Bath/shower mixer a shower spray

A shower spray combined with a bath mixer tap provides a shower for little more than the cost of the bath taps, and no extra plumbing is involved. The temperature is controlled through the bath taps, which may not be convenient, and will be affected by water being drawn off elsewhere in the home.

Hampshire Bath Shower Mixer

Power shower

An all-in-one shower which incorporates a powerful electric pump that boosts the rate that hot and cold water are supplied to the shower head from the storage cistern and the hot water cylinder. A power shower is unsuitable where water is supplied from a combination boiler under mains pressure. Removing waste water from a power shower fast enough can be a problem. The shower tray must cope with around 27 litres a minute, so it is probably worth fitting a 50mm waste pipe.

SAFETY WARNING

A showerhead on a hose must be fed through a retaining ring on the wall of the shower. This prevents the showerhead hanging in standing water in the bath or shower tray beneath and avoids potential contamination of the mains supply.

WETROOMS

A wet room consists of a WC, basin and shower area. No shower tray or enclosure is fitted and water drains through a central drain set in a sloping floor, so the whole room must be waterproofed. This is not a DIY job. Wet rooms may have a powerful thermostatic mixer shower and body jets or a shower tower.

Instantaneous electric shower

A wall unit plumbed in to a mains cold water supply, and heated by an electric element. The controls allow either less water at a higher temperature or more at a lower temperature, so the spray is weaker in winter when mains water is colder. Some models have a winter/summer setting. Designs fitted with a temperature stabiliser cannot run too hot or be affected by other taps in use. The unit must be wired to an electric power supply meeting Wiring Regulations requirements. This type of shower can be installed where a mixer would be illegal. Where mains water pressure is too low, a tank-fed pumped electric shower is available.

Shower tower

A wall unit that incorporates a thermostatic mixer shower with a number of adjustable body jets. Tower units also have a fixed showerhead and a hand-held spray, and may be designed to fit into a corner or on a flat wall. Some can be installed over a bath while others are made for cubicles or wet rooms. Most require a minimum ceiling height of 2.2m. A pump is usually needed to boost water pressure.

Manual and thermostatic mixers

These are wall units with hot and cold water supplies linked to a single valve. In a manual mixer, temperature and volume are controlled by one dial or separately. Thermostatic mixers are more expensive. Their temperature control has a built-in stabiliser so water cannot run too hot or too cold. Computerised models have a control panel to programme temperature and flow rates and can store the data for each user. Provided water is not supplied from a combination boiler under mains pressure, this type of shower can be linked to a pump to give power shower performance.

Economy Valve

Spray roses

Showerheads may be fixed or part of a handset on a flexible hose. The simplest have a single spray; multi-spray showerheads offer a choice of spray patterns selected by rotating the outer ring on the rose. Large diameter single spray showerheads offering a rain-style shower are also available.

Shower trays

GRP-reinforced acrylic trays are light to handle and not easily damaged. A reconstituted stone or resin shower tray is heavy, stable and durable, but the floor must be level before it is installed. Shower trays come in sizes from 700mm square and are usually 110-185mm high; low level 35mm trays are available for ‘walk-in’ showers. Quarter circle and pentangle trays help to save space.

There is a downside to this dream, though – it will mean ‘tanking’ the room in order to make it absolutely watertight, otherwise I might be showering in my living room! Tanking is a job for a professional, however. So if you share my dream, but are worried about water going everywhere, it might be a better idea to instead fit a glass panel to enclose your showering area 1.

Some of the latest showers have taken the shower cubicle to new heights. Some even have the shower fittings attached in one piece to one of the columns 2, so fitting the shower becomes a real doddle 3. All you have to do is attach the hot and cold supply to the appropriate pipes (that is after you have done all the hard graft of ensuring the pipes and drainage are in the right position). Other designs have evolved into a complete walk-in enclosure 4, which creates the illusion of a wet room, without any doors to close behind you.

