Your shower is beautiful and I'm sure someone here has a more perfect solution...but mine would be to replace the showerhead with one on an arm (like a rainhead) that comes out from the wall and aims the water down. The higher outlet would be perfect for that. But I can't tell if the handheld and fixed are all one unit. You also might just be able to add an adjustable pole for the handheld and use it exclusively at the height best for you.
Here's the type I mean:

Or if they are all one unit, you could replace your fixed with a hand held that directs the spray differently. Would this work?

{{gwi:1421671}}

Look at this!

Here is a link that might be useful: drill-less shower bar with hand held

You know, olychick, while that is a very clever idea, I can't help but wonder what would happen the first time I slipped in the tub and made a grab for it. :)

You definitely need a different kind of shower head. Even a standard shower head would be better, as you can usually point them in whatever direction you want. My mother has a hand held type sort of like yours, and I can't stand to shower at her house. You just can't adjust the angle of the spray properly.

I agree, but I don't think most handheld bars are intended to be used as grab bars...I know mine says explicitly to not grab it (although there are some designed for dual duty). I think a real grab bar is necessary to ensure it's not going to come off the wall when you slip.

A showerhead on a sliding bar is a great solution for a couple who each prefer the showerhead at a different height.

The good news is that there are bars which are grab bars doubling as showerhead bars. The bad news is that to secure them properly, you really need to be able to screw into solid wood behind the wall -- something that's easy to arrange while the walls are open, but not so easy after tiling.

I have one in my guest bath tub that we're quite happy with. It's from Jaclo. It's slightly thicker than a typical shower head sliding bar, but doesn't have the thick "institutional" look of traditional grab bars. Here's a picture of the bar, and one of the sliding mount for a showerhead:

Debra, how high is the tub side of the wall between the tub and shower tiled? It might be easier to attack from that side -- open up a section of the wall, screw in some wood supports that the grab bar would mount to from the other side, and close up the wall.

Or, if you're not concerned about a grab bar, you could go with a standard sliding bar for a showerhead. That's what we have in our master bath shower; we decided a grab bar wasn't an issue for us. We have a Hansgrohe Unica bar with a Raindance head -- and love it.

Hope these ideas help!

-- Eric

Thank you all for the posts and photos. I measured and the shower head is 7" higher than our other bathroom. DH thought that one was too low. We did not discuss this though even if we did, not sure if we would have understood the ramifications.

DH checked into a bar like Eric and olychick posted. We have that set up in our other bath. He also found an extention pipe that will put the head in the position as seen in the photos Olychick posted. He ordered the extension and we will see how it goes. Hopefully I will then have more room to turn the shower head.

As for the cold draft...the bathroom is fairly large and we are not going to avoid the issue completely. We are turning up the floor temp a little. We have two fans in the room. One near the toilet is a sensor that will stay on if someone is in the room. The other near the shower/tub is a switch. I had this fan on, so both fans were working well, maybe too well. No steam in the room.
I might try not using that fan to keep more heat it but that could cause problems with moisture.

Thank you all for listening, only here can you vent to people who care. I will keep you posted on how the extension works.

OH forgot to say, sorry for posting the photo separately. I don't know why I did that.

Just wanted to add this was completely DIY. My DH did all the work himself. Plumbing, electrical, drywall, tile, etc. We started with just studs.

Last night DH took the first bath in the whirlpool. He loved it. Its a Kohler devonshire. I think the tub will get lots of use.

Thanks again,

Debra

ouch, I am not claustraphobic, but I might become one in this shower. How do you or DH turn around in it anyways? Do your elbows beg for more room?

And I just dont get what privacy are you looking for in the bathroom? It is your master bathroom and it has a door and window treatment, right?

Ouch is right jollyrd, but for your comments. She isn't asking for opinions on her shower size, which obviously fits their space. It is a diy project (something many of us would never attempt) which she mentioned and it's also really none of our business why she seeks privacy in her shower. She is asking for help and advice, not criticism. The shower is very nice.

a separate handshower "holder" clasp can be added. You can get two. They go anywhere you want them to be. The handshower you have fits into a holder already; its size is a standard size.

