new large shower -- walk-in versus enclosed

[someguy]

We're planning to remodel our master bath. I read the old threads about tub vs. bigger shower and for us, it's a no brainer for bigger shower.

We have plenty of space, so I'm looking for input on walk-in versus a large traditional enclosed. In either one, the main shower space will be roughly 5'x5'. I'm especially interested in input on two considerations for walk-ins:

1) Does it feel cold? With a smaller enclosed shower now, I've noticed the heat and steam build up in the enclosure and it can be a little chilly when first opening the door and stepping out. I'm concerned a large open walk-in might be an issue there?

2) Slippery/fall risk -- how big of an issue is this? I love the visual look and no chance of toe stubbing on the "one floor" design the accompanies walk-ins. Plus obviously the future proofing. But what about issues with slipperiness? A lot of porcelain and ceramic tiles can be dangerously slippery under the right amount of moisture whereas an enclosure can/often uses a shower pan engineered to be non-slip.

Plus any other pros or cons to either shower option and then shower design in general. Any surprises in terms of ability to clean in both the short and long term? What about considerations for a DW and shaving legs? Is a fixed bench or a movable seat/stool better?

 

[MissMolly]

Here is what we did a few years ago when we remodeled our bath. Does not feel at all cold. No problems with slippage even with the large tiles.

 

[calmloki]

We did a walk-in up north - glass block and subway tile, an unnecessary curb at the entrance, granite corner benches (unused except to hold bottles of shampoo & squeegees), and an unglazed floor tile to address slipping. Down south we have a big enclosed shower in the 5x5 area. Shiny "rustic" Mexican tiles laid by a lesser mason for a contractor. The reduced grout area on the tiles up north make them easier to clean, as does the more regular tile surface and superior craftmanship. Colder weather up north, and the hot water is appreciated more - once under it I don't notice any further issues, including drying off time. I am more concerned about falling over while standing on one foot drying off and trying to catch myself on the glass door of the enclosed shower than the transition from unglazed to glazed floor tile up north. I really really like the open shower more.

 

[RunningBum]

My walk-in shower is one of the things I like most about my custom build home, especially when I consider "out of the norm" things. There are plenty of showers that have tile floors instead of a pan, so you should have no problems finding "grippy" tile. I don't feel issues with it being cold, though I guess I don't get a nice steam in there like more enclosed showers have. I always hated dealing with shower doors that could get a bit sticky, leading to issues of how hard you have to open or close them without breaking anything.

 

[someguy]

Here is what we did a few years ago when we remodeled our bath. Does not feel at all cold. No problems with slippage even with the large tiles.

Very nice looking bath. What do you do for shaving legs?

 

[Tailgate]

Preview

We're planning to remodel our master bath. I read the old threads about tub vs. bigger shower and for us, it's a no brainer for bigger shower.

We have plenty of space, so I'm looking for input on walk-in versus a large traditional enclosed. In either one, the main shower space will be roughly 5'x5'. I'm especially interested in input on two considerations for walk-ins:

1) Does it feel cold?

2) Slippery/fall risk -- /QUOTE]

We had our remodeled in January. You might have seen a thread where I had asked similar questions... had a garden tub that had to go..

1. Have your contractor install a ceiling heater/fan. Solves the heat problem on chilly days. Our contractor does a lot of remodels for older folks and he's the one who suggested it. pic attached
2. We chose pebble floor. No chance of slipping. There are several to choose from... some would even hurt your feet.. pebbles too large... ours are perfect. pic attached.

good luck... would be glad to send you additional pics if you like.. we love the 'open channel' faucets we chose..very cool looking and functional.
(hope the pics post correctly, they were inverted in the preview)

 

[97guns]

My next bathroom remodel will be something like above, without a shower door

 

[Scuba]

We also put in a pebble floor and love it. We used glass pebbles in sea glass blue/green color.

 

[exnavynuke]

This is from during the remodel, but we went with a walk-in. The right side has a bench (below the rain showerhead). The right "ledge" has glass going up and the left side has a glass door.

No problems with cold or slippery conditions (smaller tiles on the floor provide decent grip).

 

[Paracelsus]

I replaced my bathtub with a shower when I remodeled my bathroom a few years ago - same dimensions as the bathtub. I still have a four inch threshold to get into the shower, but a lot easier to cross than stepping into a bathtub and no leakage into the rest of the bathroom as could happen with no threshold. The dimensions remain the same, so I do have touch stability on both sides of the shower, if needed, and as I age, I can add a stability handle to the wall. I did choose flooring tile that has a pretty good grip to it as I stand on it. I have a corner ledge about 14" off the floor to put my foot on while I shave - it works just fine. I love it!

 

[Chuckanut]

WOW! You people are making me want to go out and spend a few thousand dollars right now!

 

[someguy]

A while back we had Panasonic Whisper fans put in and they are quieter and move a ton more air than the original builder-grade junk.

Do you live in a warm enough climate where putting the shower valve on an outside wall isn't a freeze concern? For us, that is one logistical issue with a walk in -- our lay out is similar to yours except both of the two "full" walls are outside walls. So we'll have to have a furred wall for the shower head.
We could have them add a 48" furred out wall on the other outside wall which might double as a storage ledge.

Preview
We had our remodeled in January. You might have seen a thread where I had asked similar questions... had a garden tub that had to go..