OVERALL CONSIDERATIONS

In most house designs the bathroom is a relatively small room, which wethink is totally inappropriate to the amount of use the average family bathroom gets. Small bathrooms are a legacy of Victorian times, when a weekly bath was considered the ultimate in personal hygiene and so only required a relatively small space.

If your home doesn’t have sufficient facilities for your family’s needs, this scenario could become a serious inconvenience. So plan carefully, not just for now but for the future, when your little girls, and boys, grow up to hog the bathroom for hours on end. A second bathroom, or perhaps a new shower room, may be the answer, if you have room to fit one in your house. Although this might not guarantee the completely smooth running of the bathroom facilities in your household, it would go a long way to help.

To help you think things through, the following pages list some basic ground rules to consider when planning a new bathroom. There are also some tips on timing, budget and drawing plans.

VICTORIAPLUMB’s ADVICE

Bathroom Planning, there are a number of things you need to think about and plan carefully before you start work. For example, you need to consider the size of the room and whether you want to enlarge it, the kind of bathroom suite you want, and how much money you actually want to spend. Here are some points you should take into consideration:

GENERAL POINTS
– Is the existing bathroom big enough for future, as well as present, requirements?

– Ask everyone who’s going to be using the bathroom on a regular basis what they would like from the new room.

– Could you increase the size of your bathroom? How?

– Could you join a separate bathroom and toilet together to create one spacious room?

– Could you move the door to incorporate a section of hallway, or an adjoining room to create a larger bathroom?

– To retain a separate toilet, could you install a new one elsewhere, for example under the stairs?

– What style of bathroom do you want – period, traditional bathroom or contemporary bathroom?

– Is there a room adjoining a bedroom that could be turned into an en-suite bathroom? Or could part of a bedroom be altered to create an en-suite bathroom or shower room?

– What could you fit comfortably in your bathroom? Should you sacrifice the bath for a big shower? Should you have a ‘his and hers’ washbasin unit instead of a bidet?

– What decorative finishes – tiles, glass, marble, wood and so on – do you want?

– What lighting and accessories do you need?

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
– Consider carefully the long-term effect of your choice of colour for the bathroom suite. White is easy to clean and never goes out of fashion.

– When choosing fittings and attachments, consider maintenance. Chrome is low maintenance and polishes up beautifully. It’s also a perfect match for a white suite.

– Ceramic tiles completely covering all walls and floors might make the bathroom appear cold and also create condensation problems.

– A free-standing shower 1 is vital if you have the room. Ensure the shower is correctly fitted – damage resulting from a poorly fitted shower can be expensive and difficult to repair.

– Ensure the bathroom is effectively heated. A cold bathroom is unwelcoming and not conducive to a pleasant ambience. Consider installing a radiator that doubles as a heated towel rail 2.

– Try to incorporate adequate storage in your bathroom 3. This enables you to avoid lots of messy clutter, which would spoil the look of your new bathroom.

– Create attractive and interesting lighting. This will, effectively, be the icing on the cake. Done well, it will make the bathroom look and feel wonderful 4. Seek advice on the suitability, safety wise, of any lighting designs you choose.

– Think through the decoration options carefully – would you like -a bright and breezy bathroom or a rich, themed colour scheme. The days of slapping a coat of neutral emulsion across everything are thankfully gone, and you can now choose from a range of wonderful colours.
– Ensure you have adequate ventilation in order to avoid condensation problems, which could ruin the look of your new bathroom in no time at all. This may mean installing vents or an electrically assisted ventilation system.

TIMING

In order to create a successful campaign out of remodelling your bathroom, plan carefully how long it will take. You won’t like not being able to bathe for very long, so if you are going to undertake the whole project yourself over a period of time, it may be appropriate to arrange for bath sharing with relatives or neighbours. We don’t mean literally, of course, but that’ll depends on who your neighbours are!

