Shower ideas for small bathroom

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81895526#Comment_81895526

The panels are frameless and just toughened glass with a full length bracket fixing them on the wall. The tray is white, provided by the bathroom fitting company we used, which is the right dimensions... Sorry no idea what brand. The bottom of the glass is silicone-d to the tray.

We don't have a support bar at the top of the glass connecting the long panel to the opposite wall - that means the larger panel does vibrate a bit if you knock it. We're fine with this, but if you'd prefer more rigidity you may want a bar.

We put a towel on the floor to soak up moisture when we step out of the shower (no room for a permanent mat, but towels are easier to wash) I find you get a bit of spray when squeegeeing the shower glass after use, but the towel catches that - and gets hung up to dry after each shower.

Are you in London by any chance? If you are CP Hart has a massive showroom near Waterloo, which is well worth a wander round for ideas if nothing else.

Emmia

We have one shower over bath (this is a proper rain head arrangement + handheld) and one walk-in shower with a hand held and rain head. Best of both worlds

When you specify the shower I would opt for a rain head + handheld the handheld makes it much easier to clean the shower, and was one of our requirements when we had the refit.

I would also strongly recommend you consider storage in the shower at the design stage as you really want somewhere to put the shampoo and shower gel, and those "aftermarket" ones that hang on the shower glass or handheld wall bracket look rubbish IMO but exist as this is something people clearly overlook

We have wall mounted Robert Welch shower baskets, which are stainless steel and easy to clean/descale no rust. They are pricey but I wouldn't swap them. We had glass shelves before which were ever so slightly tilted (to drain water I'd expect) but this meant that bottles of shampoo occasionally fell off onto the shower tray - these all got replaced (both bathrooms) when we had our shower room refurbished.

https://amzn.eu/d/02ksEj0E

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81895528#Comment_81895528

What would help is a quick sketch of your plans

jennifernil

We do have a door on ours, a hinged one. The sliding type are more difficult to clean (the tracks) IMO.

We felt the walk in type would be prone to water bouncing out onto the floor, plus we have an electric towel warmer on the wall at what would have been the walk in end of the tray, so we needed to leave enough space for that

Our tray is a Mira Flight Safe, totally non slip, 900 x 1200. The enclosure is from Kudos.

maman

We have an older house so went for a traditional style. In our main bathroom we have a Burlington suite which was expensive but still looking great almost 6 years on. One thing I would recommend if you're having tiles is coloured grout. Ours (grey) has stayed immaculate while I'm sure white grouting wouldn't have.

Our bathroom fitter made a sort of cubby hole in the wall to hold shampoo etc. It's a false wall which hides the pipework to the showers.

In our small shower room/cloakroom we have a very similar suite but it's a dupe from B&Q. That's just over a year old and still looking good although it's not used so often so hard to judge.

The walk in shower screen does have a bar attaching it to the wall so no vibration here. As well as the overhead shower rose we have a hand held shower. The only time water gets on the floor is if DH is a bit over zealous cleaning with the hand held.😁 We have a cork mat which I step out on to and just lean against the shower enclosure wall to dry it off.

I find it easy to keep clean. Some days I use squeegee others, when I'm in a hurry, just a shower spray and just occasionally (as we live in a hard water area) I'll give it a really good clean with a scrubber.

Suffolk_lass

We live in a 17th century house and the bathroom is on the first floor (so no wet room floor options) and has a sloping ceiling, down to the long side of the bath. Our shower is on the inside corner. For ease of cleaning we used plain white shower board with a corner joint, floor to ceiling and extending about 25cm deeper and wider than the shower walls. This means there is no grout to degrade, crumble or go mouldy.

It is important to use an "up and over" shower stand tray (it has a ridge and the tiles or boards are fitted to the inside, so water cannot run down the back), if you can't have a wet room. Obviously there is a silicone seal round the bottom and where the shower screen walls join the shower board walls.

There is not room to have a walk in simple glass panel (I would have this if there was room) so we have a sliding door. This is the hardest part to keep clear of soap scum and limescale.

I have tried all sorts to clean the glass and panels and I do keep a green scrubby thing in the shower and scrub round the tap to wall seam, and the door handle with this. Now, to clean it, I use a small spray bottle of citric acid in water (originally hot to dissolve the crystals) - probably 2 tablespoons to 2-300ml hot water. This will remove soap scum and limescale if you spray it on when the shower is wet, then rinse it off a few minutes later. It is a game changer in cleaning and I can't believe I wasted so much money on branded limescale removers over the years

I also now use the citric acid (I buy a 2 kilo bag of food grade online) to descale our kettle and then lift the lid off the toilet cistern and descale the bits in there that break (round the flush mechanism and spindle, if you have a handle-style) with the kettle contents. Honestly, try it. You could get a smaller amount in a SM or pharmacy to test.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81895568#Comment_81895568

Just worth noting that not everyone likes the rain head showers ( used them in hotels a few times) We prefer a more traditional type, like this;

Aqualisa Varispray Adjustable Shower Kit | Victorian Plumbing.co.uk

I agree about the storage. The ones you hang on the shower do not look great, and the smaller ones you stick with suckers, have a tendency to fall off in the middle of the night and make you think you have burglars !

Heedtheadvice

Similar arrangement walk in for us.

Three sides tiled ( only cos it was an upgrade from Bath tiled walls) bristan shower ( not rainfall), Kudos non slip tray ( we are knocking on a bit!) with side drain and plain glass screen all purchased through City Plumbing and a DIY install. 1700mm long by 900 wide with screen for about 1m.

No problems with splash as what little there is goes onto a tiled floor so semi wet room I suppose.

Would advise making sure the floor is strong, level and rigid enough for shower tray fitting for the tray cement bed and choice of drain hole matches what is possible with the floor structure and drainage pipe. Low profile trays avoid a bigger step into them especially if sunken below rest of flooring or tiled on top of existing floor to reduce step.

Solid sides such as acrylic sheets IMHO better than tiling as grout can be more prone to getting mouldy over time but grout sealer sprat helps a lot in that respect. Power shower grout is more resilient.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897155#Comment_81897155

In our bathroom the handheld option is on a bar and can be used as a full shower if someone doesn't like the rain head - personally though I prefer a rain head!

maman

I think you're right about the acrylic sheets @Heedtheadvice but I don't think they'd suit our traditional style.

I like the rain head too @Emmia and our handheld is mostly used for cleaning.