1. Have your contractor install a ceiling heater/fan. Solves the heat problem on chilly days. Our contractor does a lot of remodels for older folks and he's the one who suggested it. pic attached
2. We chose pebble floor. No chance of slipping. There are several to choose from... some would even hurt your feet.. pebbles too large... ours are perfect. pic attached.

good luck... would be glad to send you additional pics if you like.. we love the 'open channel' faucets we chose..very cool looking and functional.
(hope the pics post correctly, they were inverted in the preview)

 

[OldShooter]

Beautiful stuff. I do not see a lot of grab bars, however. With DW's hip replacement in February, I added a grab bar to our conventional tub/shower. We both actually like having it and, in the future, as we get older and more decrepit, I'm sure it will get more use.

Ours is an ivory/tan color that is an excellent match to the travertine marble that was already there. The surface of the bar is lightly textured, not rough. If I had a bath where I wanted some other color, it would be a simple matter to have the bar sand blasted and powder coated to suit. This would not be cheap but in the context of a new shower, the cost would probably not move the needle.

 

[Tailgate]

Do you live in a warm enough climate where putting the shower valve on an outside wall isn't a freeze concern? .

Central TX... cold not an issue.

One thing about our shower... the whole remodel revolved around getting rid of as much glass as possible. Hard water = horrible spotting, even if you squeege diligently. Thus, the pony wall was built up and a little glass on top. Easy clean.

 

[RunningBum]

Beautiful stuff. I do not see a lot of grab bars, however.

No reason whatsoever you couldn't add one or more to a walk-in shower. Tailgate's photo has one, and so does exnavynukes, and you can't see if mine does or not. Only one that clearly doesn't have one. I don't know why you bring that up as an issue.

 

[MissMolly]

Very nice looking bath. What do you do for shaving legs?

Ummmmm....NOYB?

 

[MissMolly]

No reason whatsoever you couldn't add one or more to a walk-in shower. Tailgate's photo has one, and so does exnavynukes, and you can't see if mine does or not. Only one that clearly doesn't have one. I don't know why you bring that up as an issue.

We built in reinforcement behind the tile when we did the bath for later placement of grab bars if needed.

 

[MBAustin]

Even though we went the walk-in (no curb, no door) shower route because of DH's disability, I love it. We have a built-in bench tiled like the walls (DH sits on it, I use it for shaving legs, and we both store things on it). There are lots of non-slip floor tiles available. We have the fan-heater combo and it works great on the chillier days; upgrading above builder-grade for quietness is highly recommended. We have a half-wall with a "textured" clear glass above - the texture hides all the water spots so I don't have to squeegee but we still get light in the shower (no window in the room). Personally, I'd go ahead and put in the grab bars whether you need them now or not - I do find them handy on occasion.

 

[tinlizzy]

Without a bathtub does it still qualify as a full bath or just 3/4? I only have one bathroom and would love to do a big shower but I'm afraid it would effect the resale value (it might be a negative for people with children).

 

[exnavynuke]

Beautiful stuff. I do not see a lot of grab bars, however. With DW's hip replacement in February, I added a grab bar to our conventional tub/shower. We both actually like having it and, in the future, as we get older and more decrepit, I'm sure it will get more use.

Ours is an ivory/tan color that is an excellent match to the travertine marble that was already there. The surface of the bar is lightly textured, not rough. If I had a bath where I wanted some other color, it would be a simple matter to have the bar sand blasted and powder coated to suit. This would not be cheap but in the context of a new shower, the cost would probably not move the needle.

Mine is fully handicap accessible with grab bars on both sides and sized to meet ADA requirements for wheelchair use. It was a requirement of the remodel so that my mom could use it.

 

[H2ODude]

We have a more traditional glassed shower because we didn't have the space available to go open unless we lost the tub that's never used, which DW didn't want to lose.

As for warmth, I cannot speak highly enough of heating the tiled floor. You can do it in the shower as well but we did not as didn't see the point since hot water falling on it warms it. We did all the work but IIRC the heat cost less than $500. A lot of it was the programmable thermostat.

 

[Texas Proud]

We just did ours and have it enclosed.... we were looking to put in steam, but that was out of budget...

I did add full glass with a pane that can be rotated open and closed... so we can close off the shower and steam it up using shower heads...

We do have a threshold that is maybe 3 inches high.. I have found out that it is good as we have 2 shower heads and 4 body sprays and the water coming in can be more than the drain can handle...

If you plan on body sprays, do NOT have them your body width.... I wanted them in line with the shower head to hit my back but the remodeler said that it is better to have them in a square pattern... you can angle them in he said... well, not like I want... I am looking for a solution to this but have put it off a bit...

 

[MissMolly]

We have a more traditional glassed shower because we didn't have the space available to go open unless we lost the tub that's never used, which DW didn't want to lose.

As for warmth, I cannot speak highly enough of heating the tiled floor. You can do it in the shower as well but we did not as didn't see the point since hot water falling on it warms it. We did all the work but IIRC the heat cost less than $500. A lot of it was the programmable thermostat.

We put in heat under our tile also. Love it! It's one of my favorite things we did. But our instructions specifically said it could not go under the shower tile. But like you say, the water warms that tile, so no big deal.

 

[MissMolly]

This is from during the remodel, but we went with a walk-in. The right side has a bench (below the rain showerhead). The right "ledge" has glass going up and the left side has a glass door.

No problems with cold or slippery conditions (smaller tiles on the floor provide decent grip).

WOW! You could have a party in that shower!

 

[someguy]

Ummmmm....NOYB?

LOL I think we were on separate pages. I didn't see a bench, stool or even a little ledge in your photos. Right now we only have a tiny little ledge and it's on the high side, so SomeGal insists on a better solution. Since as a dude I've, uh, never shaved my legs and have to put my foot up or sit down on something, I have no idea what works best and was soliciting information on that aspect.