Avail yourself of all the tools and materials you’ll need, and store them carefully in the spare room or somewhere convenient before you start. If you feel the whole project may be too much for you, consider breaking it down into more manageable chunks, and bring in skilled tradesmen to advise, check, or carry out any work you feel uncertain about undertaking yourself. You can save a considerable amount of money by doing a lot of the preparation work yourself even if you call in an expert; you can cap off the water supply, strip out the old bathroom suite, remove any tiles and demolish any partition walls beforehand.

BUDGET

Don’t lose sight of your budget, and always allow for a 20 – 25 percent overspend when working it out. When buying a new bathroom suite, beware of budget-price suites costing a few hundred pounds only. The quality is normally poor and only very basic items are included; Do look around – great bargains are sometimes available from quality ends of line and ex-showroom suites. Quite often, expensive design look-alikes are available from different manufacturers at a huge saving. It is also worth checking out the Internet and phoning around your local suppliers to ask if they have anything on special offer before you set out.

DRAWING UP YOUR PLAN

Once you’ve decided on the style of your bathroom, you can draw up your plan, taking all the points mentioned above into consideration. Make a rough drawing of on paper then measure your space accurately and mark it on the plan. Take the longest dimensions across the room, including every alcove and return, note the way the door opens, and mark where the window is – how high up from the floor and the distance on either side. Mark exactly where the radiator and water supply pipes are.

Now you can draw up the final plan accurately on graph paper 2. Some bathroom suite brochures include scaled shapes that you can cut out and move around your plan. Many manufacturers and suppliers offer a planning service and will draw up detailed plans for you.

THE PLEASURE OF A BEAUTIFUL BATHROOM

A well planned, beautifully complete bathroom can make all the difference to your daily routine. It should always be a pleasure to bath and wash in and cater for everything you and your family require, whilst avoiding a cramped feeling. Such a bathroom need not be hugely expensive, and it’s a good idea to set yourself a budget and go from there otherwise you might be tempted to overspend.

If space is a problem, and with most bathrooms it is, think about what you really use and what you could do without. Most people like having both a bath and a shower, but could do without the bidet! The shower provides an essential energizing, head-clearing start to the day, while enjoying a long leisurely soak in the bath is the ideal way to relax.

Ideally if everyone had the money and the space we would all probably choose to have a separate shower room or failing that perhaps a built-in shower enclosure within the bathroom. If there just isn’t the room in your bathroom, and you don’t want to lose the bath for the sake of a shower, you may have to compromise by showering in the bath. This can often be achieved quite simply by changing the bath taps for a shower mixer unit, with an extended hose mounted on the wall.

Once you have sorted out all the practicalities, you can decide on style and colour. Personally, I think bathroom suites shouldn’t be any colour other than white. They can be off-white, or even ivory, but they must be white ageless and easy to clean.

Bathroom Planning – Baths

When it comes to choosing a bath, you don’t have to stick with the one that comes with a matching toilet and basin. You can select an individual bath to fit in with the other bathroom fittings and the overall decor. There are hundreds of different shapes and styles to suit every taste, as well as a wide choice of materials including acrylic, resin, steel and cast iron. There are also glass baths for sale!

Over the years though we have found that tried and tested materials always work best and for use nothing can beat a steel bath for heat retention. Steel baths can be very heavy though, depending on their quality, so if you have set your heart on one of these, you need to make sure that the floor joists are strong enough to take the extra weight. Acrylic baths are lightweight by comparison and come in a vast range of profiles. Corner baths are often the best baths to include in smaller bathrooms were you must use the space you have wisely, a bath will take up a lot of room so keep this in mind and think about were your sink, toilet and possibly shower or shower enclosure might go. The thicker the acrylic, the more sturdy and durable the bath itself will be.

If you are really into self-pampering, then a victoriaplumb.com airspa bath or a whirlpool bath may be the answer. Essentially, these baths incorporate an air-jet system that provides massaging options. Some even have underwater lighting.

