Shower head height

9 years ago

My contractor installed our 8" diameter fixed rain shower head at 6'5" off the floor and on a 15" arm. This seems too low to me - we are tall people (I'm 5'8" and my husband 6'1"). He claims that this was the recommended height for the shower head . Any advise about what we can do? The very expensive tile has been drilled and I'm not sure what we can do to correct this.

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Patrizia Bonini

6 years ago

First of all, to all the people making snotty remarks about how she should have known before.... a contractor deals with these things on a regular basis so they should know to ask, or at least look at the client. No homeowner goes through the pain of building time after time...we don't think of all the little things because we don't bloody know, that's why we hire "professionals"!

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Comments (18)

libradesigneye
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Lots of people ask for higher, but you need to do it in the rough plumbing stage - that is when you might have measured to the nipple and seen it was not ideal . . the arm is probably at 6' 8" (that wil be the top of your glass and is the top of doors in the room and typically things look nicest lined up so it is the typical height)- then the head drops from there so you get to 6'5" -

Depending on what is on the back of the plumbing wall, your contractor can open that up, add length to the service, drill the new location and patch only one tile where the mistake was. BUT - he will charge you, (a lot - because, plumbing, drywall, finish tile and selective tile demo is involved - difficulty level moderate to high - bringing lots of specialists back) and for that . . .

you need to know that this WON'T work for you - 6'5" to 6' 1" leaves some room for hands scrubbing head during shampoo - have dh stand in the shower and wash hair right under shower rain head to see if he makes contact . . if so, move it and you will be glad you did. .
PRO
abcd
9 years ago
There is no recommended height for a shower head. The contractor should have asked you for the height you wanted. It looks ok, but this kind of detail is very important. Read your contract with him to see what the parameters are for notice of making decisions on the job.
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lagwagonshow
9 years ago
Replace the nipple with something like this:

http://www.spritewater.com/products/filtered-extensions/showerup-single-double/

This one has a filter in it but you could find a plain extension in the right color.
ruthmand
9 years ago
I don't want to be rude but, honestly, you should have made this decision and told your contractor where you want it. If you do not tell them absolutely where and how you want everything to be you are leaving them to their own devices. I speak from recent experience. It is very stressful to have to make a decision regarding every item but the end result is that things will be as you want them, or thought you wanted them : )
PRO
Marcello Design Group
9 years ago
Then don't ...some just need to learn by their mistakes...
Curt D'Onofrio
9 years ago
We don't have fixed shower heads. They are positioned of course until we need them to be where they 'need' to be http://www.build.com/moen-23015brb-mediterranean-bronze-4-five-function-hand-shower-with-59-hose-and-bracket-from-the-banbury-collection/p1710998?source=gg-gba-pla_1710998____49842552319&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!!!81403802239!g!!49842552319!&gclid=CMrQjo-XxL8CFTJn7AodMUUAgg
Zani Zaman
6 years ago
I’m in the middle of a wet room installation and I’d like to point out that even after being asked by my builders, I still don’t and wouldn’t know which height would be optimal for a family with height span of 5’ and 6’2”..so I sympathise with anyone who finds themselves not entirely happy with the height post installation; it is so easily done. What you visualise to be right can sometimes turn out completely different when physically installed and finished. We are going for a 4 inch gap between the flat of the shower head and the tallest family member’s height; about 6’6” from ground. That was before reading any posts and purely from gauging, so we hope we get it right :)
K King
5 years ago
We find ourselves in a similar position because our contractor made the height we requested where the nipple comes out rather than where the head is, even though my husband asked they check how far the arm would drop. While it could be fixed from going into the back wall, we are going to solve it with a slightly goosenecked shower arm that puts the nipple for the shower head at the same height as the wall pipe. You can gain more inches by using an offset shower head like this one. https://www.signaturehardware.com/offset-shower-arm.html
Sundropsandsage
5 years ago
We also placed ours too low - I think because shower pan took up more height than we expected. Thanks, K King, the offset shower arms look like a good fix.
Judy Mishkin
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
this is an 8' ceiling, height of the shower head is great, i'd guess a bit less than 7 1/2' , but i think you'd be hard pressed to get it up that high if it had to come out from the wall.... it would crawl along the ceiling, so i guess 'it depend on your ceiling height' as to where you'd guess to put it.

btw, the contractor guessed very wrong on where to put the bar for the adjustable one, as a result my husband doesnt fit under it but thats ok, its only used for sluicing the walls and if i dont wish to wash my hair. if it was the only head in the shower, it would have been a redo.

i strongly recommend having them ceiling mounted if possible, you really dont want to stand really close to the wall. regular shower heads put the spray at an angle and not straight down.
PRO
Alex Guthrie Construction LLC
5 years ago
Is it possible to replace the fixed arm with a slide bar? Could be a relatively simple fix
PRO
Alex Guthrie Construction LLC
5 years ago
I'm solving a similar problem in a Mid Century home for a client with a slide bar. It is enabling us to literally relocate the shower head over and up because of ceiling height restrictions and design constraints. It's possible to adapt most shower heads to this approach but not all. Good Luck! I'll be using this as a subject on my radio show Remodel Revolution Radio soon. Remodel Revolution Radio.com
K King
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Turned out great in our bathroom, and has a really comfortable distance from the wall
felizlady
5 years ago
Learn to stand back from the spray except when washing your hair.
I, personally, have “no rain shower head, ever” on my “Not In My House” list.
PRO
Balance 3 Design
5 years ago
This is the perfect example of why there needs to be an "in between" person ie; professional designer, working with the contractor on all details and advocating for the client. The extra money spent using a designer always pays off in the end and can help to ensure a smoother, less stressful process for the client and contractor. I wish more contractors would insist on homeowners using designers. Everyone could avoid a lot of headaches in the end and costly, frustrating mistakes.
Karl Ackerman
3 years ago
I am dealing with this same issue - we have remodeled 3 bathrooms in the last 2 years. The master bedroom has a shower head from the ceiling, but the second bathroom uses the shower head you described. Like yours, the measurement is 80” from the wall, not the shower head. Ours lost 5”. If you hire a firm who has their own in-house designer for free and when you have bought the shower head and it’s sitting in the garage before the tile goes up....I say the client always wins and it’s on them to fix it. This is why contractors charge you a 40%+ mark up on labor. Expect it to be done right the first time. No exceptions.
Nicole Jaco
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
What I've been looking up is that regular shower heads should be 80 inches and rainfall should be 84. You can get a shower head that extends upwards and makes it higher to avoid having to make a new home

Shower head height

Patrizia Bonini

Comments (18)

libradesigneye

abcd

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