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Do you use it often?
How do you like them?
Any suggestions on units?
I love steamers, but I've only used them in fairly high end Health Clubs and don't currently belong to any.
Time to remodel the master bath and thinking about putting in a 4 x 7'. Moderately high end house, but I don't intend to stay over five years and doubt I'd get any real return on the steam shower portion of the remodel, which looks to add about 5k.
They create a lot of scale. If you have hard water be very cautious.
I don't have one, but I sure love the fuck out of them when I stay somewhere with one.
My wife and I bought a place a just under 2 years ago that came with a steam shower. Had never used one previously and figured they were not worth the extra $$. Now that we have one, we have been using that thing a ton. One of the best things if you're dealing with a chest cold. Love using it after skiing or a cold bike ride as well. Also put our kids in there when they are sick. Brand is Thermasol. Has a lifetime warranty according to the manual.
Ive been looking into these as well. You can buy the full shower kit but I'm leery of any plastic shower inserts.
The scaling is a good point that I never considered and I hate soft water.
Im going to do a kit, and make the shower just like a Japenese Onsen shower. Ive been scouring the earth trying to find a Japanese shower fixture. Stupid hard to find.
Try Japan
Haha. You beat me to it. He's right though, Dheli. I've been to a few Japanese hardware stores to check out the goods and the selection on cool fixtures was amazing. I was so freaking close to dragging a new toilet back to the states. Too bad I was just a broke young airman at the time, or I would have. I'm saving up for a major bathroom overhaul, and it just might be worth my while to take a little trip back to the land of the rising sun before making my final choices on fixtures.Quote:
Originally Posted by irul&ublo
Was also wondering about the steam shower. Never tried one, but sounds like its worth it if going high end anyway?
We installed one in a renovation of our old house and put one in this huse so overall we've had one for about 20 years. Steamist is the brand we've had both places. Trouble-free except we had one problem early on at this house due to fine grit in the well water messing up the valve that shuts the water off to the unit. They were good about coming out and fixing it and we installed a whole-house water filtration system (basically a fancy grit filter not a purifier/conditioner since we have really good water here) since it was causing other plumbing problems and it hasn't had any issues since. Our water is neutral so I dunno about the scale issue. First I heard of it.
In the old house we bought an entire fiberglass steam shower unit, in this house it's a tile shower but has a tight-sealing door. There were seats molded into the old one, in this one we put a triangular piece of granite, like a shelf basically, in the corner to sit on. Works fine.
You don't want this to be a huge shower or it will take too long to heat up. You don't want the steam generator to be too long of a run to the shower but if you need to put it further away just be sure to insulate the steam line.
Vicks Vapo Steam is the shiznit. On ours there's a little like depression on top of the steam nozzle, pour a little Vicks in that and the heat vaporizes it. Eucalyptus goodness for the lungs and sinuses.
Honestly you could draw a graph that would go steadily down and label it "frequency of use" fwiw. We used to use the shit out of it, the novelty is gone now but when you're sick the thing is awesome, we use it then for sure.
Make sure that you don't have high humidity / mildew issues in the bathroom and adjacent rooms.
I put in a really simple vapor generator, I believe the brand is Glass, a german company. Closed the roof and walls with glass panels, natural waterfall faucet and a secondary faucet for spraying water, with about 2m of hose.
Use it everyday after ski. It's one of the luxuries that I now consider indispensable.
And just the other day, I was thinking about my little first world problem: the door on my steam shower lets in just enough air that my feet don't sweat. But only sometimes!
You are spot on with the toilet. The Japanese have the bathroom down like a mo fo. I cant be the gaijin looking for a damn shower head!!Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinFromSA
They sure do. Still having a tough time convincing the wife to let me do a full on Japanese bathroom. She just doesn't get it, but she might be right as most potential future buyers probably wouldn't either. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhelihiker
For as much emphasis as American homeowners put on bathrooms and remodels, sure seems that most are completely missing out on what could be the most epic throne rooms ever. Doesn't even require a ton of space or money either. Just proper design. I think most Europeans usually have us beat on that front too. Funny how most high end homes have ginormous bathrooms...multiple sinks, giant linen closets, separate tubs and showers, but somehow always forget to leave room for the bidet, or go for the Japanese style combo unit? Laaaame.
Why not?! It'd be fun and totally worth it! If it has problems, returning it might be a pain though. Haha.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhelihiker
Am I the only one who can't breathe in a steam shower? It's like syrup in my lungs.
^^ this! I grew up in a hot humid climate, why anyone would want to replicate that in their house is beyond me.
Make sure whoever sets the tile knows what the fuck they are doing because they probably won't.
How is the steam from a stream shower different than the steam in a shower?
Put it up there with the trash compactor IMO.
this...Quote:
Originally Posted by RootSkier
Not even a steam shower and getting a few grand worth of work done b/c of idiot remodel from previous owner.
Mr Steam. Mount it outside the house in a little " doghouse"-Slope the ceiling of shower. Use slab stone on walls and lid. They produce zero scale if you filter water pre steam unit. In fact the new whole house pura filter works awesome with whatever you use. The new rare earth magnets you connect directly to the copper pipes are bitchin as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shredhead
E T A =steam mist is good as well.
Your dumb. Put you up there with a chick in a jetta talking on her cell phone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pow4Brains
Blonde?
..
Your insight is outstanding. Next would you like to discuss the comparative energy consumption heating water vs. boiling? Or better yet, your advised water purification techniques?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodneyyee
Ice - I'm a redhead but don't think I'm your type.
