Hydro massage and steam showers

ian@huth · 11-06-2005, 14:49

My wife wants the floor of our bathroom tiling and this has prompted me to look into the bathroom as a whole.

At present we have a standard bath with electric shower unit fitted over it, wash basin and toilet.

It is very rare that my wife uses the bath and I never use it, always taking a shower. I am thinking along the lines of having the bath removed and replaced by a shower enclosure. I have been looking at hydro massage shower cubicles, both with and without steam. Anyone of you got one and have any comments worth hearing?

Prices seem to range from ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£395 for the cheapest without steam to over ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£7,500 with steam. There seems to be quite a range of prices for units that appear to be very similar. Why the difference and anything in particular to look out for?

One that I have been looking at is the top item at http://www.bathroomheaven.com/bh_buy.../steam_showers

Paul · 11-06-2005, 14:59

I would think it just comes down to features and brand names. That unit you linked to looks very good for the money and as a fully enclosed unit it wouldn't take long to fit by a professional. Have you looked into the running costs and possible maintenance costs of a unit?

Flubflow · 11-06-2005, 15:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian@huth

One that I have been looking at is the top item at http://www.bathroomheaven.com/bh_buy.../steam_showers

Looks like some sort of "Orgasmatron".

Chimaera · 11-06-2005, 15:08

Never mind all that - can I come and try it out once it's installed?

Flubflow · 11-06-2005, 15:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimaera

Never mind all that - can I come and try it out once it's installed?

Careful though, looking at the plethora of features such as radio, telephone etc., he's probably ordered a "webcam option" too.

I'll get me coat

Ramrod · 11-06-2005, 16:13

Think carefully before you completely do away with a bath. It will make your house more difficult to sell in the future as a bath is an expected feature in a bathroom.

Flubflow · 11-06-2005, 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramrod

Think carefully before you completely do away with a bath. It will make your house more difficult to sell in the future as a bath is an expected feature in a bathroom.

I'll second that.
There's nothing nicer than a long soak to take those achs and pains away.
An alternative for this, which will also increase house value, would be to have an enclosed jacuzzi/spa/sauna arrangement in the garden. Now that would be class!

ian@huth · 11-06-2005, 16:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramrod

Think carefully before you completely do away with a bath. It will make your house more difficult to sell in the future as a bath is an expected feature in a bathroom.

Not too bothered about that although I have thought about it. We don't anticipate selling the house and will more than likely stay in it until we have both passed on (unless we win the lottery

). Then it will be someone else's problem but ripping it out and putting a bath back in isn't a major expense. You never know, it could be the unusual feature that is an attraction to some people with showers becoming more popular than baths for a lot of folk.

Ramrod · 11-06-2005, 16:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flubflow

An alternative for this, which will also increase house value, would be to have an enclosed jacuzzi/spa/sauna arrangement in the garden. Now that would be class!

That prolly won't add value but it will make it easier to sell the house.
Hell..............we have had estate agents tell us that our detached, 4 room annex doesn't add value to our property

Flubflow · 11-06-2005, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramrod

That prolly won't add value but it will make it easier to sell the house.
Hell..............we have had estate agents tell us that our detached, 4 room annex doesn't add value to our property

That's estate agents for you. They have obviously never had the benefit of enjoying a good refreshing Russian-style thrashing with birch twigs after a sauna.

Seriously though, an alternative would be to keep the bath and have a decent enclosed shower sectioned off in the master bedroom (if you have the space for it that is, and with very good extraction fans so that the bedroom doesn't get dank). Or if you have a spare large cupboard/room elsewhere in the house then have that as a shower room.

ian@huth · 11-06-2005, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flubflow

That's estate agents for you. They have obviously never had the benefit of enjoying a good refreshing Russian-style thrashing with birch twigs after a sauna.

Seriously though, an alternative would be to keep the bath and have a decent enclosed shower sectioned off in the master bedroom (if you have the space for it that is, and with very good extraction fans so that the bedroom doesn't get dank). Or if you have a spare large cupboard/room elsewhere in the house then have that as a shower room.

No, the idea is that my wife wants the bathroom floor tiling and the shower idea was supplemental to that. Don't really want the hassle of putting power, water and drainage into another part of the house. I have been looking at the Edge flooring system (http://www.edgeflooring.com) from B&Q. Porcelain tiles are bonded to interlocking backerboard to give a floating tiled floor. This can eliminate the cracking problems quite often found when tiling over wooden floors.
__________________

The www.edgeflooring.com site has one of the best sets of installation videos that I have ever seen on a site.

Graham · 12-06-2005, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian@huth

No, the idea is that my wife wants the bathroom floor tiling

Remember that if you're going to do this you're probably going to need underfloor heating as well, otherwise you may end up with freezing feet in the mornings!

bhoywonder1967 · 12-06-2005, 04:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

Remember that if you're going to do this you're probably going to need underfloor heating as well, otherwise you may end up with freezing feet in the mornings!

Don't be such a wimp!!

12-06-2005, 09:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian@huth

My wife wants the floor of our bathroom tiling and this has prompted me to look into the bathroom as a whole.

At present we have a standard bath with electric shower unit fitted over it, wash basin and toilet.

It is very rare that my wife uses the bath and I never use it, always taking a shower. I am thinking along the lines of having the bath removed and replaced by a shower enclosure. I have been looking at hydro massage shower cubicles, both with and without steam. Anyone of you got one and have any comments worth hearing?

Prices seem to range from ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£395 for the cheapest without steam to over ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£7,500 with steam. There seems to be quite a range of prices for units that appear to be very similar. Why the difference and anything in particular to look out for?

One that I have been looking at is the top item at http://www.bathroomheaven.com/bh_buy.../steam_showers

Ian, my dad was on about having one of them before he passed away, the plumber advised him against it because they drain your hot water off really fast.

mr-finnish · 15-05-2007, 16:34

Is this thread still open? It seems very old! Ahhhhh steam showers. I think somebody should give me a 100% discount on one... any offers :p

. I'm looking at one from Di Vapor. http://www.divapor.com/steam-showers.php The Crescent looks rather tasty to me. Weispa have a nice one too but I think I'll go with Di Vapor.