't be beaten .

I often holiday in a house that has exactly that arrangement. I personally like the fixed head and can stand in such a way that it hits my shoulders if I don't want to wash my hair. I don't like the handheld one because it doesn't always stay put in the holder and snakes off and soaks the whole room. My DD is the other way and doesn't like the overhead one. She says it trickles cold water when she's using the lower one.

At home I have a lovely Hansgrohe flexible one. In its holder it has all the benefits of the overhead shower - I can have it higher and pouring straight down, or lower and at an angle. The head has settings for the water/air mix. It stays put.

But, and for me this is the crucial point (I have high ceilings), we have a pump on the shower, in the loft. No chilly trickles, plenty of water. The result is I can shower much quicker than in a trickly shower because it rinses better, specially hair, so I doubt it would use a lot more water than a non-pumped one if I just used it functionally. But sometimes I splash out (!) and treat myself to a decent downpour and, for me, it is as good as a bath.

Following with interest. Any suggestions for actual showers/baths (make, model) you've been happy with would be really helpful, I'm overwhelmed by the choices too.

I hâte double headed showers. I still haven't worked out how to turn them on without getting drenched in free old water. Avoid them if you can.

freezing cold!

If you can, have the shower controls in a separate unit at the opposite end of the bath (or on the side wall) to the shower heads. This saves you having to stand under it when you put it on & getting drenched with cold water. We have a rainfall head and a movable one - they're both great. DP only ever uses the rainfall, I use it when I'm washing my hair. The rainfall needs cleaning regularly though even with softened water, I use a nail brush, as you can't leave it to soak in cleaner because it drips off.

One big advantage of a shower curtain vs a screen is that you can stand outside the bath with the curtain pulled across and reach in round the tap side of it to switch the taps on without getting wet.

We have a similar size bathroom with a P shaped bath and the double shower head. Lower ceiling though. It's fine, the big waterfall head just about touches the ceiling, we are all happy.

I really can't get on with the rainfall showers, I have long hair so often tie it up to shower, the problem with that is, I have to lean forward to get wet but not wet my hair, and stand out of the shower to wash and it all gets a bit bendy and cold. Give me a normal shower head with a flexi hose any day