A major decision is whether the bath is to be fitted with bath panels to suit the decor or freestanding (designer bath). With a straight bath with bath panels all the pipework will be hidden, but with a designer bath the pipework can become a feature in itself.

Most are made from vitreous china, although a selection of contemporary-styled washbasins made from various materials, such as stainless steel or glass 1,

is now available from certain retailers. These new materials may look very stylish and modern, but they are generally quite expensive to buy and often require more work than usual to keep clean.

Depending on the overall style of your bathroom, washbasins can be hung from a wall 2,

placed on a matching pedestal 3 or frame 4.

Washbasins can be fitted into the top of a storage unit 5, which may be freestanding or part of a run rather like in a kitchen. A freestanding corner unit is also useful if you have limited space, for instance in a cloakroom 6. If your bathroom is large enough, consider installing a double handbasin unit 7. This ‘his-and-her’ arrangement is great for busy working couples, but a large family would also make good use of it. You could have, for instance, underslung washbasins set in a granite, limestone 8 or marble top. An old pine cabinet beneath can provide attractive storage.

Shower first thing in the morning, either after an enforced early morning workout or before an early start for work. Whichever, it is a head clearing and invigorating start to the day.

A bath on the other hand is something when you have time to lie back and relax, with a good soak to ease the ageing muscles. However, we must mention that a poorly fitted, unsuccessfully operating shower is nothing short of totally useless.

The whole principal of a shower is to wash you with pressurized water – this is what cleans and revitalises you, so in order for the shower to fulfil its purpose be very careful with your choice. There are lots of different types to choose from and where showers are concerned, it’s definitely not a case of the simplest is the best because, more often than not, creating a very successful shower can be expensive and complicated to fit.

It is definitely a case of fit the best you can afford. The choice is very wide, ranging from sophisticated walk-in showers 1 to compact corner shower units 2 and 3.

If your shower unit can only fit into a bedroom, there are now traditional and contemporary shower styles available 4.

If the only space available is over the bath there is a range of glass side panels 5 to protect your bathroom

There are some wonderful shower fittings which can give you that fabulous drenching shower 6 to the latest all-in-one unit with body sprays as well 7!

The high-level cistern type is the oldest design and suits many period styles. The cistern is mounted on the wall at high level, close to the ceiling, and connected to the pan by a long, surface-mounted flush pipe. This simple wash-down system is operated by a chain. When the cistern flushes, the force of the released water pushes the waste around the trap and down the waste pipe. Although it may be a touch noisy, this system is very efficient. The most common toilet in use today, however, is the standard low-level one, which relies on a siphonic flushing action.

Here, the cistern is mounted on the wall directly above the pan. It is operated by either a handle fixed to the front of the cistern or a button in the top 3. This type of toilet works efficiently and is the simplest to maintain. The third type of toilet has a concealed cistern fitted behind a false wall. The pan can either be wall-mounted 4 or a standard floor style 5 and suits many modern bathroom designs.

You’ll find there’s a huge range, with hundreds of different styles and finishes. We’ve come a long way from the individual hot and cold taps 1 to all sorts of weird and wonderful ways of turning on and off 2, mixing water (hot and cold) to obtain the desired temperature.

As always good design must encompass both aesthetics and practicality, hence we seem to have come full circle to some of the most popular designs today which very much replicate early tap designs 3.

Also popular is the monobloc type; a pair of taps with integral mixer all in one unit, normally fitted through a single central tap hole in the sink, on the wall 4 and 5 or on a surface 6.

One of the most important bathroom accessories is the bathroom cabinet, where you can tidy away your toiletries, medicines etc. There are now some really ingenious storage ideas, from revolving bathroom cabinets that present a bathroom mirror on one side while hiding all your secrets behind slatted shutters on the other side, to cabinets where the contents slide out at a touch. Most cabinets now incorporate some form of lighting and some also include a shaver switch. If you don’t have room for a mirror and a cabinet, make sure you buy a mirror-fronted bathroom cabinet

Storage can also be created beneath the wash basin, even a sit-on type. Where space is limited, a fitted bathroom not only hides the plumbing but also provides masses of storage, including around baths.

