Showerheads

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

Strange, this is the exact opposite of nearly everyone's experiences I've ever heard.

Speakman usually excels in pressure testing where Moens many times do not. Especially once you remove the regulator.
I think it's the lack of aerator in the Speakman. The water flowed with some force, but it just streamed out the head. I feel like I'm getting sandblasted when I stand under my Moen's center setting. Could also be my fucked plumbing.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Rambo

I think it's the lack of aerator in the Speakman. The water flowed with some force, but it just streamed out the head. I feel like I'm getting sandblasted when I stand under my Moen's center setting. Could also be my fucked plumbing.
An aerator has nothing to do (or very little to do) with the pressure. An aerator breaks up the laminar flow of water in your pipe so that it comes out of the nozzles more evenly, and it filters out impurities like calcium and sediment. I'm glad you are happy with your showerhead, but Speakman showerheads are, IMO, great products and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for better water pressure out of their showerhead. Your particular one might have been defective, or was set or installed improperly. Who knows. Speakman has a solid and well deserved reputation in my experience as a salesperson, installer, and happy consumer As a whole, Speakman heads have excellent pressure. Its their entire focus as a company. Moen is generally more concerned with the aesthetic side of showerheads. I'm not saying that they are bad showerheads, and as far as the three or four major consumer grade shower sets go - I think moen is probably second best. (I prefer Delta, but its just a personal preference to their hardware) But Speakman is not a consumer grade fashion shower set company... There is a reason that many luxury hotels use Speakman heads, and its not because they are fancy or pretty. Its because they last forever and generally work better

 

[tiecollector]

I'm looking for something similar to this http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=37670001

TS, any thoughts?

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I'm looking for something similar to this http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=37670001

It looks like Hansgrohe has some "higher end" stuff I've never seen in person, but most of their stuff I HAVE seen is plasticy and kind of crappy for the price.

You might want to check out the Grohe rainshower line. You can get different valve trims and shower heads to give it the more "classical" look you are going for...

 

[tiecollector]

The thing I'm really looking for is a wand and showerhead on the same fixture so two people can shower.

I like that pic, looks like they have a hotmopped floor, which I'm trying to do as well, but man is it expensive.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

The thing I'm really looking for is a wand and showerhead on the same fixture so two people can shower.
That is a wand and showerhead on the same fixture.

 

[Fraiche]

Anyone know of any brands that excel in providing high water pressure for a place with low water pressure?

 

[hopkins_student]

We just bought a Speakman showerhead, I don't recall the model number, but it's the same as the one Restoration Hardware sells as the Ultra 8. We bought it from Amazon and it was more than one hundred dollars cheaper than RH.

 

[jenlain]



We just bought a Speakman showerhead, I don't recall the model number, but it's the same as the one Restoration Hardware sells as the Ultra 8. We bought it from Amazon and it was more than one hundred dollars cheaper than RH.

Yes. This. Exactly.

Just don't buy the speakman with 4-jets. It is much less expensive, but the housing is made of plastic, while the 6 and 8-jet speakmans are all brass.

 

[Fraiche]

Do Speakman shower heads increase water pressure? My home has pretty low water pressure naturally.

 

[hopkins_student]

Maybe it did ever so slightly over the prior showerhead I had. But I can't honestly say you'll notice a huge difference.

 

[hopkins_student]

Actually I saw the 8 jet Speakman showerhead on the Home Depot website for $118. I think I paid $150ish at Amazon and RH sells it for, I believe, $299.

 

[Svenn]



Anyone know of any brands that excel in providing high water pressure for a place with low water pressure?

You can't increase pressure with a showerhead, all it will do is concentrate the water into thinner, stronger streams. What you can do however is manually take out all the water-conservation stoppers in the shower head and, if your place has them, in the pipe coming out of the wall. I did this in my apt and now i possess water pressure no mortal man should ever possess.

My contribution to this thread, get a hosed shower head like they do in asia so you can clean your nether regions. Toilet paper will never be necessary again.

 

[otc]

The speakman heads make it pretty easy to remove the flow regulator. This won't do **** if you don't have more than the regulated flow rate though...but most places do so you should notice a difference.

I got one of these for $9...but I would not recommend it at any higher price. It is not the same as the normal speakman heads. There is very little adjustment, really you just alternate between the outer spray nozzles and the inner massage stream (which I don't really like).

Instead, you would be better off with the classic models where the lever actually adjusts the flow. You probably won't actually adjust it much, but it is nice to get a setting you like and keep it there.

If you have low water pressure issues, I might suggest the 4-nozzle model over the standard 6.
If you take ones of those and remove the flow regulator (and probably even if you don't), you are going to get more percieved pressure. There will be less total streams of water coming out, but the flow rate will be about the same so each one will be higher pressure...you'll get the same amount of water but it will push harder and faster.

The other option would be to try out one of those laminar flow heads. They make it feel like you have more water coming at you. They don't get steamy like a normal aerated shower head though...so if your bathroom is chilly, you might find that the air in the shower stays cold (but at the same time it doesn't get the bathroom all foggy and wet).

 

[Fraiche]

Holy crap, I just bought a showerhead from www.takeashower.com and was rather skeptical based on some of the information I read here.

But damn, their showerhead really delivers. It felt like I was getting sprayed by a fire hose. When I get out of the shower, the water in the tub is up to my ankles.

I actually think I need a flow regulator on this thing cause it doesn't have a lower setting and I'm worried bout my water bill. Anyone happened to save theirs?