Tub And Shower

Forecast calls for better showers (and tubs)

This is just the latest feat in your storied past.  One thinks of the particularly fastidious Cretan who built the first known pedestal bathtub out of hardened pottery.  Your forebears in ancient Rome gave us the communal bath, which paradoxically made the community cleaner and dirtier at the same time.  By 1833, the Kohler Company was selling cast-iron bathtubs to the general public.  This is notable despite the fact that Kohler marketed the tubs primarily as “hog scalders.”  (An unfortunate side note:  My wife, Amanda, regularly honors the hog-scalding tradition by flushing the toilet while I am in the shower.) But the results of your research and development have slowed down.  Before the curved curtain rod, the last high-water mark in tub and shower history was the installation of a White House shower with the water-propulsion quality of a crowd-control fire hose.  (The shower was installed at the request of President Lyndon Johnson, who presumably wanted to identify with Vietnam War protesters while rubbing a few dubs.) So I am seizing this moment to call on the next generation of tub and shower engineers to take us to a higher level of bathing enjoyment.  This can be done by attacking a few key problems with our current bathroom technology.  First, most showers have a knob or handle that changes the water temperature from hot to cold.  These can be turned 180 or even 360 degrees, giving one the illusion of control.  Unfortunately, however, every shower fixture I have ever used has a tiny, impossible-to-locate tipping point between “not hot enough” and “molten lava.”  Can these fixtures be engineered in a way that allows one more precise control over the temperature gradient?  I urge the international teams that competed to map the human genome to turn their attention to this important matter. Another problem is the color of tub caulk.  Its current, blinding white color makes any miniscule amount of mildew stand out in wince-inducing clarity.  My suggestion is simple:  mildew-colored caulk.  I’ll let you tubby braniacs work out the details.  On another front, I have to believe there are a lot of grants out there that could fund efforts to create a rotating set of tub drain covers.

Bath and Shower Tubs

If you have a small bathroom, then you may like to consider a Bath and Shower Tub. This is simply a bath tub with a shower above it. The idea is that you stand up in the bath whilst you shower. Splashing is often protected by a glass screen or plastic curtain.

Another plus to the Bath and Shower combo is that you then have the option of saving space in your bathroom, making room for another cupboard or more storage space. Or you may like to use the extra space to invest in a larger bath tub and really spoil yourself!

Bath and Shower combos can also save you money on your bathroom renovation. If you have an existing bath that you are happy to keep, you simply need to install a shower fitting above it. Then you can remove your old shower and use the space in some other way.

There are also available what are known as “Walk in Tub Accessible Showers”. These are a great idea for those with mobility limitations. With the walk in tubs, you simply open a door on the side of the bath, walk in, shut and seal the door and enjoy either a relaxing bath or shower.

Once you’ve decided that the bath and shower combo is the go for your bathroom, you then have the task of deciding what brand to get and where you will get it from. There are so many bathroom supply companies out there that you need to know which are reliable.

Lasco have an excellent reputation. They have been in the bathroom business since 1965 and have loads of bath-shower combos for you to choose from. Their products are made using a product called Lascoat (fibreglass reinforced gelcoat), which claims to be scratch-resistant. Kohler is also a reliable brand, although they can cost you more than some of the other brands.

Dont you love when the only reason you take a shower so is that you can sit in the bath tub and just cry your eyes out?

Is 3000 for labor too much for a bath with no tub? Just tile on the floor and shower area 13 long by 6 wide?: Th...

I don't even like swimming pools, bath/shower is the only place I feel comfort. Oh and a hot tub lol

I like to fill my tub up with water, then turn the shower on and act like I'm in a submarine that's been hit.

Minneapolis, Long Beach, Austin

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