My experience with rain showerheads is exactly as you described! I like a very strong spray to come out of my showerheads and a rain showerhead isn't the right product for that. You will also notice that people seem to have a secondary showerhead when they have a rain showerhead, it is hardly ever done as the only water source, exactly for the reasons you mentioned. It seems some people find it relaxing to stand under faux rain! :-)

I remodeled my master bath last year and I am doing 3 more bathrooms (start tomorrow!) and not a single rain showerhead in any of them.

Some larger plumbing showrooms do have a wet/tiled area with several showerheads hooked up and you can run them to check the spray. Pirch even lets you reserve a large closed room with different things to actually try out for real!

I just stayed in a hotel that had a rain shower and regular shower head. I much prefer the regular shower head, especially when I just want to take a shower without also washing my hair.

We installed both and although it's nice as a "finale," I also prefer a regular high quality shower head for actually getting clean. If I were only going to have one, I would skip it.

We have Hansgrohe "air" rainshower heads in our two main bathrooms. Same model in both. It utilizes air to provide a more forceful rainshower "experience" than you'd get with a typical rainshower head.

When we first started using them, I wanted to swap them out for something with more force or oomph. We'd been using our guest bathroom/shower during the reno of our other bathrooms, and its Jaclo can-style shower head is extremely forceful. Any rainshower head, after using one with such a powerful spray, would have felt wimpy by comparison! Within a week though, I really loved the one(s) we'd installed in our new bathroom(s).

The air-propelled water spray rinses every bit of shampoo from my med-long curly hair, yet still provides a rainshower "feel". Our model has three settings; rainshower, pulse (massage), and a mixture of pulse-rainshower. I never used the massage feature on the shower massage shower head we'd had in our old bathroom, but I really like this one. It does a good job on my occasional neck and back aches.

How do you get a rain showerhead to massage your back? Do you bend over like you're touching your toes?

This last post gave me another concern about rain showerheads. If you want to massage a part of your body other than your head or shoulders it's going to be hard to get the pressure where you need it.

Maybe I'll just put one in the gym bathroom where I'll have a sauna and steam shower. That will be the relaxation zone. For the master bath I think I'll invest in a really good traditional showerhead that is water efficient.

In my opinion, rainheads sort of fall into the "shower experience" category.

True rain heads will not satisfy most bathers as a primary shower head. With a true rain head, the water isn't really sprayed, it really just drops out of the openings in the head, so the effect is similar to a downpour during a heavy rain or thunderstorm. It's not a scouring spray.

Personally, I like the effect. I sometimes turn mine on for a minute at the end of a standard shower, with the water from the rain head at a much cooler temp than the water I showered with.

I only recommend them as a secondary head in the shower.

Rainheads have been modified, as with the air-injection head that catmom wrote about.

You finish a shower with a few more minutes under a rain shower? Where do you live? Here in drought-stricken CA my goal is to get in and out of the shower in 2-3 minutes total.

The thread settles it. Rain head is no substitute for a regular showerhead. Thanks everyone!

It depends on the shower head. Some rain showers, you can't adjust the volume, and have only one flow setting. My Delta Cassidy 8" shower head the volume can be adjusted. It's mounted from the wall, not from the ceiling (but, that may be an option, don't know). In full disclosure, I'll start using it next week when I move in, but playing with the settings, it seems better than what I've used in some hotels and rental apartments.

Delta Cassidy

Our bathrooms have tub/shower combos. I stand forward a little in the tub, and either standing upright, or leaning forward a little, the massaging spray hits my back wherever it's needed. Our shower heads are all wall-mounted, don't know if that makes a difference.

"You finish a shower with a few more minutes under a rain shower?
Where do you live? Here in drought-stricken CA my goal is to get in and
out of the shower in 2-3 minutes total."

Yes, sometimes in the summer after a hot shower I'll turn on the rain head for a quick dousing with cool water to cool me down. I'm in CT. I'm on my own well and septic. I recycle gray water.

