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Original poster

Been advised against electric showers & painted kitchens...

26 replies

SASASI · 25/05/2015 21:29

Renovating & extending.

Getting prices & plans for bathrooms & kitchen.

Apparently the new water pressurised systems are so efficient that a mere 20 mins will provide Enough water for household showers & thermostatic is the way to go?
I love the easiness of our electric shower, it so handy! I never thought of not putting them into new house. Should I put one in the main bathroom as a back up & thermostatic in En suite?

Also been told painted kitchens chip & are not child friendly. But I like the idea of getting them re-painted & changing the kitchen look easily. I hate gloss & currently have a plain wood which I really don't want again!

This is meant to be the fun part but there is so much conflicting advise!

OP posts:
SweetAndFullOfGrace · 25/05/2015 21:38

I have a very traditional view of showers. They should have two taps, a hot and a cold. Every single shower with a dial I've ever used, including expensive ones in very newly refurbished high end hotels, is a bit crap and doesn't deliver the right temperature or pressure.

This does of course depend on you having decent water pressure! But honestly, if you're extending, just get your water pressure sorted out then you can have a normal shower.

We have a painted kitchen. Yes, it does chip. It will chip less if you are a careful family. We aren't Smile
I like it though. I'm not after perfect, and chips can be touched up quite easily.

PigletJohn · 25/05/2015 21:46

just get your water flow sorted out

fill a bucket at the kitchen cold tap, time it, calculate how many litres per minute you get. Also measure at garden tap and utility room tap, may be different.

Devora · 25/05/2015 22:02

Can't comment on showers, but I think the pros of a painted kitchen (being able to repaint, as you say) far outweigh the hassle of having to retouch the odd chip.

CaurnieBred · 26/05/2015 00:02

We have a thermostatic shower and an electric shower. The electric shower has been invaluable on the odd occasion the boiler has gone on the blink!

BL00CowWonders · 26/05/2015 04:51

Painted kitchen - can you actually scrub at it? Like when you get sticky marks/ finger prints in it? A friend had a painted kitchen that lost the osier whenever she tried to do more than the gentlest wipe.

SweetAndFullOfGrace · 26/05/2015 06:55

Scrub it with what? We wipe ours down with kitchen spray (some eco thing, I tend to avoid harsh chemicals like bleach) and it's fine.

I think it does depend on what you paint it with. Our decorators recommended a good quality primer (eg Zinsser 123 or dulux ultra grip) and an oil based satin paint as it's harder wearing. Seems to be holding up well.

shinysparklythings · 26/05/2015 07:03

We have a painted kitchen and have had no problems, wipe it with flash wipes if any marks on it.

I think when it comes to showers it all depends on the water pressure. We have a single tap thermostatic one and it is amazing perfect temp and pressure. In laws have a similar one and it is awful, not enough pressure. They used to have an electric one which was much better (but not as good as our current one in terms of temp control)

SoldierBear · 26/05/2015 07:05

Combi boiler and plumbed in shower = instant hot water whenever you want. Would never change t anything else.

HelenF350 · 26/05/2015 07:09

We have a pressurised system with a thermostatic shower, to be honest it's fantastic. It's even better than our old power shower!

Ataraxy · 26/05/2015 07:14

I've never had any chips in my painted kitchen. It does get dirty marks but they can be wiped off. Agree, love my electric shower. Quick to warm up and pressure really good. Like others have said also invaluable when boiler has broken (which is usually winter).

Get what you want in your new house. Don't be pressured into something else because it suits them better.

Original poster
SASASI · 26/05/2015 11:02

Thanks very much for the replies.

House is a total shack, no hearing system or anything so starting from scratch so i guess testing existing water pressure wouldn't be much of an indicator?
Swaying towards an electric in main bathroom as back up option.

I think as many of you have said, that being able re-paint is a bonus.
Decisions!

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 26/05/2015 11:21

testing the water flow (not pressure) will give an idea of what you could do.

Walnutpie · 26/05/2015 11:49

Never had any chips in my painted kitchen either. Scrub it with Cif etc. so easy to touch up or change colour, painted kitchens are ideal, IMO.

Marmitelover55 · 26/05/2015 14:13

I have had a couple of tiny chips with my painted kitchen but the supplier have me some paint to touch up and it has been fine.

wormshuffled · 29/05/2015 08:32

We have both an e!ectric shower and one that's fed from combi. I love that the electric gives pretty much instant hot water, and uses way less water than the combi fed one. I waste so much water waiting for the combi fed to heat up and I have to have it set to a high flow or the boiler cuts out. Its great as a luxury though.

