Shower Enclosure - Extraction

[richo106]

Hi All

 

I am just designing the final details for my bathroom, we are having a 800 x 1600 shower enclosure. We don't want a flappy door but just a 400 gap to walk through so thinking 1200 glass one side and 800 on the end.

 

However the mrs wants floor to ceiling glass rather the kits offline which are around 2m tall. With the enclosure having a permanent opening would there be any condensation/extraction issues? I have MVHR in the house

 

Please see pic of extract location within the bathroom

 

Any advice/opinions welcome

 

Many Thanks

 

[Nickfromwales]

If you're going floor to ceiling glass, I'd want the extract in the shower area, at the end opposite to the shower head.

 

Others will say it's not supposed to be in the shower area, I say it makes zero difference. I'd want the shower area to have the most amount of cross-flow as possible.

[richo106]

Hi @Nickfromwales

 

Thanks for the reply, I won't be able to move the extract point within the enclosure

 

Another option I am thinking is to leave a small gap between the ceiling and glass, in your opinion what is a reasonable gap?

 

Thanks again

[Nickfromwales]

29 minutes ago, richo106 said:

Hi @Nickfromwales

 

Thanks for the reply, I won't be able to move the extract point within the enclosure

 

Another option I am thinking is to leave a small gap between the ceiling and glass, in your opinion what is a reasonable gap?

 

Thanks again

A small gap will (imho) look like you ordered the glass wrong.

 

Either a decent gap (aka an off the shelf item as per the norm) or go all the way and make your missus sign a contract that she has to reach up there and clean the glass while you watch TV and consume cold ales.

 

Also, you should factor in that all the time you attempt to clean the glass where it meets the ceiling, you’ll end up wiping off the paint. 
 

Furthermore, how you seal that there is anyone’s guess.

 

Me personally, I can’t stand the idea of glass > ceiling, but don’t say I said that. 

[saveasteading]

12 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

I can’t stand the idea of glass > ceiling,

It will need a movement joint too, or it will take some load from the floor above. Floors bounce, houses flex.

If it is a decision for aesthetics, then stopping the glass short is likely to be lore attractive than an aluminium channel with gaskets.

[Nickfromwales]

38 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

It will need a movement joint too, or it will take some load from the floor above. Floors bounce, houses flex.

If it is a decision for aesthetics, then stopping the glass short is likely to be lore attractive than an aluminium channel with gaskets.

Agreed. Then down to personal choice. 

[Kelvin]

Not convinced I’d do the glass all the way to the ceiling. Both of our glass panels are standard heights. The downstairs is fixed with a vertical post up into a joist. The upstairs is fixed with a horizontal bar into the wall. Both look fine. The extract for both is still in the shower enclosure. As mentioned above you either go for a big gap or no gap as anything else looks like a hit and a miss. A lesson I learnt very early on in our build and I stuck to this ‘rule’ with every such problem. 
 

Your 400mm gap is too small in my opinion. We have a 500mm gap upstairs and it’s as narrow as I’d want it. How wide is the bathroom as we were faced with the same dilemma as you in our downstairs bathroom. What I did was buy a shower tray as wide as the room (just over 2m) that could be cut to size. Then you only have one glass panel to fit. Because it’s so long we don’t have any water splashing up against the opposite wall. I’d mock something up with some sheeting material and get your wife to walk through it several times before committing to 400mm. If you don’t have sheeting material just stand 400mm from a wall and get her to walk through the gap. 
 

eta I fretted a lot about how things look and whether it would annoy you forevermore. I have learnt that things you intended to look a certain way you don’t notice after a while. Things that you thought might bother you generally don’t. But there are the odd things that annoy you like hell. The trick is to try and identify all three as you go along. Not an easy task. 

Edited August 8 by Kelvin

[Iceverge]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

I’d mock something up with some sheeting material and get your wife to walk through it several times before committing to 400mm. If you don’t have sheeting material just stand 400mm from a wall and get her to walk through the gap

  

Or put a large concrete block behind a few doors in the house to limit them to 400mm opening. See how it goes down. 

 

 

We have one much like yours above, 1500x900mm. A 300mm flapper panel on the gap of 400mm. 

 

It's forever wetting the bathroom floor. I'd opt for a complete enclosure door and put the shower head on the long wall which we did down stairs. Much more elbow room and you can splash to your heart's content and no wet bathroom floor. 

[Kelvin]

We thought about fitting the flapper panels but decided to see how the showers worked first and they both turned out to be ok without them. Although they both have overhead rain showers which helps where the water goes. We never use the other shower heads. 

Edited August 8 by Kelvin

[JamesP]

Are you using a tray or flush wet room floor?

We have overhead rain showers with a wet room walk in shower tray kit, 900mm x 1800mm.

Fitted a 1400mm x 1950mm shower screen secured with a horizontal bar at the open end. It works fine and not obtrusive.

Anything shorter and water would exit past the screen.

I would consider losing the 800mm screen and fitting a 1400mm only. Easy access.

Fit 50mm waste if not too late.

 

[Kelvin]

Our downstairs screen is only 1200mm leaving a 900mm gap for accessibility.  The tray runs the full width of the room wall to tall. No water gets around the screen and any water that goes beyond the screen lands on the tray so runs back to the trap. 

[JamesP]

18 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Our downstairs screen is only 1200mm leaving a 900mm gap for accessibility.  The tray runs the full width of the room wall to tall. No water gets around the screen and any water that goes beyond the screen lands on the tray so runs back to the trap. 

With a tray 1200mm is fine as @Kelvin.

[richo106]

Thank you all for the replies, this has certainly left me wondering how to do mine

 

I have uploaded my bathroom layout, i have bought everything apart from the shower tray (going for the kudos 2) just need to decide on size

 

This is going to be the kids bathroom so conscious they wont be as careful as us, I will be tiling both wall and floor

 

I am not keep on the flappy doors if i am honest, what would you guys do shower size/glass enclosure wise if this was yours?

 

Many Thanks 

 

[richo106]

Would people recommend a flappy door rather than fixed glass?

 

Cheers

[Iceverge]

Honestly neither, unless it's needed for wheelchair access I'd put in a proper tray and a proper door. 

 

The shower stays warmers and there's no mess on the floor then. 

[ProDave]

I stayed on a campsite that had something similar.  A very long shower tray.  It had fixed glass all along the long edge and the narrow edge (in your case facing the loo) completely open.

 

The tray was so long that nothing sprayed out beyond the end of the tray, and you had an 800mm wide entrance.

[Kelvin]

You are as wide as you can go. I’d go a bit longer to 1700mm and move the loo over a bit although that might mess with loo central to the sink plan. I wouldn’t leave the end open though. Then fit a 1200mm glass panel. I prefer simple glass screens to doors as they are much easier to keep clean with no nooks crannies. We dry the showers after use and glass screens make that easy. 

[saveasteading]

40 minutes ago, ProDave said:

nothing sprayed out beyond the end of the tray,

 I've got this and its a powerful shower. .  A very few splashes may wander out but onto  a mat which feet will make much wetter.

I like it and would do it again, and is so much nicer than a door.

 

Another decision I'm pleased with is to fit a big grab handle, whether your family needs it or not. With it there it is second nature to hold it when manoeuvering or lifting a foot, and avoid slips. Stainless steel screws too.

I don't think it looks clunky, just sensible.

[Kelvin]

We’re ‘only’ in our late 50s but one of the things we thought about was access to both showers 10 years from now. 20 years from now and it’s someone else’s problem. That meant easy access. No step ups. Easy to add grab bars if necessary. No doors. 

Edited Wednesday at 16:12 by Kelvin