Someone please explain shower choosing to me!

[meloncolic]

Absolutely bewildered by choice of showers on offer, and stuck between either proper local bathroom suppliers who keep trying to upsell me and online retailers who have overwhelming options or don't deliver to NI.

I am renovating a 1920s house. I am doing large family bathroom and large en suite (I have never had space to have large bathrooms before, but don't worry there are plenty problems elsewhere in the house.)

I am saving sinks from existing bathrooms, buying new toilets, know what I want from a bath, but the showers overwhelm me.

It's all quite traditional really, and I know I want big showers since I have the space, am having fancy exposed taps since I saw them in a hotel I alwasy stay at for work and they seem nice and very functional.

CONFUSED BY THE BIT ON THE FLOOR AND THE GLASS BIT.

walk in? enclosed? panels?

HIT ME WITH ALL YOUR SHOWER KNOWLEDGE.

have you got a hot-water cylinder? what colour?

Also I think I'm scared of the (very lovely) panels with the black markings on them (the one that are like panes) as they will clash with our leaded window.

We have nothing because every system is being pulled out and replaced - house was due to be demolished to rebuild. Structure of house is absolutely fine. It's going to have two gas boilers and a pressurised water system if that's what you mean?

Sorry pigletjohn I know that is not very technical! Hang on while I grab the tender doc and see what the QS specified.

Nothing useful to add here except the fancy panels are called crittal shower screens/enclosures. So you know what to go for/avoid!

The bit you stand on is called a shower tray. You can get thermostatic shower mixers (tap the water comes out of for the bath/shower and these maintain the water temperature even if someone else is using water elsewhere in the house at the same time. This is the vast and highly technical extent of my shower knowledge.

Sounds like a great excuse to get on Pinterest for 1920s shower room design ideas (or whatever style you're after) then see what matches on somewhere like VictoriaPlumbing, so you at least know what things are called.

The shower tray can be fairly flat if there is room under the floor for the plumbing. Other wise it will need some height to it. Have you had a plumber in? They may explain/check.

The shower glass/screen needs to be quite big, otherwise the water escapes all over the floor. You can get a return piece, that functions like a flap/door.

I prefer the plain glass as lime scale is bad here and it builds up on nooks and crannies like the edge of the sliding doors.

Do you like an overhead shower, directly coming down on you, or an angled shower? If you ever shower without washing your hair then you need the latter so you can adjust it to where it needs to be. I also like a handset so you can use the spray for cleaning and for directing around your body.

Could you go and have a look at the shower enclosures at a large b and q or similar? There will be no pushy salesmen, you can try all the different types of doors at your leisure.
I did this recently, took a tape measure and spent ages comparing openings and shower trays etc

I've always had Aqualisa and Mira recommended to me as best for the actual shower part. I've had a Mira shower running off my combi boiler for 12 years and it has been fantastic with no problems at all ( so far!!!)

I think (hope) you mean you are having an unvented cylinder (white) and probably new waterpipes to deliver a high flow.

so you can have a mixer. the best I know are the round-bodied Aqualisa (not digital)

I am pleased you want a surface one. much sadness is caused when pipes, and especially mixers, have been buried in the wall and tiled over, which has to be smashed open for repair or replacement.

I am unimpressed with drencher rainfall heads, which are particularly suitable for washing the top of your head. I find a sloping jet from the wall better. and a handheld on a hose as well.

A walk-in is good but it must have a door

you can fit grabrails and if you are planning to get old or hurt your leg, a folding seat

put rails and shelves away from the water jet and where you will not bang into them when you have soap in your eyes

you will need a powerful extractor fan, preferably a ducted inline fan with a run-on timer to carry on until the enclosure is dry. Best if it can be mounted above the ceiling. As you are fitting all new, get a 125mm duct (even if you are only planning a 100mm fan) in case you want a later upgrade. Have rigid duct, not flexible hose, which collects fluff and condensation. sloped to run outside.

This is all very useful.

I want to splash out on the actual taps - PigletJohn you are 100% right on the shower because yes I like to shower without washing my hair.

In the en suite I am sacrificing a bath (obvs will have one in the family bathroom), getting an IKEA sink unit which I will paint as it's wood (Hemnes grey and rattviken with 'brass colour' tap). The loo (traditional low flush) is affordable. tiles I'm almost there with.

THESE ARE THE KIND OF TAPS I WANT:

www.astonmatthews.co.uk/astonian-original-exposed-thermostatic-dual-shower-system-with-190mm-rose-and-handshower-polished-brass

yes, they are heinously expensive but I have just decided to keep the old 80s wooden kitchen so this is my splurge.

With the shower enclosure and tray, I guess I'm looking for the right combination of as minimal as possible but also practical. I am obviously stalking lots of pinterest/instagram interior designers, but what I care about is that I suspect none of them have to a) have a budget b) clean the said bathroom and c) live in it for several years.

