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staceyneil

should we do a hand shower instead of a regular showerhead?

Stacey Collins
13 years ago

Background:

We are getting ready to renovate the second bath in our 2/3 BR house. (The master has a nice walk-in shower and a soaking tub.) This bath we're renovating gets heavy use as the "powder room" and is also the bath that our teenage daughter uses, as well as any guests. It's a small bath with a standard tub/shower combo.

We will be moving in 4 years, so our decisions are a balance between what works for us now and what's good for resale. I'm debating what shower fixtures to buy, and could use some input. First of all, I'm on a really really tight budget, so doing a whole proper system with various valves and a nice showerhead PLUS a handshower on a slide bar is not an option. But... it's also a somewhat high-end house so we can't totally cheap out. To that end I'm hunting deals on good faucets, etc. We're using the Moen Monticello for the lav faucet.

I really like our hand shower in the master bath, and I think it would be GREAT to have one in this bath, even if just to make cleaning the shower easier. (but also I think it's great for future owners who may have little kids, dogs, elderly people, etc.)

I was thinking about buying the regular tub/shower faucet kit but instead of installing the shower arm and showerhead, installing a hand shower on a slide bar instead. The other option is one of those diverters you put in the shower arm with a hand shower and fixed mount, but I was thinking that looked like more of an afterthought and not as "high end". Plus you can't adjust the height.

But--- what do you think of the basic idea of having a hand shower as the main showerhead? is it going to be good enough? Will it be a selling point or a detractor, do you think? Should I just stick to the regular tub/shower faucet combo and use a sponge to clean the walls?

Thanks for your input!

Comments (26)

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    We have two showers where we have ONLY a handheld shower on a slide bar as the shower head. In the bath with the tub, we have a separate diverter that changes from tub to handheld. Before I planned for this setup with our plumber, I called Grohe to make sure that their handhelds produce the same amount of water as their standard fixed shower heads. They said absolutely!

    We now have had this setup for 14 years and have never missed the fixed shower head for a minute. I think anytime you have a handheld in the shower (w/ or w/o a shower head) you will have instant value. It is definitely a HUGE selling point. It would be a mistake to put in a standard tub/shower faucet if you have the ability to install a handheld.

  • wi-sailorgirl
    13 years ago

    That's what we're doing in the new bathroom. I didn't really want to junk up the wall with all kinds of fixtures, but I wanted a handheld for all the reasons you mentioned, so we're only doing the handheld on a slide bar. Of course I can't speak to how we like it since it's all in boxes in the basement right now.

    As far as resale goes, I can't think it would be a deal breaker for anyone, especially in a secondary bath.

  • vampiressrn
    13 years ago

    I would do a simple hand-held. They are more versatile than a fixed head, and if you keep it simple, then you won't loose the money you invested when you sell.

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for your input!

    Can anyone recommend an affordable handshower and slide bar that actually works well as a showerhead? (i.e. it has a good mounting angle and good water pressure...)

    I need an under-$150 model... not a fabulous $500 one :)

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for your input!

    Can anyone recommend an affordable handshower and slide bar that actually works well as a showerhead? (i.e. it has a good mounting angle and good water pressure...)

    I need an under-$150 model... not a fabulous $500 one :)

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Well, unfortunately you get what you pay for. You mentioned good water pressure. If you can't remove the flow restrictor then you will be stuck with a measly stream of water. Grohe will point you to that piece so you can easily remove it. I do know for a fact that Moen will not encourage it and that is because that piece is often impossible to remove and if you can, the piece may not be made to withstand that water pressure. One of our Moen handhelds actually split in half after we dug out the flow restrictor. I avoid Moen like the plague now.

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Yikes! Well, one of the models I am looking at is a Grohe. The slide bar looks sort of modern to go with the Moen Monticello stuff we're using, though... but maybe it would be OK. I'll go look at it in person tomorrow and see.

  • pitpat
    13 years ago

    We have a Grohe handheld Movario (although the rest of the bath is California Faucets) as our only showerhead, and it's awesome.

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Okay, so I called Moen (because we're already using their lav faucet and wanted to match) and they said that their hand shower is 2.5 GPM just like the regular showerheads. And just like the Grohe Relexa 4 I'm also considering. So what's all this about removing the flow restrictor??? Are we going to hate it as a regular showerhead unless we do that?

    I do like the Grohe, and found a good price for it, but it's soooo contemporary-looking combined with the Moen Monticello my daughter picked out. I'm worried it will just look too weird together :(

    Moen monticello:

    Grohe handshower:

    Moen handshower:

  • emilymch
    13 years ago

    stacey, Hudson Reed (usa.hudsonreed.com) has a bunch of handhelds on slider rails for under $150. We used one in our new bathroom and the water flow is fantastic.

    This one is $140. I think it looks nice with the faucet you have picked out:

    http://usa.hudsonreed.com/product/Hudson_Reed_Enterprise_Chrome_Slider_Rail_Kit/287/40015.html

    This one is $120:
    http://usa.hudsonreed.com/product/Hudson_Reed_Chrome_Modern_Curved_Slide_Rail_Kit/287/40163.html

    This is a bit different, but would give you the overhead plus handheld for $165:

    http://usa.hudsonreed.com/product/Hudson_Reed_Victorian_Chrome_Grand_Rigid_Riser_Twin_Kit_Showerheads/287/40048.html

    I think the faucet you picked out might be a bit to contemporary for it, though.

    Anyway, we had a good experience with Hudson Reed.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    I don't think you need to match exactly your shower and your lav faucets IMHO. We had all Kohler for our master sinks and jacuzzi but the price was prohibitive at the time and we made a BAD decision and went with the Moen handheld shower setup. I wish we had bit the bullet and just installed the matching Kohler NOT because it was matching but because the Moen is a POS (sorry, but every Moen piece I've ever had has failed).

