Considerations When Choosing a Shower Enclosure

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Posted 2021-12-05 10:24:39

As with any home improvement, it's important to plan before making any expensive purchases. In the case of a shower enclosure, you need to ask yourself.

How many walls are available to locate an enclosure?

What bathroom room height do you have available?

How much space do you have to locate the enclosure?

Is there suitable plumbing nearby for the shower tray waste to be connected to?

Once you have the answers to these questions you can set about finding the perfect Shower Enclosure for your bathroom.

How many walls are available to locate your shower enclosure?

The number of walls you have available will generally dictate the shape and style of the enclosure you choose. With only one wall available you would generally be restricted to a d-shape enclosure or a three-sided walk-in. Two walls give you the most options allowing you to choose between quadrant, hinge door, pivot door, bow front, walk-in, and Sliding Shower Enclosure. Three walls generally mean you have a recess situation in which to fit into, so pivot shower doors, hinged doors, bifold doors, and sliding shower doors would be appropriate.

What bathroom room height do you have available?

Many people have a low profile tray sitting on upstands or a raising kit which allows the overall installation to be lifted so that plumbing can be installed below the tray but above the floorboards. This is generally a necessity with enclosures fitted over a concrete ground floor. A little room above the enclosure between the ceiling will allow steam to escape and help you to breathe.

How much space do you have to locate the enclosure?

Now that you have the location within the room sorted how big an area do you have available? The bigger the enclosure the more comfortable the showering experience and many modern designs also include a drying area with wooden duckboards to stand on. If you're choosing a pivot or hinged shower door or some quadrant enclosures you also need to appreciate the swing radius of the door. You don't want to risk safety by installing an enclosure whereby a glass door can swing out and bang onto other sanitary ware such as a toilet or basin. Sliding single and double roller doors are becoming more popular though they impact costs because of the extra mechanical components involved. Also, rollers for sliding doors are one of the components that may need replacing at some stage especially on cheaper shower enclosures that incorporate plastic-bodied rollers. It's advisable to look out for enclosures from manufactures that offer a health guarantee period. Companies such as Woven Gold India offer lifetime guarantees and spare parts are readily available.

Is there suitable plumbing for the shower tray waste to be connected to?

As well as having enough room to locate the shower enclosure you also need to be sure that below that space it will be possible to link the shower waste either to the soil pipe or to another pipe already leading to the soil pipe. If in doubt you should ask a local plumber about this but generally it will help if your enclosure is on the same side of the room as the waste pipe, thus keeping down plumbing costs.

A sub-question to this would be to ask, is there plumbing available for an electric or thermostatic shower? An electric shower or exposed shower valve can sit on the surface of the wall perhaps with the pipework going into a loft space. Increasingly though people want to hide unsightly pipework so this is often hidden behind a stub wall or embedded into the wall as when using a concealed thermostatic shower mixer.

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