DD2 is remodeling her master and went the exposed route. She did not get a handheld in the shower, but did on the tub. Went to Strom from this website (linked below). It's not installed yet, but the plumbing is ready. Still need to do wainscot, paint, glass shower. They are very well made, very heavy. Thinking they will be fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: exposed shower sets

Have you used these in hotels or other homes?

I have used these in hotels and I'm not a big fan because the hot water side of the exposed piping gets HOT. But I may be inordinately clumsy in the shower, I admit that. If you have a handheld shower in any bathroom today and find you bump the hose, then you might want to reconsider the exposed plumbing route.

It isn't so much that you walk away with blistered skin, for me it's the unexpected jarring effect of saying, "Holy hell! Ow!" when I'm not expecting that.

I've used these while travelling and have never had any problems. I think they look really neat! They are used commonly in Europe, apparently.

Before you buy, be sure to look into whether the anti-scald feature is included. Sometimes a two-handle setup indicates that the system is neither thermostatic nor pressure-balanced, but is a more vintage setup with independent hot and cold controls. That might raise problems with meeting code (not to mention safety and comfort concerning sudden changes in water temp). Sorry I don't know more, but I just remember encountering this issue when I was shopping showers.

Thank you all.

We decided to go for a bit more modern interpretation & get the below model instead.
Anti-scalding Thermostatic was too important of a feature for us not to have.

Here is a link that might be useful: hansgrohe-27160

Oh that is nice looking!

@ dekeoboe; You're too kind! Cheers!

pbx - That is the one I had my eye on. I love it, but hubby wanted a more traditional setup. If you haven't purchased it yet, look at qualitybath.com - they often have really good prices on Hansgrohe stuff.

Posted by kmcg (My Page) on Fri, Aug 10, 12 at 12:42
pbx - That is the one I had my eye on. I love it, but hubby wanted a more traditional setup. If you haven't purchased it yet, look at qualitybath.com - they often have really good prices on Hansgrohe stuff.

Thank you for that info.
We will certainly look there when it is time.

Was only pointing to faucetsdirect for ease. But it looks like you can vouch for qualitybaths customer service?

I found quality bath through gardenweb, where lots of people have said wonderful things about them. A friend bought a faucet from them recently and was very happy. I've not purchased from them yet, but have found that they have consistently excellent prices on Hansgrohe.

I just offered that suggestion because there are so many websites selling bath and kitchen stuff under the "bait and switch" model; I hate when I finally decide to order something, send in my credit card info, and then get a message that they don't have THAT item, but could easily sell me something different. Quality Bath seems to also have a brick and mortar operation, and they get good reports so I would feel comfortable recommending them.