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Original poster

Awkward bathroom - can you have taps in the middle AND an over bath shower?

83 replies

PuraVida · 26/09/2016 18:07

our small bathroom has two windows and a door and cannot fit a separate shower cubicle. currently has no shower. i need a shower.

the only solution to not having a shower in front of a window would be to have a bath with taps in the middle, with a shower over the bath also in the middle. i cannot find any pictures of this set up so am starting to doubt its wisdom.

i can't find a shower, as in the controls and head etc with integrated taps for the bath, so i guess i'd need to buy seperate ones, and these would need to match.

also can any bath be used with a shower over or do you need it to be reinforced or anything?

it's all very complicated . i have more questions but might see if ayone is interested enough before droning on Grin

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SuburbanRhonda · 26/09/2016 20:58

We had an almost identical set-up, OP.

We moved the bath down to the non-window wall. In your case you'd just have to hang the door the other way (with the hinges on the opposite side to where they are now). Or get a folding door.

TotalConfucius · 26/09/2016 21:00

And it has shaved about 10 minutes off her morning routine due to no fiddling with the mixer shower to get the temperature just right. She switches on, sits on the loo for her wee, by the time she's done the shower is ready.

kitchenlights · 26/09/2016 21:07

I was so sure we have what you want that I went to take a photo of it, but we don't! We have a central tap with handheld shower which we never use, and a separate but matching shower higher up. Any good?

Original poster
PuraVida · 26/09/2016 21:26

Yes kitchenlights! It sounds like the thing I am imagining. A pic would be aces. How do you find it?

I've googled and found two local bathroom designers, one a plumbing guy, one a ver posh showroom so I'll speak to them tomorrow if I can

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Original poster
PuraVida · 26/09/2016 21:30

Confucius can I find and live with you? I'll share with your DD. Sadly I a) don't have £700 to spend in a shower and b) our loft has been converted so no room for your magical sounding shower and c) I suspect asbestos panels under the plasterboarded ceiling like we have in the rest of the house which I've just realised will probably also put a stop to the false wall idea Angry our house is a bit crap :(

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pollyblack · 26/09/2016 21:30

This sounds like most bathrooms where i live, annoyingly thin with a window getting in the way. Lots of people have the central shower thing. We had a false wall put in and got decent lighting at the door side of it to keep it bright.

Awkward bathroom - can you have taps in the middle AND an over bath shower?
firewithfire · 26/09/2016 21:59

It came with the house. I want to replace it because the shower curtains are so horrible. But I don't think that's the showers fault. Does this show enough?

Awkward bathroom - can you have taps in the middle AND an over bath shower?
Original poster
PuraVida · 26/09/2016 22:05

Thanks fire that's really helpful. Is the shower curtain so nasty because it clings to you or because it hangs around damp and musty?

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Original poster
PuraVida · 26/09/2016 22:08

Yes polly that looks very similar to how ours would be if we did a false wall. Except our door is where your wash basin is (which is v nice by the way - where's it from?)

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Believeitornot · 26/09/2016 22:14

Can you move the door or not feasible? So move it to the middle of the room and get a slightly shorter bath (5cm won't make much difference - we have a 1650 bath) and the shower goes on the wall where the door currently is?

Original poster
PuraVida · 26/09/2016 22:47

No, the other side of the wall where the door is is the stairs, the bathroom door opens directly into the top of the stairs

I've become a bit obsessed with digital showers and overflow fillers having spent the last hour googling

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Original poster
PuraVida · 26/09/2016 22:53

Behold

Awkward bathroom - can you have taps in the middle AND an over bath shower?
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atticusclaw2 · 26/09/2016 23:01

I really don't like our overflow filler. It takes ages to fill the bath. It might be a solution for you though.

There's no reason why you can't have the shower in the middle but you might find it's more likely to spray over the edge of the bath. You could even in theory put a fixed glass screen in the centre too and enter the bath at the open end.