In many cases, neglecting the issue of accessibility is prohibited by law. Federally funded housing projects and commercial construction typically fall within the jurisdiction of standards published in such guidelines as the American National Standards Institute’s A117.1 (updated in 1981 to include standards for private dwellings), the Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standard (UFAS) of 1985 (for dwellings in federal projects), the 1988 Fair
Housing Amendments Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. While these laws don’t all have the same specific provisions and don’t generally apply to private residential construction, their common goal—to provide equal access to bath facilities for people with a wide range of abilities can and should be incorporated into residential design.

Sometimes, simply making the bathroom adaptable—that is, capable of being altered by
adding or removing certain elements—for persons with varying degrees of disabilities is
enough. This can mean providing blocking in the framing to accommodate the installation of grab bars or installing a base cabinet under a basin that can be removed later to provide knee space for someone in a wheelchair. Sometimes, though, accessibility considerations challenge conventional construction wisdom and economics. The fact that first-floor halfbaths can be inserted into such small spaces at relatively small expense is one of the reasons why they are so popular. A full-size bath locations where grab bars might be necessary. This is relatively inexpensive because framing cut-offs generated during construction can typically be used, but it does limit future grabbar locations to areas where the blocking is installed. Another approach is to sheath all of the interior walls with 3/4-in. plywood, then install drywall over the plywood. This method is more expensive, but it allows the grab bars to be mounted anywhere on the wall.

Clearances

While NKBA recommendations for grab-bar locations are generally sound, in many cases
their recommendations for clear floor space conflict to some degree with federal accessibility guidelines. For example, NKBA Guideline 23 recommends 16-in. clearance (15-in. minimum) from the centerline of a toilet to a sidewall or other fixture. People who use a wheelchair or a walker would probably find that dimension extremely cramped, if not impossible, and would consider the wider 18-in. clearance required by most federal agencies the minimum.

Bathroom fixtures should have at least a 30-in. by 48-in. clear floor space in front of each fixture (NKBA #3), and there should also be room for the 5-ft. turning radius generally recommended for wheelchairs. If possible, toilets should be located so that they are easily accessible from either side (although toilets located in a separate compartment can only be approached from the front, which limits their use by some people).

Entries and doors

Entryways need to be at least 32 in. wide to accommodate wheelchairs (NKBA #1). If possible, try to make the door swing out into the hallway rather than inward. That way, if someone has fallen or needs assistance in the bathroom, the door can be opened easily. One way to eliminate the problem of door swing is to use pocket doors. Though more costly to install, pocket doors slide completely out of the way and make entry and exit for someone in a wheelchair much easier.

It’s also a good idea to eliminate thresholds and height transitions in the entryway. They can be stumbling blocks for people using walkers or wheelchairs. Either bring one floor up to the level of the other, or gradually shim up the low side so that the transition isn’t abrupt. And make the finish flooring a nonslip material, or install nonslip strips. For example, ceramic tile with a matte finish is less slippery than glossy tile.

Accessible fixtures

A typical sink sits on a 30-in.-high by 22-in.-deep cabinet topped by a countertop. Unfortunately, this arrangement is very difficult for people in wheelchairs to use. They need to get in closer than the cabinet will allow, which is why most federal standards require an open area underneath the sink. Sinks are also usually too low at 30 in.; most people except children and very short people prefer a sink somewhere near 32 in. off the floor, though I’ve installed sinks up to 36 in. high. In general, a 32-in.-high sink is a good compromise for most people.

Wheelchair users need an open 27-in. clearance between the floor and the front rim of the sink (NKBA #12), so a vanity base is going to get in the way. Wall-hung and pedestal sinks most easily meet this requirement, but they don’t provide any undersink storage. If you are planning with future accessibility in mind, one solution is to provide removable cabinetry under a wall-hung sink or a sink mounted in a built-in countertop. That way, knee space can be created without removing the entire sink. If plumbing is exposed under the sink, you’ll need to cover or insulate the supply pipes and drain and make sure there are no sharp surfaces.

