I mentioned that the Courtaulds installed a cold shower at Eltham Palace when they made their home there in the 1930s. It took the rest of us in the UK a long time to catch on.
There were no showers at Barmeath and none, as far as I can remember, in the three houses I boarded in at Eton. It took me until the 21st century to install one in my house and for a while I had a bath too. Now I have two showers. They use less water and are quicker to use than a bath. Actually the idea of sitting in soapy bath water rather repels me these days.
The big snag is that all showers leak in the UK. In Australia showers never leak. The reason lies with the shower tray. Here we tile the shower walls and have a shower tray. The intersection of tiling and tray is where it springs a leak. In Australia they have a stainless steel shower tray with a small flange. The tiling overlaps this thin flange making the join leak-proof. The steel tray has to be made to order which is good if you want it to fit a particular place but is more expensive than a conventional off-the-peg tray. Also it is harder to clean but this if offset by it being more visually pleasing. Here’s mine. I should mention that the towel rail is far enough from the shower head for the towels to stay dry.
At this stage, at any rate on daytime TV, there would be a picture of me stepping into my shower. We have a lot of daytime TV ads for bath lifts and the model is submerged beneath soapy bubbles before rising like Venus on a lift, her modesty protected by a tactful camera angle. I must get out more in the afternoons.
I’m getting a new shower or wet room installed in early December; and I can say I’ve done a fair amount of research.
I’m told that a tray system by a firm called Impey is well respected (this is the one I’m getting).
Because my shower room is compact (!) I am having a glass screen installed; though part of it is curved at one end and can be swung.
Christopher,
Thank you for inviting us into your shower. I could hear Lloyd Grossman asking us “and so who would wash in a shower like this”.
In case Mr Ferris is misled, can you reassure us that the towel rail inside the shower really works. Does condensation note dampen your fluffy White House numbers? John
The electric towel rail works well. Your point about condensation is a good one and, as it is a small room, it does get steamed up even with the window open. However, it soon clears and towels dry on the rail. Incidentally the extractor fan is useless – perhaps there is an Australian one that works?
I entirely agree with you about sitting in soapy water but not so sure about the shower’s other supposed advantages: the volume of water needed to fill a bath is limited by its capacity whereas a shower’s bounty is infinite. Perhaps one should install a meter or, better still, a device that cuts off the water supply after delivery of a certain number of gallons.
PS Have you tried a product called Shiny Sinks (to clean the tray, that is)?
Such a device is on the market to deter water-wasters. Here is a link to the Water Pebble website.
http://waterpebbleus.com
But, if the Amazon reviews are right, although it is very cheap, it doesn’t work.
So many observations. Christopher, did you consider a curb-less shower floor? And on the question of condensation I just learned that a small sofit above shower edge keeps dampness inside stall and tiled ceiling drives dampness down. No need for obnoxious fans or worries about wet bathrooms.
I need to watch more daytime TV