How deep and how high should your shower bench be?

13 years ago

We are doing a marble bench in our shower and our contractor just asked me how deep and high. He thought maybe 20 inches high and 16" deep. Does that sound right? We have room so if it needs to be deeper that would be okay.

Featured Answer

jacobse

13 years ago

The one we just did is 15" deep and about 18.5" high (measured from the floor tile to the top of the granite seat). When it's being built, make sure your contractor takes into account the thickness of the stone you're using for the seat and the elevation of the floor. (Assuming the bench is being framed before the shower bed is installed, there's going to be several inches of floor elevation for the sloped bed, thinset and tile -- and you want him to calculate the finished height from where the top of the tile will be.) Likewise for depth, if your contractor is installing the bench top stone before tiling the wall (definitely the preferable way to build it), you'll lose about 1/2" in depth of your stone behind the tile. (If your depth is 15-16", the difference of 1/2" may not matter much; if you do a narrow 12" bench and lose 1/2" you hadn't planned on, that really does make a difference.)

Our comfort height toilet is 17.5" high, from floor to top of toilet seat.

I think it's much more comfortable for the shower bench to be on the high side of seating heights. It's very different standing up in a tiled, wet shower than standing up from the dining room table, where your feet have much more traction to help you push off when rising from a lower seat. Unless you're both very short, I'd recommend going taller than 16". We're happy with ours at 18.5".

-- Eric

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Comments (9)

bill_vincent
13 years ago
17-19" high, and 12-16" deep, depending on your height and how much you plan to sit on it. Many people will have the bench just for putting bottles on and so that the women who use it can hike their legs up to shave. But some WILL use it to actually sit, and for those people, you might prefer it to be closer to the 16" depth.
cindaloutx
13 years ago
Twenty inches seems too high, most dining chairs are 18. Our bench is 16" high because it's an extension of the tub deck - the tiles run under the glass on the same plane. I was worried that it would be too low, but it isn't. OTOH, I have only sat on it a few times, mostly to say "Wow, I can sit down and have my fancy shower blast clear over here". I shower in the morning and am usually in too much of a hurry to get to work.... Gets used for a footrest when shaving mostly.
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suzanne_sl
13 years ago
I plan to use the bench in our new shower to wash the bottoms of my feet. When we work outside in the soft dirt in the grove, that fine clay goes up the pant legs, down the crew length socks, and clear down into the tightly laced tennies. Unbelievable how much dirt ends up on the bottoms of our feet and halfway up our calves. I'm also planning a mudroom - what a surprise.

As for height, how tall is an ADA toilet? That's a pretty comfortable height.
willinak
13 years ago
Along these thoughts, have anyone of you looked into a fold-down, or retractable seat? I have seen several on eBay and online, but they don't look particulary good.
The link shows a nice example.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Fold-up seat[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/rhode-island-bathroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~17732)
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Elephant Insight Project Specialists
7 years ago
These are really helpful comments, y'all. Im doing a custom tiled shower in a formal Victorian rowhouse in Baltimore and found them when searching for the bench height. Thank you!
mtnpeep
5 years ago
My concern with our new shower: the tiler wants to make it a 14” deep bench however it is under the showerhead (there are two showerheads on opposite ends of the shower). I’m afraid the showerhead will not project the spray far enough out and we will be pressed against the bench to wash hair! Any thoughts?
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Tammy Bee
5 years ago
If it's not used daily to sit and shower, I would go as low as 12". If you have the depth in the shower, what about extending the bench along the whole back wall so both shower heads benefit from it?
Helen
4 years ago
Measure a chair that is comfortable height and use that.

I use my new marble bench a lot and installed a second hand held next close to it so that I have access to a hand held shower while sitting :-).

Not asked but don't forget to install grab bars in your shower. I got some nice looking ones in oil rubbed bronze to match the rest of my fixtures. I have a vertical one by the entry to the shower door and a horizontal along the "long" wall which could theoretically assist someone getting up from the bench if need be.