I would recommend getting a combined fixed overhead + detachable shower head. We love ours! Another thing you might want to consider, if you’ve got the room, is to have doors (or a door) which open outwards like conventional doors. Much easier to keep clean than the wheels/runners etc. of the normal sliding doors.
Something I’d love is an alternative to the disgusting shower trap, which, it would appear, only I can clean! I’ve come across older showers which just have a straightforward drain, which I suppose could have an insert to stop hairs going down and be cleaned ‘as you go’. Don’t know if you can still get shower trays like that these days?

Oh god, I completely agree about the drain, I would kill for an ordinary trap, doubtless they will bring one out just when I've finished my reno, call it 'vintage' and charge a bomb for it.

The style I like is slightly utilitarian but very good quality country house bathroom. I once worked as a teenager in a French country house as an au pair and their bathrooms with their sort of spartan chic and lino floors (but fabulous quality baths, taps etc) were amazing.

That is a really good point about the opening doors, I also completely agree, I hate cleaning the runners.

Do you think there is an immense difference in shower doors between some of the suppliers and the places like Victoria Plum?

I'd love to go to a local retailer here, but every time I do the quotations are insane.

Soaks in Belfast looks really nice, but I am too scared to go in.

Probably not your style but I have a Mira Platinum digital controller, the mixer is in the loft and the unvented tank feeds directly into it. No taps, just press a button and shower comes on at exactly the temp I want for exactly the amount of time I want, it to, controls the bath in the same way. Very discreet little programmable controller and can be turned on remotely as well. No taps anywhere (so no taps to clean). You can have whatever shower head and rail you like with it. I love it.

Another nod against the fixed overhead showers. We have a waterfall shower in the bathroom and it means you need alternative means to rinse down the walls when cleaning.

I prefer fixed glass panels rather than doors on rollers- nasty to clean and surprisingly flimsy when used by clumsy kids (no, wasn’t a cheap one). The fewer moving parts the better.

Having been seduced by a shallow tray i would get one with a decent lip..
I went for matt which has been ok ...would second the least amount of panels in the door as possible for easy of cleaning..
Also a pivot has been quite useful for us as we use it to shower the dog (is a downstairs one)
But again think smarter less mess to have a fixed pane if enough room
I went to a swanky bathroom shop
Which was very useful...

Design wise think curves or straights.... for 20's if deco-ish then straight lines probably more in keeping

We had limited space so chose curved sink/units so didn't bash hips!
So think how you will use the space and where have towels/radiators

Meant to add- In our shower room we have a stone tray- doesn’t creak and squeak like a plastic one.

polished brass, eh?

you realise you will have to polish it daily when your housemaid goes on holiday?

I hope you've got a watersoftener

@averythinline yes, that is what I was thinking about the lip of the tray, I live in NI where daily life gives enough opportunity for damp/ingress/water issues! I don't want to be mopping the floor for hours after every shower.

Okay so I'm hearing

1. straight lines
2. lipped tray
3. straightforward drain as possible
4. hinged door with no crittal panels for easy cleaning
5. combined overhead/handheld shower for easy cleaning
6. exterior plumbing in the shower which is fine and what I want.

Ah PigletJohn we have the softest of soft soft water here, it makes up for all the damp!

I LIKE the dim and barely cleaned brass look thank goodness.

BUT, apart from teh materials, do you disapprove of that style of tap or know anything bad about that brand?

Right sorry I'm spamming my own thread but it's so incredibly helpful I don't know why I didn't do it before.

Next: tiles. I have already fobbed off about a million designer recommendations of those gorgeous cement patterned tiles as apparently they are a damp/sealing nightmare.

Floor:

I like terrazzo but worry it will date horribly:

www.porcelainsuperstore.co.uk/collections/terrazzo-tiles/products/arlo-light?variant=39435347493054

So maybe I should go with wood effect like this for a bit more timeless? (Def can't be actual wood due to damp issues here, like climactic ones not specific my house ones)

www.porcelainsuperstore.co.uk/products/alderley-walnut?variant=39435340906686

Walls:

www.porcelainsuperstore.co.uk/a/search?q=fez

www.porcelainsuperstore.co.uk/collections/square-wall-tiles/products/zellige-pearl?variant=39435448516798

Almost forgot. We had shower panels (?) put inside the shower cubicle, instead of tiles, so no grout lines to keep clean. I’m really pleased with it, but may not be the classic look you’re after. (Can you tell I hate cleaning bathrooms!)

Do you have another bathroom?

We had an electric shower put in one ... came in very handy when we had 3 weeks of boiler issues. (Went for Mira, they really are very good)

Yes I'm thinking of having Mira put in the less used bathroom - totally hear you on the boiler issues aspect.