CaurnieBred · 27/09/2016 07:24

Overflow fillers stick out quite a bit into the bath. We have one in our L-shape bath and it is in the wider part. It must stick out ~8cms which is quite a lot. It doesn't bother us because it is in the L but I would be careful and make sure I get one that is smaller if I just had a normal width bath.

Believeitornot · 27/09/2016 07:49

Have you checked the cost of moving the toilet? At this rate with a digital shower and false walls etc you might not find much difference in moving the toilet.

We moved our toilet in our recent bathroom refurb. It didn't really make it hugely expensive - we were shifting it along a wall.

pollyblack · 27/09/2016 09:08

Puravida the washand basin and base unit were from ikea but alas they dont do that one any more as i tried to get it again for my current bathroom. However they do have loads of bathroom space saving options so worth a look anyway.

Deux · 27/09/2016 09:37

You have various options.

One I think you should really consider is how would you lay out your bathroom if you were starting from scratch in an empty room?

Get that option priced up. We've moved a toilet and it wasn't expensive at all and was part of a refurbishment.

You have a decent sized room and I really don't think you need to compromise if eg you move the loo/rehang the door etc.

Try City Plumbing. You often find them on industrial estates. Their prices are good and the staff seem to have good knowledge of products. I think their website has a planning tool.

pollyblack · 27/09/2016 10:51

Puravida the washand basin and base unit were from ikea but alas they dont do that one any more as i tried to get it again for my current bathroom. However they do have loads of bathroom space saving options so worth a look anyway.

RaisingSteam · 27/09/2016 13:05

how about a screen like this:
It's not cheap but in the scale of things you could maybe economise on the rest of the fittings.

We have got a bath mixer tap and a separate Mira shower over one end of the bath. I looked at loads of combined bath/shower fillers and in the end they looked hard to figure out how to use and too much to go wrong. You know the ones with three minimalist knobs on a metal plate. Ours aren't from a co-ordinating range but both have a similar style, it looks fine.

It helps to have a fairly square bath with a flat/non-slip base and not a pop up waste or people showering stub their toes on it. (we know). Then you can have your taps at the end which is cheapest and easiest to plumb in. Can you even fit in a bow front bath to give a bit more space for showering?

Awkward bathroom - can you have taps in the middle AND an over bath shower?
RaisingSteam · 27/09/2016 13:14

3.5m should be long enough to have bath, basin and WC all in a row.

LifeIsGoodish · 27/09/2016 17:31

There's no reason you have to have both shower and taps together, nor that you have to have the shower at an end.

Our previous bath had the taps conventionally at one end, but the shower, although it was at the other end of the bath, was on the side wall.

Our current bath also has shower and taps at opposite ends. We wanted to have the taps fitted in the wall, and there would have been no issue with the wall (outside wall in a 1970s house). The only reason we didn't do it, in the end, was that wall taps were not compatible with the filler we wanted. We have no 'tap'. The tap handles are at one end of the bath, on the side of the bath, but the filler is a combined waste/overflow/filler on the middle of the side of the bath. We could have had the shower in the wall opposite the filler, but decided to have it in the wall at the end of the bath. Again, no issues with fitting inside the wall (this time a non-load-bearing inside wall).

HTH!

Original poster
PuraVida · 27/09/2016 18:21

Thank you all, so much to think about. I went to the local (posh) bathroom place today and he's going to fiddle and come up with some ideas which is great. Will let you know what transpires :)

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TremoloGreen · 28/09/2016 19:17

We have an overflow filler and shower by tre mercati. Love it. No tap end and no taps to clean around (hard water area)

TremoloGreen · 28/09/2016 19:18

I just wrote that then thought Piglet John will probably tell me off now for getting "flashy italian taps"

PigletJohn · 28/09/2016 19:41

Flashy Italian

Awkward bathroom - can you have taps in the middle AND an over bath shower?