apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

one of the biggest downers for me about traveling to weird, out of the way places=crappy water pressure. I still remember being in podunksville Jamaica in the 80's trying to wash my long, spiral permed 80's hair in the "I could spit more than this shower puts out" shower.

$40 seems like a small price to pay, to me, and that's really fairly cheap as far as showerheads go. The fancy ones can cost hundreds of dollars (and still not work well!).

Awesome wall color, btw, but why didn't you remove that spare part up there by the wall?

@splatgirl - dang, I was hoping no one would notice! I totally forgot to remove the outer ring of the old showerhead before putting on the new one. It was actually Valentine's Day and I was in a hurry! LOL. I should go back and do it I suppose...

The wall color is actually not so nice as in this photo; you can see it better here: How To Improve This Bathroom?

"While those temperature issues can't be solved without a full re-plumb of our 100-year-old house"

You can't just get a new hot water heater? Or raise the temp on/fix the existing one?

I can't see why you'd have to re-plumb the entire house just to get more hot water!

Anna At D16, I think what faith means is when one turns on the water in the sink, it causes the tempurature to fluctuate. And sometimes that means a pleasantly warm shower can suddenly be scalding hot as a result.

Faith, if you can swing for it, see about having the mixing valves in the tub replaced w/ a retrofit anti-scalding valve kit that has the template and all you need to replace your old separate valves w/ a single valve anti-scalding one. They are made to be inserted into the existing piping either from the back side or the front without removing all the tiles to do so. I've heard of them and Ask This Old House featured one recently in an episode where the homeowner had the same teimp/scalding issue as you had, but in a home built in either the 40's or 50's. The kits have been around for a while but now come with other style options to fit one's decor.

However, it won't solve the lack of water pressure but w/ the new shower head, you should have a decent shower until the plumbing is redone.

Does anyone know offhand if this would fit in a European shower? I don't know if the pipe sizes are different.

"Does anyone know offhand if this would fit in a European shower? I don't know if the pipe sizes are different."

Yes, pipe sizes are different in Europe - so it wouldn't fit.

oh yea, what ciddyguy says...you can 'just' replace the valves, meaning the fixtures.
current plumbing code requires the use of thermostatic valves, which is what he means by anit-scald. basically they maintain the same temperature regardless of what is going on in the rest of the house.
why I say 'just' is because in old houses is that it usually means a do-over of whatever the surround is made from because you can't find a new fixture that is the same in terms of the handle orientation, etc. plus you have to be able to get at the guts of the existing valve which usually means tearing open the wall.
other than the no-scald thing, thermostatic valves are awesome because you just turn them on. the water temp is a preset, so you never have to mess around with adjusting the hot/cold trying to get the right mix while the water runs.

I had a low-flow shower head in the bathroom in my apartment that irritated me. I took it off an noticed that the whole was very small so I broke out the drill and made the hole about twice the size.

Now that $7 shower head is like a Swedish masseur in the morning!

$36.50 is expensive for a shower head? You take a shower everyday! Small price to pay for a pleasant showering experience for years to come.

We added an anti-scald valve to our shower in our old house and it made a huge difference. (Ours was built in the 1970's.) We had a plumber do the work and I don't recall the cost, just that it was SO worth it!

If you own, consider it.

If you rent, ask your landlord to install one, or ask if you can deduct the cost from your rent if YOU install one. (It used to work for me when I made improvements. Just save your receipts to include COPIES with the rent check.)

We have low-flow shower heads in the new house and they give a nice regular shower -- nothing like a huge rain shower, but pleasantly wetting! Consumer Reports rates them regularly, and they have "best buy" options which provide good water flow and a good price.

This is a good tip and I have the same problem. I'll try this type of shower head. And after you wrote a couple times that it's expensive, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it's under $40! Not bad at all.

A word of caution about installing a thermostatic with old pipes: I live in an 1880s building that had a replumb done at some point, probably in the '60s when it was turned into apartments (it had been a dorm/rehearsal space for the Columbus Conservatory of Music). My apartment was renovated in the '90s, I think, turning two studios into a 450 sq ft one-bedroom.

The modern and fairly nice bathroom has a thermostatic faucet with the old pipes, and the water pressure differences in my Victorian-era neighborhood have a huge impact on my ability to take a warm shower.

Believe it or not, more water use on the block = warmer shower, especially in the winter. I think it has to do with the cold water pressure and the coldness of the cold water. I can't get a good mix when it's cold out unless the cold water is in high use in the neighborhood. I actually made a habit this winter of waiting to start the dishwasher until I was ready to shower just because it helped.

It doesn't matter how hot the water heater is set, it's all based on pressure. If I reduce the shower pressure to half it gets warmer, too.

So, yeah, the thermostatic faucet will balance things out, but the end result might be all-cold-all-the-time.

Too bad you don't get a commission on these posts because I'm buying the fancy handheld one for my kids bathroom this week. We have terrible water pressure in our new house, combined with the fact that currently the shower head in that bathroom has a leak patched with a band-aid, this was a timely post.

I kid you effing not. A band-aid. Who considers that a real fix to a plumbing problem??

Anyway, thanks so much for the tip!

When the alternative is a shower that feels like you're being spat upon, I would say that a new shower head is a romantic gift indeed.

I live in a rental and the shower head is terrible so I've been looking for another one and since it's an apt I find the water pressure isn't as strong as in my old place which was a house.

This is a great tip. Perhaps it's worth changing the shower head. :P

Based on a previous AT post, I bought the Water Management shower head last year and I consider it one of the best home-improvement purchases I've ever made. I had terrible water pressure in my apartment, but this shower head has made all the difference. I love it so much that I convinced my parents to buy one for their guest bathroom which had equally dismal water pressure.

I rent, but I plan to take this shower head with me when I move out (I saved the original shower head, so that I can reinstall it).

Also, you can order online, but I phoned the company directly and spoke to a really nice person.

I also bought a Water Management shower head (the Fire Hydrant hand-held) based on a previous AT post. And I completely agree with @ser—one of the best home-improvement purchases ever. The Water Management customer service was absolutely fantastic and the shower head is truly miraculous. It revolutionized my shower experience! I couldn't stop raving about it for weeks!