Until reading this thread I had no idea such a thing even existed. Is this something only dentists can afford?
If you have to ask, you shouldn't be asking.Quote:
Originally Posted by The AD
Still dealing with leaking shower issue as mentioned from March... We're leaning this way. Looking at a small 38x38 unit... any last regrets? we'll need to rip out the entire old shower, and barrier the outside of this unit. then install it... Figure if we're going to spend another grand in there to rebuild the shower, may as well make it what we want.
I am sure there is a hardware store in Hokkaido!Quote:
Originally Posted by irul&ublo
LOVE steam rooms, steam showers ect. Do it.
http://www.go-ima.com/images/pic-jap...-de-dake-1.jpg
No regrets. It's really nice and didn't cost as much as I projected. I haven't used it all that much so far, because we got delayed and didn't finish until July. It's just starting to get real cold here and I anticipate using it a lot more this winter.Quote:
Originally Posted by grskier
We added multiple water jets to the shower and I use them everyday.
If finally got really cold here and I was starting to feel a little sniffly, so here's my Steam Shower TR. Saturday I did a three hour ride at sunrise at 13f, came home and fired the steamer up.
20 minutes at 120f with some eucalyptus and I was all cleared up. Shaving after the steamer, your whiskers just fall off.
https://www.tetongravity.com/images/...496__forum.jpg
The side jet are a nice bonus.
https://www.tetongravity.com/images/...498__forum.jpg
https://www.tetongravity.com/images/...500__forum.jpg
looks pretty sweet. You should put one in at Shadow Mtn.
Timely thread, recently discovered some dry rot in the bathroom and taking the walls down to the studs and then some. Really small bathroom, thinking about taking the tub out and replacing with walk-in shower that also has a steam shower. (we have a tub downstairs so one will still be in the house) Anything you would do different? Anything you did that worked out great?
Looks fantastic! If you don't me asking, how much of a premium did that end up costing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Shredhead
This spring, I'll (hopefully) be tearing down my master bath down to the studs and doing a major reno. Never used a steam shower, but looks pretty awesome. Could definitely be good for preventative health care, like stopping a cold before it really gets going, or clearing up sinuses before allergies cause a sinus infection.
How about ventilation in the shower when you DON'T want to steam yourself out just taking a normal shower?
EDIT: About the ventilation, nevermind, I just found this:
http://st.houzz.com/simgs/8bf199b60f...393/modern.jpg
That's what gave me the idea, unfortunately after the fact for #4. Definitely when we remodel #3.Quote:
Originally Posted by skideeppow
Yeah, we took out all the tubs in a small condo in Aspen and put in really nice glass enclosed showers. We don't miss the tubs at all and it really makes the bathrooms look a lot bigger.Quote:
Originally Posted by dump
I really like the Moen fixtures with side jets.
It's kind of hard to say, because without the steam, you could design the shower a lot differently. You don't have to tile all way up, no door etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinFromSA
The Mr. Steam unit was about $1500 and the full glass door was $1800. I put in the biggest humidity sensing fan that Broan made in the bathroom. I would have been replacing the old one anyhow, but maybe not with that much HP.
I love steam showers. They relax me out when I return home from work! :)
Who makes that? I never mind the shower getting steamed up while I'm taking a shower but it is a slight pain that we have to leave the shower door open all the time so it can dry out between showers and prevent it from getting mildewy, that looks like it would at least help. I could google it but hey.Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinFromSA
No idea. I found it on Houzzzz via Google search for "steam shower ventilation." I like it, though. Maybe it's a custom thing? I have a lot to think about with the remodel. The hardest part I suppose is keeping the budget under control. Probably helps that I'll be doing most the work myself aside from the plumbing and electrical, but still, that glass ain't cheap! And I'm sure that I'm going to run into no less than a dozen catastrophic problems being the pile that my house is. It's going to be fun!Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Ice, good shower glass like that is always custom. The is called a "steam shower glass transom" so when you call they know you know what you're talking about.
The upcharge for a steam shower over a non-steam shower is about $3K. That represents the cost of waterproofing, tiling the ceiling, more expensive door system and ventalation and the steam unit itself. I just did this estimating for a customer. Yeah, shits expensive 2014 and all.
Thanks Foggy.
Not meaning to piss on any new projects
A ramble...
Put in the full kohler setup in a previous house.
Its use became intermittent at best.
I used tumbled tile for the entire bathroom including the ceiling.
Use the least porous stone you can find.
Regular (annual) sealant applications should be part of the maintenance consideration.
Good venting and keeping the door closed minimized the need to wipe every frickin surface down (ceiling/walls/fixtures/mirrors), post the inebriating sweat.
I'll never have navy blue fixtures again!
Burns a fair amount of energy no matter how you heat the water.
ROI was zero on the sweatbox, but resale on the tile job was big.
I’ll never do navy blue in fixtures again.
On the other hand, traveling to ski… “the hot springs; steam; sauna; Jacuzzi; bathroom tub, hot water in a garbage can” is a pre-requisite to having the best time. Post ski rehab and pre or post meal stoke is undeniable.
Sking outta your yocal home would make it as mandatory as a Todo shitter.
The overall health benefits are not to be dismissed. Having youngins with croup, it would have been nice, but a steamed up shower stall with a rigid door was fine.
Syrup in your lungs. It is a threshold you have to pass through to enjoy the ability of your lungs, bronchioles and sinuses to absorb water. Too much steam in a dry unit won’t choke you out as much as a wet steam will. Venting capabilities if/when you over cook yourself; a must!