Top 5 Tips to Choosing the Right Shower Enclosure

Posted by :Kate Mills On : 24 May 2013
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Category: Buyers Guide, Hints, Tips & Advice, Planning Advice

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When it comes to purchasing a shower enclosure, it’s not like buying a pair of shoes… it’s not something we do regularly, you can’t try it out before you buy and it’s an investment piece that you expect to last for years to come. As a showering expert, we thought we would give you our top tips on how to approach buying a shower enclosure…

1. Visit a Display Retailer

You might not be able to try the shower enclosure in your own home, but you can try it out by visiting your local displaying bathroom retailer. If you’ve picked a design, style or brand you like, find out where your nearest displaying retailer of that product is and call in. You can then see the product, open and close the doors and step inside to understand if it will work for your lifestyle, space and within your bathroom design.

2. Plan Out Your Bathroom

Create a floor plan of your bathroom, including any potential restrictions such as windows, door frames and cupboards. Add in your chosen bathroom furniture to then identify whether everything will work in the available space. This will help you identify what footprint you have available for the shower and whether you need an inward opening shower door due to obstructions, or another solution product. We would always recommend discussing this with your specialist bathroom retailer, many of which will offer a design service, so they can bring your drawing and ideas to life. They will be able to identify any possible issues you may not have spotted yourself, and they will help you really make the most of your space.

3. Think About Your Family’s Needs and Future Needs

It seems like common sense, but thinking about your individual needs and that of your family should be done early on in the planning stages. Your bathroom design is going to be a long term design that you won’t want to consider redoing for around 10 years (on average). Some key questions to think about:

  • Will your family change in that time – it may grow from new children or grandchildren, or from an elderly resident coming to live with you, for example. What might their needs be? Baths can be important for young children and toddlers, whereas a separate shower enclosure may be a necessity for older relatives.
  • How might your lifestyle change? As we get older we may need to think about fewer restrictions in the bathroom, so eliminating steps and awkward doors and handles, for an easy access bathroom, may be a good idea.
  • Do you have a family home? You may need to think about a height adjustable showerhead, and a more spacious enclosure to accommodate all your different family members’ shapes and heights.
  • Are you looking for a relaxing space, or somewhere that makes your morning routine as quick as possible? You may be able to replace the bath with a spacious Walk-in shower enclosure, if the bath has become redundant in your family.

4. Check the Guarantee

The bathroom will be a high traffic area. Your shower enclosure could be opened and closed around 10 times a day in the average family home – receiving constant impact. Therefore it needs to be built to last, and to have a good, transparent guarantee. Ideally a service backed guarantee will give you total peace of mind.

5. Choose a Reputable Installer

For a perfect finish, ensure the installation of your bathroom products is completed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Most leaking shower enclosures are the result of poor installation, rather than a faulty product. If products aren’t installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions this can invalidate the guarantee and cause a range of different issues. By picking a reputable installer, you can ensure your bathroom design looks fantastic, as well as lasting for years to come.

Creating an Easy Clean Bathroom

Posted by :Kate Mills On : 10 April 2013
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Category: Bath Screens, Buyers Guide, Hints, Tips & Advice, Inclusive Products, Planning Advice

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If there is one job the majority of us really don’t look forward to, it’s cleaning. The bathroom in particular can prove a real tough job. At Roman this is something we consider when developing and designing products, to help you create an easy to clean showering space. If easy clean is a priority for you in your bathroom, then here are our top tips on the key features to look out for when purchasing your shower enclosure…

 

Glass Protection

Pre-coated Glass Protection

This is where a coating is added to your glass shower enclosure or bath screen, which is designed to prevent water, dirt, grime and limescale from sticking to the glass. This makes cleaning easier and helps your product stay looking new for longer.

Top Tip

Where possible pick a product which features a glass coating that can be topped up on an on-going basis. Otherwise the pre-coat will gradually diminish over time. Our Ultra Care Pre-coated glass protection can be topped up using Ultra Care in a bottle.

Sculptures Linear Shower Panel

Install a Level Access Showering Facility

Whether you pick a wetroom, or decide to install a low level tray sunken into your floor, both allow you to easily clean the floor through with a mop and bucket, as you wash your tiles.

Top Tip

Pick wall hung sanitryware so you can easily mop underneath – this eliminates many of those awkward nooks and crannies.

Install a Folding Bath Screens

With many of us still showering over the bath, if you are adding a bath screen, pick one which is hinged or folds away. This will allow easier access for cleaning, and avoid you needing to lean and manoeuvre around a screen.

