faucets

Reply to: "Does it make sense for us to get a separate supply valve for each head if we aren't going to use them simultaneously? " No. You can save money and wall clutter by using a single valve with an A/B diverter. "Also, what is the advantage of having thermostatic shower over a pressure balance system." Temp control during use; in general, thermostatic (TS) will hold the temp to about +/- 1 degree of its original setting, pressure balanced (PB) +/- 3 degrees. Both provide the required anti-scald protection in case a toilet is flushed, washing machine kicks on, etc. Max temp control: Both valves usually have some sort of maximum temp setting, although how they work can differ: PB valves usually have a mechanical limiter. Meaning when setting the valve up, you turn the shower valve on so the water is at the maximum temp you'd want to come out of the heads. You then turn a set screw until it bottoms out, that set screw then limits the valve from being turned past the existing valve setting. It only limits how far the valve can be turned. If you then went to your water heater and upped the temp 20 degrees, you could get scalded. If you turned the water heater down 20 degrees, you'd be taking cold showers. Again, it's generally a mechanical stop that limits the mix or the hot/cold ratio of the water, it doesn't control the water temperature itself. TS valves actually control the water temp. You decide 104 degrees is the max temp you want, you set the limiter to 104 degrees. Turn your water heater up or down, the valve will not let water over 104 degrees out of the shower head. Volume versus temp control: PB generally has one knob that you rotate, and it's essentially a temperature selector. For the most part once you turn the valve away from OFF, it's fully on. All you're doing with the in between setting of the knob is selecting temperature. You want a trickle flow of warm water to gently rinse your baby's hair? If you crack the valve just a tad to get a trickle flow, you're at the "cold" temperature setting. In order to set the valve to a warm temp position, you have to rotate it so it's fully open which will give you full volume. You can only get full blast warm or hot water, not a trickle flow. TS has independent selectors, a temperature control to set the temp and a separate volume control to select volume. Trickle flow of warm, hot or cold, medium flow, full blast, you can get whatever you want. You'll see references to "set and forget" temperature setting with TS valves, you can do that so you don't have to search for that desired temp each time you turn on the shower. With PB, most people can easily replicate a desired temp by rotating the valve to the same "o'clock" position each time they shower. The water volume drop that you note through your PB valve when someone flushes a toilet is the valve doing it's job...the cold water going into your refilling toilet reduces the incoming pressure of the cold water at your shower valve, so to "pressure balance", the valve then reduces the pressure of the hot water coming through the valve. By choking down the hot water, it reduces the volume of water through the valve, but maintains the temp within roughly +/- 3 degrees of the original setting. Because you have a noticeable pressure drop out of the shower when a toilet is flushed, I recommend you get a TS valve. Mo' beddah for you. If you need a starting point for your "all-in-one" search, look at the Hansgrohe Thermostatic II1 valve. There are others out there, the HG TSII is just one version of a TS valve with a built-in A/B diverter. Another alternative would be a diveter-less TS valve that feeds a simple separate A/B diverter. If shopping online, don't forget that you'll need a valve body AND a valve trim kit. Some sites are a little vague.

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Reply to: I have a 12" rain head coming out of the ceiling and a handheld on a sliding bar on the wall. The handheld gets used every shower, and it does get slid up and down the bar occasionally. I'm 6'4, my wife 5'1, blah blah. I have the two heads on two separate supply valves because we wanted to use them not just simultaneously, but we wanted to have differing temperatures out of each one too. And yes, both valves are located so they can be turned on without having to step into the shower. For your handheld, I recommend a hose long enough so you can use the handheld to reach and wash down the shower walls and floor. If you don't want the slide bar, you can often get extra wall brackets. That allows you to hang the handheld on one bracket installed at a convenient shower height, and you can have a second wall bracket down lower if you want to sit on a bench and shave your legs or whatever, etc. Handheld showers absolutely stunk years ago. Today they are available in the same quality as "standard" shower heads, so let that bias go if it's holding you back. Like anything you can still buy junk. But you can buy nice too. With two heads your next decision comes down to where you want the water to go...will you use just the handheld, just the rain head, or both at the same time. If you'll just be using one head or the other, then get a valve with an A/B diverter. It can send water to "A" the handheld or "B" the rainhead. If you want both, then get a valve with an A/B/AB diverter; water to just the handheld, just the rainhead, or both simultaneously. Some shower supply valves have everything in one valve body; temp selection, volume selection, and diverter. Others are just supply valves, you'll need an additional diverter valve to move the eater where you want it. Oh the possibilities!

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Reply to: We have a large showerhead (not quite a rain shower: Kohler Purist showerhead) mounted fairly high. We have a handshower on a slide bar mounted beside it. We have a thermobalance temp valve (which usually remains untouched, set at the preferred temp) and then two volume controls, one for each showerhead. We rarely use both at the same time, but its an option. I love having the adjustable showerhead for the reasons cindaintx mentions: powerful directed hair rinsing, showering without getting hair wet, along with aiming the massage jet where needed. I also like that the handshower can be used as a directed rinse for hard to reach body parts, of to really get soap out your hair, move it around your head like in a salon.... it's so versatile :) And if you have small kids, they can put the head where needed too. I also use it for rinsing the shower walls, which is brilliant. Aesthetics-wise, if you choose nice fixtures and think carefully about placement, it'll look great. I'm a designer and super-picky, and pleased with our layout. We used all Kohler Purist parts in the master bath (though I actually prefer the Grohe Relexa hand shower and bar we just put in DD's bath). I absolutely think this is the best set up if budget allows. If money's tighter, I would do what we just did for our daughter's shower: forgo a fixed showerhead in place of a GOOD quality hand shower on a GOOD quality slide bar. Mount the bar high enough that the topmost position on the bar is good and high for normal showering... but then you still have all the advantages described above with the adjustable slide bar. This way you only need one valve.

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Reply to: We are in the process of a MB remodel, and we faced the same issues. We decided on a rain shower head dropping from the ceiling and a hand held. We debated the slide bar issue, but decided not to get one and are doing a fixed hand held. We decided we would not be inclined to make the adjustments on the bar, so the bar just added more clutter to the shower for us, which we did not want. We bought a thermostatic control and 2 volume controls, so we could control the flow to each shower head separately. Our GC recommended this, and it made sense to us. As to your other question, I think locating the control valves where the shower can be turned on before stepping into it is essential.

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