Shower hardware recommendation
December 24, 2023 11:58 AM Subscribe
You've recently replaced your shower faucet handle and you couldn't be happier. What did you get?
Our shower developed a catastrophic leak that's going to require the plumbers to open the wall. The silver lining is that this is an opportunity to replace the ugly, builder-grade hardware that's been here since we bought the house. My wife and I want a new shower handle that looks nice, works well, and will last, but don't really know where to begin.
- Do you have a specific make and model you'd recommend?
- What are some good brands/retailers we should be looking at?
- Should we avoid big box stores?
- Any other considerations we should keep in mind?
Shower is a single-handle setup with a tub faucet and a single head. If you've got recs for tub faucets and heads I'd love to hear those as well.
Our shower developed a catastrophic leak that's going to require the plumbers to open the wall. The silver lining is that this is an opportunity to replace the ugly, builder-grade hardware that's been here since we bought the house. My wife and I want a new shower handle that looks nice, works well, and will last, but don't really know where to begin.
- Do you have a specific make and model you'd recommend?
- What are some good brands/retailers we should be looking at?
- Should we avoid big box stores?
- Any other considerations we should keep in mind?
Shower is a single-handle setup with a tub faucet and a single head. If you've got recs for tub faucets and heads I'd love to hear those as well.
I asked my plumber years ago to recommend a brand that he knows is easy to get parts for and easy to work on and without hesitation he said Delta. Over the past 15 years I've replaced 3 faucets in my house with Delta brand and not a single one of them has ever had an issue. 2 of those 3 replacements were provided by the plumber with their magical, secret selection of quality parts that consumers can't apparently get at the big box stores.
posted by mezzanayne at 1:18 PM on December 24, 2023
posted by mezzanayne at 1:18 PM on December 24, 2023
You know, we put in Delta Monitor 17 Series about a year ago, and in the year we've had them I've really grown to like them. For one thing, the contractor installed one backwards. I was dreading having to resolder the valve body in but it was trivial, you can just pop the mixer cartridge out and flip it around. We wanted to change the way one worked in terms of the relative balance of cold and hot water across the range of the lever and there was a super easy way to do it. It turns out I wildly prefer the "there's one lever for setting the hot/cold mix, and another lever for how much water there is". It's so much better that way. They come with different trims to suit your desired style but the inner workings are all the same.
- Should we avoid big box stores?
I don't know if the big box stores really get special worse versions of products like people say, but either way, the biggest plumbing supplier is Ferguson (at least where I have lived), and they sell direct to consumers, and they have a direct-to-consumer retail site at build.com so no reason to take the chance imho.
If you've got recs for tub faucets and heads I'd love to hear those as well.
Overwhelmingly strong recommendation for High Sierra Showerheads.
posted by jeb at 4:14 PM on December 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
- Should we avoid big box stores?
I don't know if the big box stores really get special worse versions of products like people say, but either way, the biggest plumbing supplier is Ferguson (at least where I have lived), and they sell direct to consumers, and they have a direct-to-consumer retail site at build.com so no reason to take the chance imho.
If you've got recs for tub faucets and heads I'd love to hear those as well.
Overwhelmingly strong recommendation for High Sierra Showerheads.
posted by jeb at 4:14 PM on December 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Nothing specific, but I wanted to 2nd the type of shower head that belladonna posted. The magnetic handheld part makes cleaning the shower a bunch easier for everyone, and it's absolutely key if injury or disability or age means you end up using a shower chair.
posted by Dashy at 5:33 PM on December 24, 2023
posted by Dashy at 5:33 PM on December 24, 2023
It turns out I wildly prefer the "there's one lever for setting the hot/cold mix, and another lever for how much water there is"
Hard same! It's so so nice to have a dial for temperature where you know the mix you like so you don't spend the first five minutes of your shower shivering and scalding yourself as you try to figure it out.
posted by potrzebie at 7:12 PM on December 25, 2023
Hard same! It's so so nice to have a dial for temperature where you know the mix you like so you don't spend the first five minutes of your shower shivering and scalding yourself as you try to figure it out.
posted by potrzebie at 7:12 PM on December 25, 2023
I never even knew that a thing like the Delta controls above existed. I need this. Do I go to a showroom and pick out the handle, or do I try to find a plumber who knows about stuff like this? Where would I find him? I already have a showerhead that I'm good with. Sorry to hijack the thread.
posted by Ferrari328 at 6:32 AM on December 26, 2023
posted by Ferrari328 at 6:32 AM on December 26, 2023
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posted by belladonna at 12:40 PM on December 24, 2023