Opening up the shower....or not
Hi all. I am about to embark on a remodel of our master bathroom and I have a lot of general planning questions. The house was built in 1998 and there's nothing majorly wrong with the bathroom -- things are just showing their age (faucets are leaking, sink is rusting, tiles are loose, etc.) The bathroom has a separate shower (about 36 x 70) and drop-in jacuzzi tub.
My first question is about the shower -- I am actually pretty happy with the size and setup. It is very enclosed -- tiled floor to ceiling on all sides and tiled ceiling. The entrance to the shower is a glass door with about a 1 foot gap above it, then wall above that to the ceiling. And while I know that the current trend is to open up the shower to the room, I actually like the enclosure -- my husband or kids will often come in to grab something from the bathroom while I am in the shower and I do not think I would like to be standing there in a shower with no walls or all glass walls. Plus having the walls like that traps the steam in the shower area and keeps me warm, which I like.
However, having the shower all enclosed like this has also been problematic. We do get mold growth on the caulk and grout. We put a vent fan in the shower area itself and run it while we are showering and for 20 minutes afterwards (it's on a timer) but still experience the mildew. I am thinking I could solve this by picking better grout and perhaps drying the shower after every use, but I am also wondering if opening the shower up a bit would help as well by not allowing so much steam buildup in the first place.
I would miss my steam buildup from a warmth perspective, but a contractor I spoke to suggested putting a vent fan/heater unit right outside the shower area to help with that -- I am not sure if that would solve the problem though, and it might be weird (and not very energy efficient) to run a heater in summer so as not to be cold in the shower.
I guess I am just looking for thoughts/experiences as far as opening up the shower. Basically, I am pretty sure I don't want to do the glass walls/no walls thing, but I could keep the tiled walls and stop them a couple feet short of the ceiling, I guess. Either even with the top of the glass door or perhaps where the wall starts above the door (so about a foot from the ceiling) That would still give me privacy in the shower while allowing steam to escape. If I did this ,though, I wonder: 1) what to put on the ceiling of the shower area -- it would be weird to have an area of tile that just stops, right? I'd probably just paint it like the rest of the ceiling. And 2) how that would affect the look of the walls from the outside -- right now I have artwork hung at normal eye height (not there in the picture below, but it is now hanging on the wall above the toilet paper holder) -- if the walls were 2 feet shorter, I'd either have to lose the art or move it down which might look stupid. And on the back wall of the shower (where the hanging shelf is in the picture below -- that wall separates the shower from the tub), I was considering putting some recessed shelving/cabinetry -- again, I fear it would look stupid to stop the cabinets 2 feet from the ceiling.
I'd love to see some pictures if anyone has shortened their shower walls like this. Or hear your general thoughts on the matter. This is a huge investment for us and I am terrified of making a decision I will regret! Thanks!
Comments (8)
11 years ago- 11 years ago
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- 11 years agolast modified: 11 years ago
NumbersJunkie, Clarification 'cause I probably wasn't particularly clear:
Current bathroom -- we are skipping the solartube, which was going to run about $600 and probably wouldn't add to the resale value.
New house bathroom -- among other things, we are planning the 2K Tornado body dryer. This is the house in which we plan to stay . . . forever. In the new house, we're much more willing to splurge on a few things here and there.
JewelIsFabulous, I'm trying to attach a picture of a bathroom with a half-way wall as we're planning. I did say shoulder height, but you have to understand that my shoulder is pretty close to the floor. This isn't my favorite picture (too much marble, which I personally do not like), but it's the one I have saved as a photo.
11 years ago
11 years ago
7 months ago
nancypblake