Master Bath, Functionally Complete

What a journey. I still need to find towel racks and get them installed, but it is an official 4 piece functioning bathroom and tomorrow I will call the city to get my final plumbing inspection.

The shower has been reworked and refitted. The Signature Hardware knobs, which match the sink and tub filler, and hand held sprayer are the only remaining reminders of what went down. If you look real close you can see where I nicked a few pieces of the surrounding tile, but all and all removing the body sprays completely was fairly simple. My Ridgid JobMax tool with a grout grinder attached made quick time of the work.

I decided to rework the diverter valve. Of the three ports on the top, I caped off the middle (housed the wall shower head) and moved the wall shower head down to the single port location where the body sprays once were. Doing this 1) put the head I’ll use daily on a port by itself, so easy direct access, and 2) I can now have the wall and rain shower heads work simultaneously.

I replaced the Signature Hardware shower heads with Hansgrohe Raindance S models. I didn’t leave it to chance; I actually went into a local showroom and tested several before selecting these units. I saved over $200 by ordering them through Build.com and not purchasing them from showroom retailer.

The wall shower unit is Raindance S Multi Function 2.5 GPM Shower Head. There was nothing wrong with the Signature Hardware wall shower unit, but since I lost the multiple body sprays I wanted a multi-function shower head. The WhirlAir massage setting feels awesome and the RainAir setting has a tingling sensation on my skin. Like taking a shower in club soda. The rain shower head is the Raindance S Rain 2.5 GPM Shower Head. Again, nothing wrong with the Signature Hardware fixture, but I wanted the two heads to match. I washed my hair last night and tried running both heads. Slight reduction in water flow, but still a nice shower experience.

A city licensed plumber installed the tub for me. I’m very glad I did not decide to install it myself. I didn’t have the tools they used, would not have known how to properly cut the pipe, so a very good $300 investment. I need to give the caulk tonight to set up, but I’m taking that puppy for a test ride tomorrow night. It’s been a long time in the making. This was the very first fixture purchase.