My hubby loves me!!!! I might just be getting a new bathroom.
We had a mold/mildew problem that just wouldn't go away. So Pete decided to fix it once and for all. He bought some major chemicals, cleaned the shower and the doors until they were completely shiny, ripped up the old caulk and put down new, and then he was going to redo the tile grout. Some of the tiles were loose. He took them off and discovered that the wall board behind them had completely rotted away. So he took down all the tile - which was on two walls of the shower. He found more ruined wall board, ruined insulation, and a damp electrical box.
At this point, he comes downstairs and says, "How would you like a new bathroom?" *Giggle*
Here is a drawing of our current bathroom. Notice how small it is. Notice there is no tub. Imagine it is also done in really ugly tile, beige walls, and cheap dark wood fixtures and trim.
We had talked about knocking down the wall between the bathroom and Pete's closet when we first bought the house. And now we might actually do it! We spent Saturday at Home Depot pricing new fixtures and materials for our dream new bathroom. We just have to make sure the wall we want to eliminate is not structural and that the floor will support a nice big tub!
This is what we hope to turn it into....
Now, the big dilemma is .... single handled faucets or double handled faucets. Double handled ones are much more aesthetically pleasing (especially with the sink and countertop we have picked out) but they are soooo annoying to use! The single handled ones are okay looking and much easier to use. What I really want is to have one of the handles control the temperature and have the other control the water volume. Then you get single handle temperature control with double handle looks! I realize that this is a difficult fluid mechanics problem, but I wish someone would solve it. We'll probably go with single handled ones, but it won't be perfect. :(
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Replies: 5 comments
I knew what you meant. I just figured that since you were redoing the plumbing anyway, you might as well go whole hog.
Posted by Seth Golub @ 11/30/2001 03:48 PM CST
Seth, that's an interesting solution to a different problem, although it is equally annoying.
I didn't make myself clear.
I hate having to fuss with two knobs to adjust the water temperature. And then having to readjust both of them to change the water volume while keeping the same temperature I just worked so hard to find.
Single handled faucets aren't perfect, but they make the adjustments much easier. Ideally I'd just be able to set the two variables independently. Thus the need for two handles.
Posted by Toni @ 11/29/2001 11:57 PM CST
What would be really cool is if you could route the hot water back into the water heater. Then, when there was insufficiently hot water between the heater and the tap, you wouldn't have to dump it all down the drain just to get the hot water out.
You could route it into the cold water pipe (Landon's idea), since you'll have one of those anyway, but you'd have to make sure the pressure didn't go too high. Also, I'm not sure if this would pass city inspections.
You'd probably want some obvious indication when this was happening, lest you (or future residents) leave it running for a few days accidentally.
Insulating the pipes is a simpler solution. :-)
Posted by Seth Golub @ 11/29/2001 01:23 PM CST
Have you thought about getting a flow regulator? Rob and I have one that sits on the end of the faucet and it's awesome. You can set the temperature and then flip it on and off with a fingertip. It's great for on/off activities like shaving, brushing teeth and washing dishes - really saves water. They cost about $8. Our home depot in Austin carried them, but other home depots we've seen don't (Santa Fe, St. Louis). If you can't find it, here's a link...
http://www.jademountain.com/waterProducts/showerheads.html
The one we have is what they call the "kitchen faucet aerator", and we have one in the kitchen and one in our bathroom.
Posted by Miranda @ 11/27/2001 08:42 PM CST
A cautionary tale about Bathroom fittings...
So, when we moved into our house the shower divertor was not diverting. Simple, call out the plumber. NO, not so simple. Plumber;s never seen that kind of divertor before. Thinks it's a Kohler part. BUT from which one of their many thousands of products...
Now, I should add that the challenge is that it's the matter of a $40 divertor or a $2000 bathroom. So, it seems like a divertor is the answer.
I write to Kohler. I visit every singly plumbing shop in San Francisco. I learn that my tap system is not Kohler, not several other brands either, but an eljer system. Eljer import plumbing from Italy, how do I discover this, because the plumber's plumbing shop tells me.
SO, the moral of this tale is whatever you buy buy something with a good supporting infrastructure. Like a system where you can get the parts. Not just the pretty outside fittings but the internals, and where it doesn't take 2 days or visits to (in total) 5 plumbing shops. If not for you, for the people who move in after you...
:-)
beki
Posted by Beki @ 11/27/2001 03:43 PM CST
