showers

[WaterTight]

I've only done about 30 jobs on my own and these are mostly quite small. Never done a shower, nor had much experience with them through working with either of my bosses/mentors.

Got an ideal opportunity for a first go with an understanding customer. Very good friend of mine wants a shower fitted. She'll cover cost of parts and I'll fit for free just for playtime practise. She wants an electric one because waiting for water to heat up is an annoyance. Not seen the place yet but as described there's no mains cold in bathroom, only in kitchen. What's the best route? What would you look at doing?

I'll need to get a spark in to do wiring. Do I need to get one in to check out power situation before choosing type of shower, planning it's siting etc?

Any clues appreciated. Please phrase answers in language a novice would understand.

 

[Bernie2]

Err!

First thing is, "Where are you going to put the shower in the bathroom?" "Over the bath or in a self standing cabinet?"

If its a cabinet, think about the waste pipe, they dictate more about where is the best place to put it in the bathroom than the cable and water supply do.

Next think about water.

Are you going to use one fed from the mains water supply?

How are you going to get the water to the bathroom?

But before that, check what the pressure and flow rate of the mains water supply is first. Usually a shower has it printed in the installation manual that comes with it as to what it requires.
A rough measure is for it to fill a 4.5 litre bucket in about 30 seconds. So you need to time it. Some people use a 1 litre measuring jug and time how long it takes to fill. If the mains pressure and flow come nowhere near that required, then you have to think about running it off the stored water tank.

But to save a lot of hassle and writing, try going to one of the shed sites like Wickes and getting more info or go to one of quite a few shower makers such as Mira, Redring, Trevi, Triton and so on. Download the instruction manual and it will tell you there.

Also look into how to fit shower trays if your going to use one. Its important they are sealed properly in a way that does not rely only on a line of silicon to stop leaks.

But really there is loads of shower info on the web. Just browse around to find some you understand easily, probably B and Q or Wickes. But Mira is good but can be a bit nerdy. In point Triton do or did do some good stuff as well.

As to best make of shower, probably Mira to me.

 

[cr0ft]

If you have tank fed water supplies in the bathroom and the customer wants an electric shower, consider a pumped electric shower. They are noisier than electric showers but they are designed for the exact situation you mention, i.e. no mains water feed to the bathroom.

Just google 'pumped electric shower' and you will see what I mean.

Your tank inlet and outlet supplying the shower need to be on the same side of the tank otherwise the pump may generate a vortex effect in the tank leading to excess air moving through the system.

Re the electrician, definitely get them in to assess first. Electric showers draw more current than anything else in your house so you need to make sure the consumer unit and electrics are up to the task first. Updating electrics and running the dedicated supply electric showers need often costs more than the plumbing side.

 

[pcollins]

You could consider running the mains pressure water to a "normal" electric shower down from the feed to the Cold Water Cistern in the loft. Unless you're planning to tile or build a cubicle it would mean surface mounted pipe but you could do this in chrome.