Lookout for ‘Quick Release’

If you pick a sliding door enclosure, or a quadrant enclosure, lookout for products which say they are ‘quick release’ for easy cleaning. This allows you to get into those hard to reach places and keep your product looking spic-and-span.

Sculptures Corner Panel with Concealed Profile

Go Frameless

Often the tricky part about cleaning is getting around all the profiles. If you are not restricted by budget, then go for a minimalist enclosure. A frameless wetroom panel offers totally easy maintenance.

Top Tip

If you live in a hard water area, we recommend using a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water, periodically to clean your enclosure. Leave it on for 5 minutes and rinse down – this helps eliminate the need for harsh chemicals in the bathroom.

Pick a Showerhead with a Hand Shower

Pick a Showerhead with a Hand Shower

When choosing your showerhead, a drench head can look great, but is not so practical when it comes to cleaning. A handheld showerhead allows you to easily rinse down your shower enclosure after cleaning. There are multi-function shower heads available which offer the best of both worlds – a dramatic drench head teamed with a hand shower can make a practical as well as a stylish addition.

Top Tip

If you are installing a similarly straight glass product, a squeegee can be a useful time saver and cleaning tool.

World Health Day

Posted by :Kate Mills On : 5 April 2013
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Category: Company News, Hints, Tips & Advice, Inclusive Products, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle, Shower Valves

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The 7th April is World Health Day. We thought we would mark the occasion with a blog post which looks at Health from a few different angles.

Hygiene

Water is a scarce resource in many parts of the world, as we highlighted on World Water Day with our World Water Day info-graph that was created specifically for the occasion. There are millions of people all over the World who don’t have access to clean water for drinking or washing in.

Hygiene Fact 1

Washing your hands with soap and water could reduce diarrheal disease-associated deaths by up to 50% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Hygiene Fact 2

Washing your hands is one of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of disease in the home. Wash your hands regularly using hot water and soap. Always wash your hands after visiting the WC and before and after preparing food.

Hygiene Fact 3

Did you know that when you flush the toilet, particles and germs from the toilet bowl can travel as far as six feet and linger in the air for around two hours? Always flush with the lid down! (NHS Choices website)

Accessibility in the Home

Within the UK we have an aging population, alongside this The Department for Work and Pensions estimates there are around 10 million disabled people in the UK. As we get older, or if we suffer with a debilitating illness, then we want to make life as easy as possible in the home. The bathroom in particular can be a troublesome area. Here are our top tips on how to make showering as safe and as easy as possible, whilst also keeping the bathroom space looking stylish and modern…

Level Access

Whether this is achieved by creating a wetroom, or by installing a low level shower tray, level access allows easy access into your showering area eliminating that troublesome step up.

Door-less Entry

By choosing a door-less enclosure such as a wetroom or a walk-in shower enclosure, you achieve totally unrestricted access.

Height Adjustable Shower Head

This is particularly important for a family home, as you can set the shower head at a lower height for those who prefer to sit when showering, but taller users can also set it to a comfortable height for their shower.

The Environment

When thinking about our health, we need to also consider the harmful chemicals in and around our environment and where possible reduce these. This can be in terms of CO2 emissions, to all work together to reduce Carbon output, of from simply the amount of chemicals we come into contact with on a daily basis.

We add Ultra Care pre-coated glass protection to all our Shower Enclosures and Bath Screens, which helps prevent dirt and grime from sticking, thus eliminating the need to use harsh chemicals in the bathroom.

If you want to create your own cleaning agent, Martha Stewart recommends Baking Soda:

  • Kitchen and Oven Cleaner: Mix a paste of 3 parts warm water to 1 part baking soda.
  • Bathroom Cleaner: Mix washing-up liquid with baking soda until you have a thick paste.

Happy World Health Day!

Buyers Guide: Choosing the Right Bath Screen for you Space

Posted by :Kate Mills On : 28 March 2013
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Category: Bath Screens, Buyers Guide

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Within the UK we are a nation of small bathrooms. They are often squeezed into a tiny space which simply won’t allow for a separate shower enclosure and bath. This is where bath screens have become a popular choice, giving you the best of both worlds. In fact 65% of the UK population shower over the bath. Here are our top tips on what you need to consider when choosing your bath screen…

Water Delivery

First of all decide whether you will be installing a powerful showerhead. If you are looking for a refreshing showering experience over the bath, with a power shower, then you need to pick a power shower approved bath screen.

Orbital Hinged Bath Screen

Orbital Hinged Bath Screen

Roman’s Orbital Hinged Bath Screen, like many of our other bath screens, is power shower approved

If you really want good water integrity and would like to avoid water pooling around the bath edge, a good solution is a bath screen with integrated water delivery. This ensures the water is directed into the showering area and not onto the bath screen, giving better water integrity.

