Does Shower Head Need to Be Centered (Explained)

Installing a shower head can seem like an easy enough task to accomplish, but you’d be surprised at how many people get it wrong.

We’ve seen lots of people complaining about their showers not performing properly, and sometimes that’s because they haven’t centered their shower heads properly.

Here are 3 Reasons why Shower Heads need to be Centered:

Centering your shower head can help you direct all of the water flow towards yourself instead of soaking the rest of your bathroom. Not centering it might make the water spray in random directions, or it could result in weak or inconsistent water pressure.

1. Easier Movement While Showering:

If your showerhead is centered, you can adjust your position while showering without bumping into any of the fixtures or the surrounding enclosure.

2. Proper Flow Direction:

A shower head that’s not centered might be difficult to use properly. The water can flow at an awkward angle which might leave your bathroom soaking wet, and you’ll have a hard time rinsing yourself efficiently.

It also aims the spray at your body instead of your face or head. Getting water sprayed directly into your face can be disorienting after all!

3. Adequate Drainage:

The best way to ensure proper drainage is to install the drain off center so that you don’t accidentally cover it while showering. Centering your shower head makes you stand a fair distance from the drain, which lowers the chances that you might block it with your feet.

How Far Should a Rain Head Be From the Wall?

Have you ever turned your shower on and found that the water isn’t hitting you in the ideal way? That might be because it’s too close or too far away from the wall.

Generally speaking, your shower head should be about four inches away from the wall. Most shower arms are of this length, so you don’t have to measure this distance if you’re installing a wall fixture.

That said, some showerheads are designed with a pipe that’s directly connected to the tub faucet. These types don’t conceal their piping, so it’s more important to measure the correct distance from the wall if you buy this variety of showerhead.

How to Center Shower Valve (3 Easy Steps)

It’s not just your shower head that needs to centered.

Your shower valve controls the flow of water to the rain head, and if this connection is crooked it might interrupt water flow and decrease pressure.

We’ve found that centering the valve by aligning it with the drain is an effective solution, but that’s only for bathtub designs. Most other shower use offset drains, so you would need a different centering method for those.

Here’s some steps you should follow while centering the valve:

Step 1 – Mark the Spot

Take a tape measure and place it on your shower drain, then stretch it out until the other end reaches the wall. Make sure that the tape is straight and mark the spot with a permanent marker.

Alternatively, if your drain isn’t centered, you can maintain twelve inches of space on either side of the valve. This distance can be measured from the surrounding shower studs to the valve, or from the wall, glass door or any other enclosure that you have.

Step 2 – Cut a Trim Plate Sized Hole

Your shower valve would likely come with a trim plate. This makes it easier to cut an appropriately sized hole. Place the trim plate over the mark on your wall, ensuring that the mark is centered behind it, and draw a circle around it.

Now you can cut along this circle to create enough space for your centered shower valve. If you can’t use this method, try to create a hole with a twelve inch diameter. This should be enough to fit your shower valve properly.

Step 3 – Place the Shower Valve

Connect the threads from your valve to the ones in the shower fixture. Wrapping some Teflon tape around the threads can help prevent leaks in the future, so be sure that you follow this step! Once the threads are intertwined you can secure them with clamps.

However, if you have copper pipes you might need to solder the connection. PEX pipes are a lot easier to work with because there’s no soldering involved.

How Far Should the Shower Head Be From the Valve?

A direct connection from valve to showerhead can create an uninterrupted conduit for water to flow through. The more distance you have between the valve and head, the more pipe you’d need to use so it’s best to keep it as minimal as possible. After all, the less money you have to spend on piping the better!

Install your shower head about two feet above your valve. Measure the distance from the top of the valve, not from the bottom. That way you’d get an accurate estimate of how long of a pipe you’d need.

Did you know that there are different building codes that apply to shower head height based on your location? The average mandated height for a showerhead is around six feet, but in some areas it can be about four inches higher.

Bear this in mind while installing your shower head, because if you place it too low the water flow might lose pressure because it would have further to go.

Read Full Article in Detail: 3 Reasons why shower head pointed at the wall (Explained)

A good rule of thumb to follow is to place the valve four feet off the ground so that it’s the appropriate distance from the shower head. Like we always say, the fewer fussy measurements you have to deal with the better!

Do the Shower Head and Valve Need to Be the Same Size?

Most showers come with the complete package including the valve. However, sometimes your valve might break down because of wear and tear. We get a lot of questions asking if the replacement shower valve needs to be the same size as the shower head.

The answer is no, your showerhead and valve don’t need to be of the same size. The valve only lets you turn the water flow on or off, so its size isn’t a big factor.

How Far Should Your Shower Head Be From the Ceiling?

One of the worst things about being taller than average is that it can make showering rather inconvenient, but overhead showerheads can make things a bit easier. These showerhead types are usually installed in the ceiling, and there’s a minimum distance that you should maintain between the two.

Your showerhead should be at least a foot away from the ceiling. That can stop water from seeping into the ceiling, and leaves enough clearance for the spray to gain pressure as it hits you.

How High Should the Shower Head Be From the Floor?

There’s no simple answer to this question because it depends a lot on your personal preferences, where you live and what kind of shower you have. That said, there’s a pretty standard range that you can follow if you want to keep things simple.

The optimal height range for most showerheads is between 72 and 80 inches from the floor. Most building codes and regulations mandate a minimum height of 72 inches, so make sure you read up on your local guidelines before proceeding.

Should Your Shower Head Be Centered With the Drain?

Old school bathtub showering spaces often have centered drains, but that’s a rather obsolete design. That’s because centering a shower drain makes it more likely that you’d stand on it and block the runoff.

It’s best to avoid centering your shower head with the drain. An off-center drain provides more effective drainage, and it can be placed in the center of a slope to direct shower runoff towards it.

Where Should Shower Head Be Placed?

Shower head placement can get tricky if you don’t have a preexisting design to work with, but don’t worry because we’ve done the research for you!

A shower head should be placed dead center between two opposing sections of the enclosure. That could mean the shower studs, glass walls, or a wall and a shower curtain. If your showering area doesn’t have an enclosure, place the showerhead at least a foot away from the nearest wall.

Where Does the Shower Head Go in a Rectangular Shower?

A key feature of modern shower designs is the use of sharp angles and straight lines. That makes a rectangular shower enclosure one of the most popular designs we can think of!

Place your shower head on one of the short walls of your rectangular shower enclosure. That will stop any overspray hitting the wall behind you.

What is the Best Shower Head Height?

The most important factor to consider when placing your shower head is your own height. Are you tall, short, or somewhere in between?

72 inches is a great all-purpose shower head height because it’s suitable for people of varying heights. You might want to bring it up to 80 inches if you’re especially tall, but 72 inches is more versatile.

What is the Standard Height of a Shower Diverter?

It’s easy to get confused by all this terminology, but just remember that many of these terms are actually referring to the same thing. Similarly, a shower diverter is just another name for a shower valve.

The standard height for a shower diverter is around 48 inches off the ground. That leaves at least 24 inches of space between the diverter and the shower head. You can also go as low as 38 inches based on the design.