    That picture is the exact setup we have in our master shower with Moen. I cannot warn you away from it enough. And, ironically, the Relaxa 4 system is what is in our main bathroom. Fourteen years later NOT ONE REPAIR. They got equally the same usage...my husband and I in the master and our two sons in the main (my oldest is now married and moved out).

  • suero
    13 years ago

    I have that Grohe showerhead. It has three settings, regular, massage and and I don't remember what the third one is, but even with the flow restrictor in, it is w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l for getting every last bit of shampoo out of my hair. Also great for rinsing the cleaning products off the shower.
    The other thing about it that I like is that both the height and the angle of the showerhead can be adjusted.
    Recommended.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Oh and btw, removing the flow restrictor for the Moen voids the warranty. It made a HUGE difference removing it from the Grohe handheld. We did it anyway from the Moen because it was basically unusable. Then got the cracked handheld as our punishment.

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    OK, I'm convinced. I will get the Grohe setup... (Oh, I will go look at those Hudson ones too... but hate to purchase stuff I cannot see in person first...) but do you think I can still use that Moen Monticello valve with it or should I find something sort of in-between the two stylistically to bridge the look? The lav faucet is this one:

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    You should not mix manufacturers in the shower. They are made as a fully coordinated system.

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I'm interested in why you say that, Susan...
    I've done a few bathroom renos, so I understand about the valves & trims needing to be the same manufacturer: is that what you mean? But you can put any showerhead you want with the valve/trim... people do that all the time. Functionally, this isn't really any different, we're just replacing the showerhead with a hand shower on a slide bar. The connections aren't proprietary or anything, it's just what you put onto the 1/2" ISP that comes out of the wall... are you implying that there's something about the way the valve works that neccessitates using that manufacturer's showerhead as well? Or are you just talking aethetics (which is, right now, the only concern I can see...)

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    I have always felt that keeping the same manufacturer in the shower was keeping a well-coordinated system intact, both functionally and aesthetically. You are right in that you can put in the valve you want and then the handheld system you want. However, I wanted to do that when we built and the plumber discouraged it saying they were engineered to work together. Perhaps he was wrong but that always stuck in my head. I've never done it but now that you mention it, and considering how a shower system works, there would probably be no reason that you couldn't mix them. Sorry for the off the cuff remark w/o explanation.

    Both our Moen and Grohe valve have never given us any problems.

  • dedtired
    13 years ago

    How do you remove the flow restrictor from a Grohe? I LOVE my hand held showerhead, but my house has low water pressure. Anything I can do to encourage water flow/pressure would be good.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Separate the hose from the handheld. In the base of the handheld there will be a removable piece that you can dig out. We took a nut pick and dug it out. Any other piece that is instrumental to the construction cannot be dug out. It should look obvious that it restricts water.

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    thanks, ntruro... that is a nice looking shower!! Unfortunately I don't think my daughter (main user of this shower) would love it. She really doesn't like "rain shower" type heads. We have the Kohler head that's about 6" wide in our master, and she dislikes it- she prefers a smaller head with a more forceful stream of water. This one looks like it will have a gentler shower, huh? Great deal, though!

  • dedtired
    13 years ago

    Susan -- thanks! I just tried what you said and pooped it out. The flow is noticeably improved. Now if I can just pop it out of my Kelston sink faucet, too.

    Stacey, my Grohe has six different settings and the "jet" setting sounds like what your daughter likes -- especially now without the restrictor.

  • susanelewis
    13 years ago

    Dedtired..."pooped it out." LOLOLOL

    Enjoy!

  • rmace_droi_hotmail_com
    12 years ago

    We have a hand shower on a slide bar now where do we mount it. The tub surround comes as high as the glass doors and my partner wanted to mount it above cause is we mount it at the edge or the surround that highest the shower head goes it 5' 8"

  • Stacey Collins
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    You may want to start a new thread asking this- you might get more answers.
    In my opinion and experience: mount the slide bar however high you need to to put the showerhead at the correct height. Obviously, a longer slide bar allows more variation in height. They usually come in 2 or 3 foot lengths, I think.
    We mocked ours up by holding it against a wall and standing under it to find the proper height.
    Also- sometimes you can change the location of the stand-offs to allow the showerhead holder to slide further up. In the case of our Grohe RElexa, the stand-offs are usually mounted a couple inches into the bar itself. But that restricts how high/low the showerhead can be slid. We mounted our stand-offs all the way at the ends of the bar. This allowed us more variation, and the bar didn't need to be mounted so high to allow the showerhead to be tall enough.
    Like this: her is how the bar is shown mounted, with stand-offs in a few inches from either end-

    But here's how we mounted it, with stand-offs at ends-

  • gr8daygw
    12 years ago

    We have only the hand held on a slide bar, Memoirs by Kohler ~just installed in our new master bath. We didn't want multi shower heads or body sprays just as little as possible. The sliding bar works great for both my husband and me with our significant height difference. I never had a sliding bar before this and I just have to say they are wonderful, look pretty and very functional. I think I love it more than anything else we did! ...My feeling is that a shower head would not be a deal breaker in a house sale. I fell for that advice from our builder: "you better put in a jetted tub for resale", we did and ended up ripping it out 13 years later as it was a huge white elephant that we used maybe 10 times in 13 years. No one at least in our area wants them anymore, especially the young people who see them as something their parents did, lol. Horrors! Freestanding soaker tubs are the in thing now. No mildewed jacuzzi lines to worry about no huge floorspace wasted, use less water. We have water wars going on here with three other states and I had that on my mind when doing the shower. YMMV : ) All the best to you!