Available Space

Think about the obstructions around the bath, where you are intending to install your bath screen. Do you have a basin positioned next to your bath? Are their prominent taps positioned at the end of the bath you are installing the bath screen onto? There are different bath screens available for different scenarios:

Orbital Outward Opening Folding Bath Screen

Orbital Outward Opening Folding Bath Screen

Our Orbital Outward Opening Folding Bath Screen opens outwards to allow for easy access, but stops at 90° to allow for your basin or other sanitryware.

Orbital Inward Opening Bath Screen

Orbital Inward Opening Bath Screen

Our Orbital Inward Opening Bath Screen folds inwards, to avoid furniture outside of your bath, but features one fixed panel, so it doesn’t clash with your taps in the bath.

Overall Look

Do you want a minimalist finish? A bath screen which folds away when not in use can help you achieve this.

Embrace Folding Bath Screen

Our Embrace Folding Bath Screens will fold away neatly when not in use.

For something a bit different, you could opt for a frosted glass finish on you bath screen, such as our Embrace Bath Screen with Frosted Glass.

Embrace Bath Screen

Embrace Bath Screen

Shower Bath

If you have a specialist shower bath, then you will need to carefully look into compatible bath screens. Shower baths are a great way to give your family a more spacious showering area and are specifically created for showering in, as well as bathing.

Specialist Curved Bath Screens

Specialist Curved Bath Screens

We offer shower bath curved bath screens which are available in different radius shapes to accommodate different kidney and shower baths.

A Quick Update

If you don’t already have a shower over the bath and are looking for a quick and easy update, rather than a total renovation, then opt for a bath screen which features a shower head integrated into the wall profile. This will mean you don’t need to disrupt your existing tiles, for effortless installation.

Embrace Bath Screen

Embrace Bath Screen

Roman’s Embrace Bath Screen is power shower approved, but also features the shower head integrated into the profile. This allows for a quick and easy update.

Our first 2013 #WaterWednesday on Twitter Review

Posted by :Kate Mills On : 6 March 2013
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Category: Hints, Tips & Advice, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle, Roman News, Shower Valves, Water Wednesday

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We’ve been getting involved in #waterwednesday on Twitter for a few months now, and have had some great feedback and tips from businesses and consumers alike this year. Here is a summary of a few tips and tweets that caught our eye:

Roman

Our  tips and tweets about Water Wednesday…

2013 Water Wednesday Tip Roman 1 2013 Water Wednesday Tip Roman 2 2013 Water Wednesday Tip Roman 3 2013 Water Wednesday Tip Roman 4 2013 Water Wednesday Tip Roman 5

  • Save Water by having a shower daily instead of a bath, saving about 40% of water used!
  • Water Tip: Bought a new dishwasher? They’re more efficient & pre-rinse for you so no need to rinse dishes under the tap 1st
  • Our Tip: Water your garden at the coolest point of the day to avoid the water evaporating.
  • Next time you boil eggs use the cooled leftover water for your plants & the nutrients in the shells is also good for them!
  • Our #waterwednesday tip: Install water butts to collect water in wet months to use in summer months. Big bin to catch rain water works too.

Your Tips

Green Cross, mission is to respond to the combined challenges of security, poverty and environmental degradation to ensure a sustainable and secure future for all.:

  • A dripping tap can typically waste around 15 litres of #water a day #waterwednesday

You can follow them  on Twitter at: @GreenCrossInt

Soothing Showers, a British based company promoting a natural beauty regime, tweeting about showering, grooming and aromotherapy.

2013 Water Wednesday Tip SS 1 2013 Water Wednesday Tip SS 2 2013 Water Wednesday Tip SS 3

  • Save #water by ensuring you are turning the tap off properly every time you leave the bathroom or kitchen!
  • Avoid flushing cotton wool & make-up tissues. Throwing them in the bin reduces the #water that’s wasted by every flush.
  • Try and have shorter #showers - it is both better for your #skin and prevents it from drying out, and saves #water!

Follow Soothing Showers on Twitter at: @SoothingShowers

ElliotElliot312 on twitter said:

2013 Water Wednesday Tip EE 1

  • Save 150 gallons (and $!!!) each month by shortening your shower just 1 or 2 minutes. We’re rooting for you!

Get Involved

Tweet us your water saving tips using #waterwednesday every Wednesday. If you don’t have a twitter account you can always post them on the Roman Facebook page, use the comments box below, or e-mail them in to marketing@roman-showers.com