In my post Here They Come to Save the Day…..Maybe  I wrote about adding a steam unit to my shower to compensate for the disappointment I experienced with my Signature Hardware Exira Shower unit.  The owner of Thermasol, Mitch Altman, took a personal interest in this project after reading about all the issues I was having.  Signature Hardware finally started providing the level of customer service I had been accustomed to receiving when dealing with issues with their product and refunded the cost of the shower unit.  That made the purchase of the Thermasol unit possible, but not probable.

The unit needs a constant water source and I did not want to splice into the existing water line to feed the unit.  The two Hansgrohe shower heads that I bought to replace the Signature Hardware heads are working great and I did not want anything to circumvent that.  The beauty of being hands on with the restoration project is I knew exactly how and more importantly where the water lines were run to the shower.  My manifold has three empty slots, so my decision to move forward with the steam unit was depended upon my ability to run a dedicated line.  These pics show the path before the HVAC ducts were installed.

I took these steps:

  1. Cut a whole in the crawl space floor.  I cut the section directly behind where the shower water lines were located.  Turns out holes were drilled in the joist, so the line to the basement were over one joist.  Bottom line I had to remove another section of the floor.
  2. Push a remnant piece of pex through the floor joist until I reached where I could see the existing lines turn down.
  3. Cut a hole in the drywall of guestroom closet.
  4. Blind feel for the piece (found it almost immediately) and pull it through the opening.
  5. Drill a hole into the floor of the closet from the basement near the existing lines
  6. Push new pex line through hole up to the point where I cut hole in drywall.  Since I was working by myself I taped a loop at the end of the line, so I could fish for it in the wall with a hanger..
  7. Tape the two ends together and then return to crawl space and pulled the new line to the shower.
  8. I had to make 5 elbow connections.
  9. Order the the steam unit as mission was accomplished

Mitch, again I have to stress that the owner of Thermasol took a personal interest in my plight, worked with one of his authorized dealers to help me meet my budget requirements.  I am getting their Thermasol SSA 395 unit and Microtouch Time/Temp controller.  I also got their Aromatherapy 100% organic Essential oils; French Lavender to promote calming and relaxing effects, Portuguese Eucalyptus to stimulate, sooth and cool (I plan to mix these two) and Italian Bergamot Citrus to reduce anxiety, depression, and insomnia (every insomnia night moving forward I will turn to my shower vs. tossing and turning until I fall asleep out of exhaustion).  I can’t wait.  Hopefully the weather will be great next week, so Mr. McGhee can run the electric line.

Leave a Reply