I'm thinking I may put a nice big rain shower above my tub instead of in the shower. I think that would provide the relaxation of being under a rain shower without providing a bad shower. Anyone have experience with that?

Something like this http://amzn.to/1OvGZjD. I don't need to worry about water splashing out because the tub is sort of in a wet room. Thoughts?

"sort of in a wet" room won't be enough waterproofing. Water will splash out. Sounds like a problem waiting to happen. If you can't do something right, don't do it!

We have a rainhead and regular shower head. DH prefers the rainhead. Never complains about not rinsing well enough. Rainhead feels wonderful but I prefer the regular head so I can keep my hair/face out of water should I choose.

Hmm, I'd rather have it in the shower than the tub. But I'm kind of done climbing over tub walls to take a shower, anyway. Will you use a shower curtain? With no glass panel and no curtain, you will get water all over the floor, which is a pain. (Says the person who always ends up stepping in whatever puddle is left). I don't know what you mean by "sort of" in a wet room, but that wouldn't even matter to me-- I know I'd end up mopping the floor after every use, or getting wet socks later, and I would not be happy with either of those options!

Whoa, I just clicked on the link-- 20 x 40 inches is really big! It might feel good when it gets going, but I just wanted to add that I had to train myself to step toward the other end of the shower when switching from the regular head to the rainshower. The water stored in the pipe that has to come out first is COLD. Not sure if I could even get out of the way if the shower were 40 inches long.

Yes, it is a huge rain showerhead which is why it might feel good to just lay under it in the tub and really get the sensation of rain falling on me.

As for the tub location, I'm building a giant 12-foot walk in shower. The tub is inside the shower at the opposite end of the showerhead. Any splashing from the tub will land in the shower. The tub is completely enclosed inside the shower so there are no issues with floors getting wet, mopping, etc.

Had a rain shower on vacation recently and HATED it! Can't just hit one area. Soapy water in the eyes. Can never NOT wet my hair.

No thanks!

Rainshowers are great as a supplement.

First World Problem. No, I don't like them. Give me a Speakman, and don't start in with that 'diverter' stuff. (I'm happy to live thisclose to Lake Michigan and have plenty of water.)

OP, I have never heard of the brand that you linked to in your above post. I would only go with an established fixture company. Too much work goes into a bath to worry about quality of rough-ins and trims. A rain shower that wide sounds like it is for 2 or more people.

I have a rainshower and use it almost exclusively. I really like it. Here is a link to one of my posts from several years ago. I reference Noopd in this post because of his shower head he used. That is the shower head I ended up using. His setup looks like a wet room, like you want to do.

Noopd's pics are part way down the thread.

Noopd's shower head pictures.

I'm in the middle of my reno project now. For the first floor bath (bungalow with full bath on first floor) I'm putting in a rain shower head plus a hand shower mounted on a rod so the hand shower, when attached, is high enough and at the angle to mimic a wall shower head. It's 5.5" wide with 2.5 gpm flow so I'm hoping/trusting that will be sufficient for the bather when a wall shower head is preferred.

For my master shower, I'm installing a rain shower head, a wall shower head, and a mounted hand shower that will be adjacent to my stone bench. Both showers will be plumbed to permit the bather to turn on the water while out of reach of the water and to use whichever shower head preferred in isolation or together with the other(s).

Hope I like it! Decided against body sprays but I really want a relaxing, spa-like experience in the master.

Off topic question, but why both a wall shower head and a hand shower? Wouldn't the hand shower head serve the same purpose as the wall shower head?

" For the first floor bath (bungalow with full bath on first floor) I'm putting in a rain shower head plus a hand shower mounted on a rod so the hand shower, when attached, is high enough and at the angle to mimic a wall shower head. It's 5.5" wide with 2.5 gpm flow"

This is what I have in my master bath and it works just fine. I have the option of moving my hand shower up and down as needed and I never had a problem with washing my hair, etc. No need for a third shower head.

