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March 12, 2008
european shower...
so, we don't have enough room on the master bedroom floor for both a nice, large closet (desperately needed) and a full bath (even with a shower stall). so we're considering an european shower for our "master" bath. the bathroom would incorporate a shower curtain but would otherwise be a true european shower -- drain in the floor, showerhead on the wall.
my husband is *not* into this idea (although the addition of a shower curtain improves matters). does anyone have any good experiences with european showers or is my better half on the mark with this one?
Comments
My guess is it won't increase and may decrease value to buyers. But if you're not selling who cares. If you want a master shower do it. Do you need a master bath? Is there no other bath on your br floor or do you want to avoid naked parents in a hallway with kids?
I've used this sort of thing in many foreign countries without any problem. But I'm only 5'5" and understand some bigger people want more elbow room. My other concern would be that you include decent heat/exhaust fan so that the room can be properly dried since everything gets wet.
Posted by: guest at March 12, 2008 5:16 PM
I'm 6' 2" and I used one in Italy. Great fun!
A friend who moved to Ireland had one installed. Loves it and he's big guy.
Posted by: guest at March 12, 2008 7:37 PM
These can look cool but you really don't want to own it. I stay in many hotels with these. The slope of the floor is subtly critical, as is height of shower head. I have mopped up more hotel-room floors with all the towels at my disposal more times than I can count, and these are not pleasant memories. This has something to do with being tall, so that the shower head bounces water off me just an inch or so away. You may be mid-sized, but think of the embarrassment of your first poor tall houseguest. Probably more critical, all drains clog eventually. In a bathtub or shower stall with six-inch or so rise, no problem. Without that, your wood floors outside the bathroom will get that deep cleaning you really don't want.
A suggestion: Have you ever been to Japan? There are lots of bathrooms there with a raised platform over the whole bathroom floor except a gutter around the perimeter. It's a pretty elegant design, and then you could have your Euro shower over this drainage system.
Posted by: guest at March 12, 2008 8:50 PM
I love this idea for a powder room.
Posted by: guest at March 12, 2008 9:34 PM
There's a floorthrough on 3rd St. in PS on sale now with a european shower. We went to the open house a few weeks back and judging from my husband's reaction, as well as those I overheard, it's not going to be a great selling point. That said, it's you're home so make it work for you! Just prepared for the perplexed looks when you do decide to sell.
Posted by: fawn at March 13, 2008 10:45 AM
Wow, TWO husbands who have aesthetic issues with this shower, how interesting.
Is this a bath with no shower doors?
IIf so, I suggest a slatted teak floor laid over the tile. Looks great if done right, though there might be issues with mildew on the wood?
Posted by: cmu at March 13, 2008 12:04 PM
I'll add that I was not perplexed because when I studied abroad in college, my dorm room had one. I second the earlier poster who said they have to be built just right-- mine wasn't and I spent a lot of the year sopping up water from my dorm room floor. I'm not a huge fan.
Posted by: fawn at March 13, 2008 12:16 PM
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this: showers without a 4" curb are no legal in New York City. Don't know what the provision in the new code is for this.
Posted by: guest at March 13, 2008 12:47 PM
What if the 4" curb is at the perimeters of the room?
Posted by: cmu at March 13, 2008 1:04 PM
thanks all. this is a part of our 2nd phase of the reno and wouldn't be done until summer 09. we're not interested in resale (for a while, we hope) so that's not really a consideration. but we definitely need a shower on our floor b/c the only other shower/bath in the house will be on the kid's floor.
we stayed at an apt in france this past summer that had a european shower and -- like the posters here -- we did a lot of mopping up of water. our contractor (whom i trust and who loves the idea of european showers in tight spaces) is horrified that we would think *his* shower would have this problem!
anyway, thanks again for the thoughts. we've got a while to consider the issue and maybe we'll even figure out another solution...
Posted by: 5onsackett at March 13, 2008 5:05 PM
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