Adding a shower hose to a rainfall shower head

Thoie

I have a rainfall showerhead - the shower is completely tiled, and near the top a pipe comes out of the wall with the showerhead on it, and around waist height there is a panel on the wall with controls for temperature/pressure.

The panel and the pipe are in line with each other, so I'm presuming that they're connected in a straight line behind the tiled wall.

I asked a plumber previously if it would be possible to add an offshoot for a shower hose, and a lever/tap to switch between the shower hose or the overhead shower head, and he said it would be very messy/awkward/may not be possible.

I came across this earlier today:
http://store.ginseyhomesolutions.com/product/power-sprayer-system

• Does anyone know of something similar available in Ireland?
• Would the US one fit Irish fittings (there's no mention of sizes anywhere, even in the instructions)?
• Does anyone know of something similar to what I was originally looking for (permanent extra shower hose that you can switch between)?

K.Flyer

Thoie wrote: »

I have a rainfall showerhead - the shower is completely tiled, and near the top a pipe comes out of the wall with the showerhead on it, and around waist height there is a panel on the wall with controls for temperature/pressure.

The panel and the pipe are in line with each other, so I'm presuming that they're connected in a straight line behind the tiled wall.

I asked a plumber previously if it would be possible to add an offshoot for a shower hose, and a lever/tap to switch between the shower hose or the overhead shower head, and he said it would be very messy/awkward/may not be possible.

It really depends on the quality of finish and how neat and tidy you want things to look when its finished.
Most likely the pipe runs up behind the wall alright.
What's on the other side of the wall. If it is easy to get at to make an opening on the other side to get at the pipe-work.


Is this the sort of idea you had, or more in line with what you had in your post.

Thoie

I want things perfect when it's finished There's a fitted wardrobe on the other side of where the shower is, so in theory could drill through there

That's the kind of thing I'd like, presuming you can switch between the handheld and the overhead. The first thing I posted would be a bit of a work around, but wouldn't look as well.

I've found a multitude of ideal solutions in the US, but cannot for the life of me find any IE/UK equivalents - I may be googling for the wrong things.

Something like this looks perfect - it looks as if you can just attach the shower hose piece and the switch in between the main pipe and the existing shower head.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/kohler-reg-shift-ellipse-multi-function-handshower-kit/1017840193

I'd nearly go ahead and try order something from the US, but none of the sites I've found give any indication what size the pipes/connections are, and converters/kludges would look too messy.

Aimeee

What are you googling for?
I know this is not what you want but I'm nearly sure lidl had this type of shower once upon a time so it is available this side of the world.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/over-head-shower-unit-24-99-bargain-212057
Just googled hand held shower attachment to rainfall shower lidl and that came up.

What make is the shower you already have? I'd email that company enquiring if they make/sell hand held shower attachment for three model you have. If not maybe they could point you in right direction.
Good luck.
Apologies if I'm totally off the mark, wouldn't have a clue about the fitting of this.

Thoie

Thanks Aimee, that looks like the kind of thing it would have been good to install in the first instance, but it would be disruptive to go back and do it now.

One of the terms that has given me great results for the US is "three way rainfall shower head", but I suggest ensuring that safe search is on

In the US results there are loads of options that only require removing the existing shower head, adding a widget on the end of the pipe, and putting the showerhead back on again. Everything I've seen for Ireland involves installing new parts behind the tiled wall, which I'd prefer to avoid.

Thoie

If anyone's interested, I rang a lot of places today, and no-one had any idea what I was talking about, but all agreed it sounded handy.

On ebay I found a number of suitable things, but all were coming from the US. This caught my eye initially, but I'd still have needed a hose and a hook for the hose, and the fact that the postage was more than the item itself put me off.

In the end I've ordered one of these from ebay. I'm not 100% sure it's going to work, and looking at the description again (too late!) it's hard to tell if this one allows you to switch between the two showerheads (which other ones do).

I should be able to just add this to the existing pipe, without any retiling required!