I do not like a rain head, but DH loves it.

We use ours exactly as described above. The handheld can be used to shower someone on a bench, but in reality, it's probably still in its original position. I like the idea of the rain shower at times, but it has sort of a "blank" area in the middle, so it doesn't really feel like I thought it would.

We have a Pfister thermostatic system with several volume control for a wall mounted 3 way adjustable head, a 3 way hand held and a 8 1/4" ceiling mount rain can with 200 nozzles. I removed the screen (restrictor) to allow more gpm flow rate and everyone in our family prefers the rain can. On the low volume, it's nice to have it run down your back while your shampooing your hair or soaping your body. When we want to rinse off including our hair we have it on full volume. For those that wonder how a rain can can keep your back wet while shampooing your hair, they're adjustable so that it can be turned on an angle even when mounted in the ceiling.

We've used other brands of rain cans and didn't like them as they had around 100 nozzles and no volume control. In other words, they're not always created equal.

HATE rain shower heads! Don't understand them at all. I love water but don't want it flowing down my face. You can't breathe, need to step away to get air, then you are cold. No thanks! How do you shower without washing your hair every time? What a gimmick to make money and people do it because it's a trend.

I always get a kick when a really old thread like this gets bumped. I ended up installing both in my master, but the rain shower is mostly for aesthetics. That giant rain shower just looks so cool in there. And when I do turn it on, it's quite a different experience from the typical rain shower head. Definitely impractical for bathing.

This is the one I linked to above.

Lynn Doop:

Take a shower with someone in a rain head and get back to us please.

When it comes to a rain showerhead - I think it really comes down to context. Lots of opinions here either way but the details nobody has mentioned matter. If you have both a wall mounted normal shower head and a ceiling mounted rain showerhead - this seems like the best way to go because you have the option of either or depending on your mood, need or partner situation. And if you can operate both simultaneously or independently, even better. As someone who is buying a new home, the rain shower is an optional upgrade in my situation. With the necessary plumbing done up front for the ceiling mount, it's much easier than trying to do simple future remodel upgrade in this regard because the likelihood of having to tear apart tile / cut through walls / drywall. I think the other half of the equation is how good the rain showerhead itself is. There are so many different one's on the market in all shapes and sizes, along with quality of design push water through effectively, and/or with adjustability - that can make or break how someone may feel about one. I'd wager you're going to truly appreciate it more by spending the extra to go with a rain shower head on the high end, but still having your standard shower head there as an option since I think there is a good hybrid use case for having both if you can swing it.

Nope. Not a rain shower head fan here.

I added a rain shower head to my master bathroom when I remodeled. Designer recommended I choose the largest one that would fit into the space. I like it, but it is a PITB to clean. Dust collects on the upper surface of the rain shower head. Also, I have hard water, which causes mineral deposits to stick to the under surface. ( I have changed the Nuvo "water-conditioning system" to a potassium-based, water softener system, which helps.)

I really wish people would stop putting them in. Our ancestors bathed in the rain (and in streams & lakes) and you know what? they created the angled shower because bathing that way Sucked! Designers & real estate agents tell you to do it because they think it makes the bathroom look more "luxurious" or "spa like" in a picture (kinda like a big soaking tub) and then charge like you are getting something more. But the reality is Rain showerheads are not as useful or as enjoyable as a regular angled shower head with great water pressure, period, end of debate. A rain shower head is better than nothing while an angled shower head the pinnacle of shower/bathing design. It's like arguing whether an oval is better than a wheel as a design for vehicle tires.

I have a wonderful rainshower head that is rectangular by Hansgroe and I love it. I did a lot of reading on GW to find out about rainshower heads. I also installed a separate handheld shower that is mounted about 5 feet and works if I want to take a more traditional shower, but I never use it that way. I use it to rinse the walls. My rainhead covers my head and shoulders well and I love it.