Advice on showers?

[griffinng]

I've just moved to a new rental property. There's a bath with separate hot and cold taps, but no shower. Being a shower person myself, I really need to get a shower installed, but can't afford to shell out a lot of money (especially when I'm helping the landlord out by improving

*his8 house!) for a fancy shower. I was wondering if there is some way to adapt the taps in the bath to run a shower from them without having to replace them with mixer taps?

Another forseeable problem is that there may not be enough pressure to run a shower from the taps. I don't know how any of it works, but I read something online that said that the loft tank needs to be suitably high up in order to get good pressure.

I guess my only other option would be to get an electric shower and then take it out when I leave, don't particularly wanna have the plumbing/electricial work done for that though, as again, I'm paying to improve someone else's house, I'm too broke and too stingy to do that unless I HAVE to :-P Also, when my Mum had an electric shower installed, she also had to have a brand new fuse box as her present one at the time didn't have enough space on to run anything else. The whole electric shower process cost her the best part of =A31,000 thanks to the new fuse box!

Can anyone give me some helpful advice on any of this? Would really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance! Naomi

[Richard Faulkner]

In message , [e-mail] writes

Why did you move into a property without a shower? Presumably, the landlord did not hide the fact that there was no shower?

Given that you dont seem to want to do anything which means spending money, I'm not sure what kind of constructive advice could be given.

Is the bathroom tiled? I've seen quite a few houses where people us a kind of plastic and rubber hose attachment to the taps but, if you soak the walls and it floods/seeps to the room below, dont be surprised if the landlord takes the hump and keeps your deposit.

I suppose you could ask the landlord to fit a shower, or you could offer to pay for it, in return for a reduction in the monthly rent.

[Owain]

You can get sprays from Argos which push on to the taps, p. 843 in the catalogue or

and look at eg 831/9731 or 830/3998. I wouldn't describe them as equal to a shower but they may suffice for hair-washing. You may need to try several to find one which fits on your taps without stray squirts.

Yes.

You would certainly need to get your landlord's permission before doing this and it will have to be done in full compliance with Part P - the landlord's insurance will probably require this.

Have you asked the landlord if he would consider fitting a shower to increase the appeal of the property to current/future tenants?

Owain

[EN]

[e-mail] wrote:

Hi Naomi - I was in a similar situation when I moved into my present rented house nearly 4 years ago. Like you there was no shower and I'd love one. My tank is too low and one of these plastic things on the tap only works if held below the level of the bath side, otherwise not enough pressure so it's ok for hair washing but not anything else.

The only answer I've found with this as well as other maintenance issues to do with this house is to decide how long I want to stay here and balance that against the costs involved. For example I want to stay here long term as I can't afford to buy a house as wonderful as this so I've worked out the costs roughly of all the improvements that I do and divided them by the rough numbers of years I might stay here, say 10, to see if it's really worth it. For example £1k spent now on a shower with pump works out at £100 per year over 10 years - pretty cheap. Also include in the equation the fact that you won't be using as much water as if you bath. If however you only see yourself staying there for a year, then it's £1k for the year - expensive! It's risky though but so far my landlord has recognised that he's got a good tenant and hasn't increased the rent since I moved here, despite the agreement saying it would go up each January, although paying him for the privilege of maintaining his house is galling if you think about it - I prefer to see it as spending money to increase my comfort and enjoyment, which is definitely worth it. You could ask him to agree some sort of contract which gives you greater security but I dont think it would be legally binding if he wanted to get you to leave for some legal reason. I doubt you would be increasing the value of your landlords house that much anyway, with the way houseprices are - but others on this ng can discuss the benefits of renting over buying in the present state of the market.

Otherwise you have to do without - or buy a house of your own- my local swimming pool has some wonderful hot power showers! good luck.

Liz

[Ed Sirett]

If a shower was really important to you, you now realize it should have been on the checklist of "must haves" when looking over the place. Experience is a great teacher. Round here you can't let a flat without a shower in the private rental market.

A hair washing only shower hose can be added to the taps. You are doing the landlord's work for him by fixing the place up over and beyond your duties. Which in shorthold tenancies do not extend even to redecorating (unless you serious damage the decor) let alone installing showers. I'd negotiate with the landlord about the shower and I'd certainly get proper reimbursement for you efforts on any other work!

Often the infrastructure for a shower (pluming, tiling, screening) is simply missing, it's all part of the job in my book.

That's what a full electric shower install might cost.

1) Stop being taken for a ride by fixing up the property for your landlord for free. 2) Don't take a place that does not have what you want. (OK its 20:20 hindsite). 3) Negotiate with the Landlord about the improvements you want. He is not obligated to do them but he may well consider that it will help in the medium term. 4) Don't even think about removing the shower once it's installed.