Things Should Be Considered When Buying Shower Enclosures}

Things Should be Considered When Buying Shower Enclosures

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MarissazjA shower enclosures can be a welcome addition to a bathroom if properly planned and installed. They retain heat and unlike a shower curtain or over bath screen also ensure water is drained away efficiently out of the house and not onto your bathroom floor.

As with any home improvement it is important to plan before making any expensive purchases. In the case of a shower enclosure you need to ask yourself;

How many walls are available to locate an enclosure?

What is the height of your bathroom?

How much space do you plan to locate the enclosure?

Is there suitable plumbing nearby for the shower tray waste to be connected to?

Once you have the answers in your mind you can set about finding the perfect shower enclosure for your bathroom.

How many walls are available to locate your shower enclosure?

The number of walls you have available will generally dictate the shape and style of the enclosure you choose. With only one wall available you would generally be restricted to a d-shape enclosure. Two walls give you the most options allowing you to choose between quadrants, hinge doors, pivot doors, bow front, walk-in and sliding door shower enclosures. Three walls generally means you have a recess situation in which to fit into, so pivot doors, hinge doors, bifold doors and sliding shower doors would be appropriate.

What is the height of your bathroom?

Most shower enclosures are generally around 1850-1900mm high plus the height of the tray the enclosure sits on. Low profile trays are around 40mm in height with thicker trays going up to around 150mm in height. Many people have a low profile tray sitting on upstands or a raising kit which allows the overall installion to be lifted so that plumbing can be installed below the tray but above the floor boards. If your ceiling height is above 2.2m then generally there shouldn’t be any issues with the majority of glass shower enclosures on the market. A little room above the enclosure between the ceiling will allow steam to escape and help you to breath!

How much space do you plan to locate the enclosure?

Now that you have the location within the room sorted how big an area do you have available? Most enclosures purchased from ModernSpa are generally under 1400x900mm in size with the most popular size being a 900x900mm quadrant. If you’re choosing a pivot, hinge or some quadrant enclosures you also need to appreciate the swing radius of the door. You don’t want to risk safety by installing an enclosure whereby a glass door can swing out and bang onto other sanitary wares such as a toilet or basin. Sliding single and double roller doors are becoming more popular though they impact costs because of the extra mechanical components involved. Also rollers for sliding doors are one of the components that may need replacing at some stage especially on cheaper shower enclosures. It’s advisable to look out for enclosures from manufactutures that offer a healthy guarantee period.

Is there suitable plumbing for the shower tray waste to be connected to?

As well as having enough room to locate the shower enclosure you also need to be sure that below that space it will be possible to link the shower waste either to the soil pipe or to another pipe already leading to the soil pipe. If in doubt you should ask a local plumber about this but generally it will help if your enclosure is on the same side of the room as the waste pipe, this keeping down plumbing costs.

A sub question to this would be to ask, is there plumbing available for an electric or thermostatic shower?

An electric shower can sit on the surface of the wall perhaps with the pipe work going into a loft space. Increasingly though people want to hide unsightly pipe work so this is often hidden behind a stub wall or embedded into the wall as when using thermostatic shower valves and equipment.

Shower Enclosure Checklist

As a final check here are a list of bathroom fixtures and fittings you may require to fit a shower enclosure.RequiredShower EnclosureShower TrayShower WasteMight be requiredEasy plumb legs and side panels to raise the trayThermostatic showerElectric shower

Before you buy a shower enclosure, there are few things you should consider. Here Marissa from

ModernSpa

will give you some brief suggestions of buying a shower enclosure.

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