Darel Matthews
New Member
I am going to be completely redoing my 2nd floor shower, and installing his & hers shower heads on separate valves.
The basic layout will be, shower valve 1 on 30" wall, tub spout with diverter 7" below. Both shower heads will be on the 60" wall, 20" in from either end, so a long run to the head from this valve. Valve and head #2 will both be on the 60" wall, 20" in from the corner, obviously no tub spout.
I have 1/2 copper feeding the current single valve in the existing shower.
Plan is to tee off the existing copper lines to feed both valves.
New shower valves have 1/2MNPT connections.
Question is, what size should I use for the new lines? I can easily stick with 1/2 but I worry I may lose flow. I can adapt up to 3/4, but the existing feed lines and the shower valves are still a restriction, and I worry about not having the requisite resistance to keep the tub spout functioning correctly.
I am getting 4.7gpm to the current shower head and 4.3 when I flush the toilet and run a sink, so right now I have plenty of flow for the two shower heads I chose. But will all the added restrictions cause issues and would running 3/4 (or a combo of 1/2 and 3/4) mitigate any of this? Also, I understand the issues with running PEX to the tub spout, but Uponor is less restrictive, plus I have the long curved run to the shower head off valve #1, so do you think I can get away with PEX on the tub spout?
I am planning on piping everything in and trying it out, and if I need to add a booster pump in the basement I can, but I'd prefer not to.
Or am I just really overthinking this?
Thanks,
Darel
The basic layout will be, shower valve 1 on 30" wall, tub spout with diverter 7" below. Both shower heads will be on the 60" wall, 20" in from either end, so a long run to the head from this valve. Valve and head #2 will both be on the 60" wall, 20" in from the corner, obviously no tub spout.
I have 1/2 copper feeding the current single valve in the existing shower.
Plan is to tee off the existing copper lines to feed both valves.
New shower valves have 1/2MNPT connections.
Question is, what size should I use for the new lines? I can easily stick with 1/2 but I worry I may lose flow. I can adapt up to 3/4, but the existing feed lines and the shower valves are still a restriction, and I worry about not having the requisite resistance to keep the tub spout functioning correctly.
I am getting 4.7gpm to the current shower head and 4.3 when I flush the toilet and run a sink, so right now I have plenty of flow for the two shower heads I chose. But will all the added restrictions cause issues and would running 3/4 (or a combo of 1/2 and 3/4) mitigate any of this? Also, I understand the issues with running PEX to the tub spout, but Uponor is less restrictive, plus I have the long curved run to the shower head off valve #1, so do you think I can get away with PEX on the tub spout?
I am planning on piping everything in and trying it out, and if I need to add a booster pump in the basement I can, but I'd prefer not to.
Or am I just really overthinking this?
Thanks,
Darel