bathroom reno/shower questions

[Enigma]

Anyone have some real world experience with these shower panel systems? I've got one purchase left to make for our bathroom reno, and it's the plumbing fixture for the tub/shower.
I'm really leaning towards replacing the old '80s Moen typical tub spout/control/shower head with a modern "shower panel" like this one:

http://www.thehomebudget.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_10&products_id=10

Some of these units from the big brands are stupid expensive, and when looking at them in detail there isn't really much to them.

Posted this over in the home improvement section, but will ask here as well to get a more "local" flavour.

Also, the home budget place I linked above is in Burnaby. I did a quick visit there one afternoon, stuff seemed okay from what little I know of plumbing. Only thing that kind of bothers me are the Amazon reviews, they seem to be very artificial if you know what I mean.

 

[AJAEbj42]

Why not get a hold of Jeremy Arnold in Mission (missioncruiser)? He runs the Noble Plumbing shop there and can hook you up with pretty much anything you need.

 

[Enigma]

Yup, we have chatted lots. He's on holidays right now.

 

[45Kevin]

I spent extra money to get the body jets and never use them. They don't have enough pressure to give a "massaging" effect.

 

[Vanny]

They don't have enough pressure to give a "massaging" effect.

I agree. Beware of lack of water pressure in an older home.

 

[Enigma]

I don't know what our water pressure is, but it's quite good. We had a blowout on the main floor bathroom sink a couple years ago. What one plumbing place informed me on was your hot water source and flow rates. Once you start adding up all the gpm PER head/nozzle etc, you can quite quickly overcome your water source's rating and have reduced flow and/or pressure if you're not careful.
Mine happens to be a hot water on demand system, with if memory serves is somewhere around 5 GPM. While that unit I linked above doesn't list it's flow rates (only pressure) it apparently can only use one function at a time so GPM shouldn't be an issue.
Think I'll stop in at HD on the way to the meeting tonight and pick up a gauge actually..

 

[Vanny]

When hot water on demand can't keep up you will run out of water flow, not hot water.

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

Generally a hot shower requires 2.5 usgal/min. Most tankless units will deliver more than that on a sustainable basis, but a water tank can deliver much more volume per min, -- until the tank is depleted. When I looked into it last time --the tankless units could not supply two showers at once (last place had a suite), so I when with the a conventional storage HW tank - the 12 year GE Performance (lowest cost per year).

 

[Enigma]

Bathroom gutted and the old tub and 80's tiled wall removed with original exterior framing now exposed. These black areas of the insulation has me wondering though...just dirty old insulation or mold?

 

[Enigma]

And the "before" photo of the 80's awesomeness....

Well except for the toilet, that's new.

 

[45Kevin]

Usually the black behind the vapour barrier is an indication of air movement. Not necessarily mold, most likely just dirt.

Was there any mold on the back side of the tiles or gyproc?

 

[Enigma]

Yeah looks more like dirt/dust to me. I don't know about what was removed, contractor doing it while I was at work. I'll be asking about it though.

 

[AJAEbj42]

Bathrooms are the most work per square foot of any room in the house. Good Luck!

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

You should check the wood moisture before it dries out and compare to dry studs in basement.

 

[Enigma]

Don't have a basement, it's slab on grade. There are no basements allowed in the flood plain area, which I'm in.

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

dry wood studs anywhere -

 

[sailor]

I was astonished by how dry and clean the studs etc. of one of our upstairs bathrooms was when we gutted it. I was expecting mould, asbestos etc... Looks good.
As an aside, somewhat on topic of bathroom reno- Did you know there is an industry standard for the size of a 'mass' a toilet must flush successfully? I made sure to purchase toilets that could handle " a mass 70% larger than industry standard" and "can flush a bucket of golf balls"...

 

[wrongway around]

vapor barrier on both sides of the insulation, will do that too. the inside of exterior walls should only have it. roof leak around the vent? killz it.

 

[Enigma]

Vapour barrier is only on the inside of the exterior as you stated George. It's all good I've been told so progress continues. Tub is in and wall surround (one piece fibreglass) going up next, with plywood behind it. Gotta good deal, or at least that's what I tell myself on the tub unit, otherwise I would have opted for tiling the wall.

 

[Rugy]

The black areas in the insulation is where you have air leakage. The insulation is acting like an air filter where the dust is being trapped.