SoupDragon · 29/05/2015 08:37

I think it is worth having one electric shower as they work even if you end up with no hot water for some reason.

wormshuffled · 29/05/2015 08:43

Our electric is noisy though, the bedroom that adjoins it get woken up by it.

Woozlebear · 29/05/2015 08:48

I always think ideally you have one electric shower if you can. My reason is just for having a back up in case of boiler failure, rather than any inherent pros/cons between electric and thermostatic.

My builder also weirdly anti painted kitchens. I've now had two and would never have anything else. ANY surface can/ will chip. With foil wrapped finished etc the joins will start showing and the laminate / veneer start pulling away from the chipboard underneath in time. A sharp knock or scratch will leave a similar mark on painted or anything else. BUT YOU CAN TOUCH UP A PAINTED FINISH! On a foil wrapped / veneer kitchen or similar there's literally nothing you can do do fix the mark. And they will literally last a lifetime. Colour a bit dated? Looking a bit tired and generally grubby and shabby? Just repaint it.

I hate that most kitchens are soooo expensive and yet seen as relatively 'disposable' in relation to the massive expense. People replace every 10 years because they wear so badly and date so quickly.

PigletJohn · 29/05/2015 08:49

Do you mean a shower with an electric pump? Pumps are noisy.

If you have enough flow to use a modern unvented cylinder, it can be heated by the boiler and also have one (or preferably two) electric immersion heaters so you will have hot water even when the boiler is out of action. Also the boiler used will be simpler than a combi and have less to go wrong.

Woozlebear · 29/05/2015 08:55

I don't agree with oil based paint being hardest wearing btw. Dulux diamond eggshell (water based) is the best of the mainstream stuff, but F&B and little greene are the best of all. Little greene has the edge in terms of finish. That's from direct experience and what decorators and kitchen painters have told me.

IME decorators try to use oil based because it's easier to deal with and takes less skill - water based dries very quickly so you really have to know what you're doing to keep it brush stroke free. But done well the finish with water based will be much better, and won't yellow or discolour with age which is a MASSIVE problem with pale oil based colours in my experience. A lot of decorators will literally have never used water based and will kick and scream and do anything to avoid it. Give them a pot of little greene and a day later they're completely converted. Honestly.

And yes you can scrub a painted kitchen with anything that's not obviously going to be abrasive to the paint (I mean you obviously wouldn't use steel wool). But I'd use the green side of a washing up sponge, for example, and some cleaning fluid of some description. You can wash it down.

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant · 29/05/2015 08:57

I have a Mira Realm shower (not electric), that is especially designed for low water presssure areas.

It is unbelievable, I was VERY sceptic when I saw the size of the "deluge" shower head (I had one half the size and we couldn't get more than a drible of water out) but it works, and it does in an amazing way. Much better than what I have seen in expensive spa hotels, and you don't even need an extra pump.

I have had it for a few years and the handle is working perfectly fine. The water pressure of the handheld thingy is also great and the first I have seen that doesn't drip.

overmydeadbody · 29/05/2015 08:59

The problem with electric showers is that they are extremely fugly. why would you want that in your bathroom?

I have just replaced all my showers with thermostatic ones from Mira that are specifically for low pressure water, they are amazing. The shower temp is just right, always, and the pressure is fine, not as strong as a power shower but I don't want to be pummeled to death every morning.

With the kitchen do they mean don't paint the walls or don't have painted units? Whatever you have in a kitchen, normal wear and tear takes its toll eventually, so have what you want and look after it as best you can.

When we bought this house it has high gloss kitchen units, about ten years old and had lost their gloss, gone yellow, and were peeling and flaking off around the edges and where water had got in. I have just finished sanding them all down and repainting them and they look fantastic, and will last as I can tough up whenever I need to. Much cheaper than replacing all the doors which we were quoted £700 for! Shock

overmydeadbody · 29/05/2015 08:59

NotSure that is a beautiful shower, much nicer than any electric shower!

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant · 29/05/2015 09:06

With regards to the paint... I would never ever use oil paint on walls, it is just tacky and there's no need. There are already hundreds of products especially designed for high humidity areas.

With regards to electric showers... To be honest, that was the only thing we hated with (absolute) passion in our previous house. I understand they are ga cheap developer choice for apartments because most of apartments rely on electric heating systems, but if you are having a combi boiler, there is no need for one.

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant · 29/05/2015 09:12

Actually... I got it wrong, the one I have is this one, which comes with a diverter.