Help with shower design....

[John B Tietjen]

I am having a new house build the ceilings are 9ft. We have a large walking shower designed but can't decide if we should just go with the 9ft ceiling or build down a foot to make the shower height 8ft. The shower will be tiled to the ceiling regardless. Just not sure of how that will look or if it is even necessary to have the shower at 8ft. What are the pluses and minuses that will help me decide. Thanks in advance for your insight.

 

[DIYorBust]

I think from a technical perspective it's a minor difference. Higher ceiling will probably get less moisture exposure, which is a plus but shouldn't matter much if the shower is built right. It might an issue if you need to find a taller glass panel, but you probably don't. I can't think of any reason to go lower unless you prefer the look or need to fit mechanicals in the ceiling.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[DallasDIY]

We have a 10' ceiling in our master bathroom. The walk-in shower is the same height although it does have an archway entrance to the drying area and then a turn to the left for the shower. (There is a full-length tile bench and shampoo bottle inset on the wall across from the shower head. The height is absolutely fine, feels less "closed in" and helps with air circulation. We had a glass door installed on the entrance for keeping in a little of the heat but we rarely close it as it's comfortable in there. (There is still an 18-24" opening above the door when closed.) We sometimes close on a really cold morning when we haven't cranked the heat up yet.

The faucets for the shower heads are located to the right just inside the doorway. It works for us and allows you to start the shower without getting wet. I occasionally wouldn't mind having the control right under the shower head but, overall, I like this arrangement.

For what it's worth, we not only have two exhaust fans in the bathroom (one in the toilet closet and one at the other end of the bathroom), but we also have a ceiling fan with a light fixture. Especially with a high ceiling, I won't ever have a master bath without a ceiling fan. That helps with the shower air circulation and moisture dissipation, too.