Showers

These are more economical than baths, and many people favour them for their speed and 'wake up' qualities. However, there is nothing exhilarating about turning one on and having water trickle down onto your neck particularly if it veers from being an icy trickle one minute to a scalding one the next. The installation of a good pump is essential for most showers, but if you have a combination boiler you may not be able to fit one. You must have about a metre (yard) between the bottom of your water storage cold tank and the top of the shower'hebd if you are not using a pump the greater the distance (fall), the better the pressure.
Take advice from your plumber about whether you need a pump and, if you do, whether it needs to pump the whole bathroom (unlikely unless it's a bathroom in an attic) or just the shower. If your bathroom takes hot water from the tank and cold water direct from the mains, the pump may not be able to handle the difference in pressure between the two. In the Portuguese Bathroom, a new cold feed had to be installed from the attic to the bathroom just to cope with this problem.
Of course, no shower is half-way decent without a good shower head. These range from hand-held hose ones (very good for washing hair in the bath and rinsing down animals), to those on slider bars, to types fixed to the ceiling or wall. They come in styles to suit every type of bathroom. Strategically placed body jets can massage your body in much the same way as a whirlpool bath does. Steam showers are also available.
Shower controls also offer a bewildering choice, but the important thing is to have a thermostatic control to maintain the water temperature no matter what other appliances are being used in the house.
If you have the space, install a separate shower cubicle rather than having one over the bath. If you have no choice but to combine the two, choose a bath that is as wide and flat-bottomed as possible.
Shower cubicles come in a range of styles and materials, some with accessories such as seats and towel rails, but they can be difficult to integrate well into an existing bathroom. Take a look at your plan and see whether there is a niche that could be utilized for a shower. For the Hedonist's Bathroom, we went so far as to move a partition wall (between the bathroom and the landing) by 18 cm (7 1/2 in) to provide enough space for a shower cubicle. Position the controls near the door so they can be pre-set before you get in, and make sure the shower walls, floor and ceiling are waterproofed and that the rest of the bathroom is also protected from splashes.