Neatest way to box in bathroom pipes?

[Pannacotta]

We're hoping to finally get our new shower room sorted in January, but I can't decide how to deal with the pipework and everyone who has quoted has a different opinion...

We'll have a waste pipe from the shower running along the wall, just above the floor and this will connect up to the soil pipe
(the joists run the other way so it can't go under the floor).

What would be the smartest, least obvious way to contain this pipe? Either boxed in along the wall at low level or maybe within a waist high boxing-in, from shower to the soil pipe, giving a ledge within the shower itself?

Any thoughts?
Thanks

I would box in at skirting board height, it gives a useful ledge to put things on. Run skirting board along the front & paint the top to match.

If you have the boxing in at skirting board height, I find you just have an extra area to dust / vacuum and its an incentive to put junk there.

I'd box it in at waist height and have the extra shelf within the shower.

ps will PM you back shortly - building works just gone a bit tits up causing stresssss

Grendel have you ever done this? Am bit worried the ledge would trap water and become mouldy easily...

No, but my sister in law has - they have their shower set about 60cm from the end wall, so that as well as being room for the pipes between the shower and the wall, there's also both a low level cupboard for towels and a high level cupboard for cleaning equipment, and, between them, but facing into the shower, a shelf for shower things. Does that make sense? It's effectively running the pipes through a newly-created cupboard, rather than boxing them in.

She says the key thing is that the ledge must have a very slight tilt towards the shower, so it doesn't trap water. Their tiles are also those very big porcelain ones, so less grout to get manky.

Thanks Grendel, in fact I am thinking of doing something similar in our bathroom, in terms of storage etc.
Bit annoyed that no one who has quoted has managed to come up with any decent ideas and that I'm having to work it all out myself.

You sounded stressed about your house works in another post, how's it all going? You have my sympathy btw, it seems like every project we do in this house goes tits up! (Hence my reticence about this bloomin bathroom.)

Oh, I know just what you mean. I was pretty pissed off with our kitchen designers that I had to do so much of the practical thinking myself.

The stress is now receding, thank God! While doing some repairs on the house, we found some much earlier historic fabric (around 16th century or perhaps earlier) than we knew was there, and I was feeling very stressed by it, both from the decor point of view and in terms of listed building consent. Plus the quote came in from the plasterer as much, much more than I hoped it would be. Still, it's working itself out gradually.

Just make sure you can get in to access the pipes easily.

In my last place, I had it boxed in at shelf height and tiled.

Thanks, yes we woudl add access for plumbing.
LadyB did you box in within the shower as well? If so, did you find it useful for storage, or just a grub/mould magnet?

It's boxed in alongside the bath (think there is a pic on my profile). And the grout/tiles were fine.

in the bath itself it's not so high - just above the bath

Can just about see it in the pic of your boy (very sweet!).
I wouldn't be worried if the boxing in was around the bath. But within a shower there'll be more water falling on it, and am concerned that even if there's a fall on the ledge, water will pool there and it will all become a bit unpleasant...

:o I thought there were some other before and after pics but I must have taken them down.

I don't take baths, only showers, and the shower is over the bath. It was like that before I had the bathroom redone and I just had it retiled. I lived there for nine years and it never got scummy or anything. You could ask for a slight fall I guess if you're worried but very slight or you couldn't use it as a shelf

I can put the pics back up but I think you get the idea from my boy with the fliptop head :o

Thanks for that, yes I can see what you mean from the photo, which reminded me a bit of my DS1 in the bath!