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Shower arm coming out from a wood paneled wall?

ChristaM
10 years ago

For the walk in shower, I am considering where to install the shower arm for a raindance shower head. My husband is 6'2" so I would like the shower head to be 6'8"h or so.

Question #1:
1. is that the right height, or should I make the shower head 7'h?

I can't have the shower head come straight down from the ceiling because it's open wood. My bathroom plan features mahogany paneling on the walls above the 6'8" door height, tile below. I think it would look better to have the 12" shower arm come straight out from the paneled wall about 6" above the tile edge.

The other option is to get a shower arm with an exaggerated "S" shape that swoops up -- so the arm comes out of the tile area of the wall, the curve goes up above to suspend the shower head. I don't think this would look as good.

Question #2:
Will the paneling be OK with the shower arm coming out from it, or will it get damaged?

Comments (6)

  • lillo
    10 years ago

    My concern is the wood panelling on top of the shower head . What do you mean by open wood above the shower ?
    I don't think a shower head coming out of a wood panel will look good .
    Do you plan for shower doors ? What height ? Would they go over the wood panelling ?
    Is there another way around this to make the shower area all tile without the wood panelling ?

  • ChristaM
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    lillo, thanks for your response. Open wood is the ceiling - it's wood tongue and groove 14' high, so I can't put a shower head coming down from the ceiling.

    The bathroom has tile up to door height 80". Above door height it's mahogany paneling. That's how the original bath was done and I wan't to keep the look. I'm having the paneling replaced because I can't match it and some of the room is changing. The existing paneling in the bathroom is over 50 years old and it still looks fine, no water damage above the shower area. The same paneling is used in other areas of the house.

    The walk-in shower is in a corner with glass panel on the side, open on the end. The glass panel is 75" h and has a metal support arm at 80"h to hold the panel in place. I hope this all makes sense.

    So the shower arm for the rain shower head needs to either come straight out of the paneling, or it needs to come out from the tile in an S shape in order to have the shower head "hang" over the middle of the shower and point straight down.

    My main concern is, how wet would the area around the shower arm actually get if that area were placed at an 84" height? Would it look strange to have a pipe coming out from wood? How common is it for there to be a leak in the shower arm plumbing?

    I sort of think the S curve shower arm would look a bit weird. The design is all straight lines and square corners in this bath.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    10 years ago

    It's been done, and spectacularly:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Pharoah's bling bath

  • lillo
    10 years ago

    I think what is in these pictures is completely different that the case here . I still see it odd that the shower hand would come out of wood that is placed on top of tiles . What did your shower look like before ?
    I am not sure but I think that there is another kind of arm like an L shape that you use to connect the faucet to the shower head with a diveter . Let me try to locate it somewhere to provide you with a link or a picture .

  • lillo
    10 years ago

    Check on amazon , there are different options for shower arms , I like the Danco 9 DD0027043 " S " shower arm with flange.

  • lillo
    10 years ago

    I also like the clean look of the hansgrohe 06476000 raindance showerarm , it increases the height by 6" . It is for $143.00 on amazon . I looks really nice and sturdy .