I can understand the concern on the size of the shower. It looks alot smaller in the photo than it is. The shower pan is 40 deep x 34 wide (door). It was hard to find a pan with the threshhold on the SHORT side. The pan is Swanstone. The space is fine, been in much smaller showers before. The bathroom was designed by an architect who tried to make the shower as big as possible. The plumbing needed to be on the wall it shares with the bath.

As for privacy, I originally wanted a heavy textured door. DH and shower door sales person, insisted the clear is so much better. Well I do really like the clear, it looks really nice. The bathroom door is directly across from the shower so anyone coming in will be getting a full view of anyone in the shower. After having a shower curtain all my life this will take getting used to. I will be locking the door. The toilet is more private than the shower is.

DH turned the floor temp up to 76 and it is warmer.

Davidro1 I will look up a separate handshower holder.

As for grab rails. DH did shoreup some walls to attach a grab rail in the future.

terricks, you are right the shower head is to big and hard to adjust.

olychick, thanks.

debrak--looks like the problems are resolving themselves one by one. I bet in no time you are going to love your beautiful new shower!

I think all of your concerns can be addressed, and have been in the above posts. Get another holder for the handheld so you can adjust it to your height, you can always "frost" a design that blocks some of your exposure, say from knee to collar bone, keep the fan speed low until you are through toweling off, just up it to clear out the moisture. Shaving your legs might work best in the tub ;-). Enjoy your brand new bathroom!

34" inch wide door answers the question - that is the width of an average door frame between rooms. Have you tried standing in your door frame and making "shower" motions?
We do large scale DIY projects too and some have oopses with calculation, etc. But when you have to buy/plan for a shower with a help of an architecht? You knew it is going to be 34", and the story title says "I HATE" it. Need I say more? No special shower head/bars is going to help me in this situation.

And keep the doors shut when you are showering.

jolly, her commnets on hating the shower had ZERO to do with the size. If you re-read the post you will see that. It has to do with glass and shower head. I don't see how your comments are helping.

Glad to hear the floor heating is helping. I agree you can get some spray etching for the door or maybe even some temporary film to see if that is the permanent route to go. I know that I am having trouble with the clear glass option for our Masterbath and it's just DH and I.

BTW, bathroom tile is gorgeous. Love love the blue mosaics!

Jolly - you are not being jolly! (unnessary comments) ;-(

debrak - how about getting a stick on hook (3M) with a bath towel hanging on it that you can put on the glass door in "just the right spot" to afford you a bit of privacy? At least until you get use to the open/exposed feeling. Your husband is quite talented, you are very lucky!

how about this comment -- next time, dont use this architect for any of your DIY projects. Besides, I dont consider it DIY if you use help of any professional. We did a full kitchen from scratch bare walls -- put gas lines, plumbing, electric, carpentry, cabinets, septic, -- just 3 people with no professional input whatsoever. A year later - it works and we LOVE it

jollyrd, save your thoughts for another thread that you will stumble across soon. You can help future generations of other renovators with your insight telling us that 34" may not be enough in that dimension.

This thread started when the OP mentioned specific things to comment on. Reading the OP carefully you might one day agree you are off base. Furthermore, there is no hay to make by claiming that the dislike is in reality due to the size and not the identified problems.

Since the shower pan is 40" x 34", the user has 40" for large arm swinging movements. I'm spelling it out so you can see it. Your remarks about 34" are also off base because any user can swing arms in the other axis, the 40" one.

Keep coming back to the forum and you'll find a thread where you can talk about the things you know or think you know, and it will be deemed helpful.

When something is built, it is too late to write about the size it should have been. But, I'll bet you knew that. I do give you that much credit. Mmove on to another thread. This shower in this thread is the size it is.

Unless you respond to the OP identified problems you run a risk of being rebutted. Seriously.

davidro1 you made me lol reading about large arm swinging movements. I needed that.

I'm going to address the size one last time. The size is fine for us and I think it would be for most people. With all my issues I never touched the walls or had to restain my arms. Both DH and I agree it is not too small and not too big. People come in many shapes and sizes and I can imagine that for some it would be too small.

Yes the issues seem to be on the way to working out. I am keeping all the responses to refer back to as we work this out. Lots of good ideas, and easy ones like hang a towel from the door.

Thank you for all the support.