The problem with most standard toilets is that they are too low, which makes them difficult to use for people of limited strength. Toilets should be 17 in. to 19 in. high, the height of standard seating, but most toilets are about 15’2 in. high. Wall-hung toilets are available that are the right height, provide more clear floor space, and make it easier to clean under and around the toilet. Another option is a power-elevating toilet seat that mounts on a conventional toilet. Or a seat mounted on an aluminum frame that fits around a conventional toilet can also raise the seat height, while providing a graspable handhold.

Bathroom Floor Plan	Sink
Toilet	Toilet
Bath	Shower

If you’ve ever tried to give a young child a bath, you know that the traditional bath has a few flaws. For one thing, it’s too low, not only for a parent bending over to scrub a tiny body, but also for many people who have difficulty getting up from a seated position, much less from floor level. Also, baths can get pretty slippery, and many of them don’t have much to grab onto if someone starts to fall.

Strategically located grab bars and handholds are an important first step in making a bath area accessible. There should also be an 18-in.-wide seat capable of supporting 250 lb. per sq. ft. either added to one end of the bath or securely mounted in the bath area itself. Raising the bath on a platform that brings the rim up to conventional seat height will make it easier for small children to get in and out of the bath. And while trackmounted sliding-glass shower-door enclosures are popular, they make access difficult, and ADA 4.20.7 specifically prohibits rim-mounted tracks on baths. Rod-mounted shower curtains are a better choice.

A number of manufacturers are addressing the shortcomings of the traditional bath with designs that incorporate recent research and new technology. While these baths clearly offer more accessibility to a wider range of people, they are not inexpensive, ranging in price from £1,800 in a basic bath configuration to over $3,000 for whirlpool versions. On the other hand, showers designed to accommodate persons with a wide range of physical abilities are not significantly more expensive than “normal” showers. The addition of appropriate handholds, seating, and a bit more space can easily upgrade a conventional shower to an accessible one.

A 36-in. by 36-in. shower stall is large enough to fit most users, but it’s compact enough that grab bars can be used for support on all sides. This size will fit the required seat yet still leave plenty of room for standing. An alternative shower plan fits in the 32-in. by 60-in. space of a conventional bath, and if there’s no curb, a wheelchair can roll right into it. Curbless designs are best because they don’t present an obstacle for wheelchairs or other walking aids.

Shower heads, shower controls and shower valves

A handheld showerhead mounted on an adjustable track is a great addition to a shower system and is a necessity for any accessible unit. There are a number of different styles available, and the addition of a long hose and a volume control makes these units perfect for washing kids, pets, and the shower itself afterward. Usually, the mounting track is 2 ft. long, so the showerhead is adaptable to a wide range of heights.

Shower controls should be mounted between 38 in. and 48 in. above the floor of the shower and should also be accessible from outside of it (NKBA #22). Lever-handled controls are simpler to operate than knobs and require less agility and hand strength. And now required by most building codes are valves that automatically regulate the water temperature of the shower should the hot/cold balance be disrupted (NKBA #21).

Bathroom accessories

Most bathrooms have a mirror mounted over the sink, but in many cases this mirror is too high to be of any use to someone in a wheelchair. Extending the mirror down to the
backsplash is one way of correcting this; another is to tilt the mirror down or to mount the
mirror so that it is tiltable. It’s also a good idea to provide another full-height mirror elsewhere in the bathroom.

Planning for accessibility can also extend to such areas as light-switch selection. Rocker-style switches for bathroom lighting are easier to control for people with limited hand mobility than conventional single-pole switches. Another option might be a passive infrared occupancy sensor switch, which turns lights on in the presence of motion. This switch also saves energy because lights can’t inadvertently be left on.