Introduction: Luxury Shower - Under $60

By tomatoskins
About: My name is Troy. I'm a Mechatronics and Aerospace Engineer. I make things out of wood and electronics and spend time outdoors (especially SCUBA diving).

Every morning people across the world step into the shower. This time is a time of meditation and peace between the unpleasant annoyance that is the alarm clock, and the hectic work day that awaits. Often times, these few minutes are the only relaxing moments you will have for the next few hours if not all day. Why not spend just a few dollars and turn that relaxing moment into an extraordinary one!

It's not always feasible to spend a few thousand on remodeling the bathroom, but you know that we all want to have the luxury shower of our dreams. This luxury shower has 6 customizable shower heads that will make you the envy of any and all visitors and the best part - it can be done for under $60!

Step 1: Parts and Tools

The shower can be made with limited supplies.

Parts:

  • Shower Heads - I used these as they were inexpensive and had great reviews on Amazon
  • 10 feet of 1/2 inch PVC pipe
  • Various pipe fittings that can be found at your local hardware store
  • 7/8" O.D 5/8" I.D. Flexible Pipe
  • 2 Stainless steal hose clamps
  • 6 feet of single jack chain
  • 3 eyes and s hooks

Tools:

  • PVC pipe cutters or hack saw
  • Paint
  • Pliers

Step 2: Plan

Plan what the shower is going to look like and how many shower heads it will have.

Time for some math!

It's very easy to calculate the Gallons per Minute (GPM) that is able to be supplied by your shower. I wanted to know very accurately how much my shower could deliver. Using a bucket and scale, I measured the weight of the water over 30 seconds.

  • Weight of empty bucket - 2.3 lbs
  • Weight of bucket after collecting water for 30 seconds - 21.0 lbs
  • Weight of water inside bucket - 21.0 (lbs) - 2.3 (lbs) = 18.7 lbs
  • The weight of a gallon of fresh water is about 8.344 lbs per gallon
  • 18.7 (lbs) / 8.344 (lbs per gallon) = 2.24 gallons inside the bucket after 30 seconds
  • 2.24 (gallons per 30 seconds) x 2 ≈ 4.5 GPM

Knowing that my shower could supply 4.5 GPM, I went to select my shower heads. Wanting to have 6 shower heads, I knew that for each head to be operating at its full capacity, my shower heads needed to be rated at .75 GPM. Not finding any shower heads that I liked with that rating, I went with 6 heads with a rating of 1.5 GPM with the possibility of needing to reduce the number of heads later on.

A blessing and a curse for me is that I'm tall. And as many tall people are aware, most showers are not really tall person friendly. A must for me is that it needed to be tall. After measuring the width of the shower at just under 29 inches, I knew what parameters I had to work with.

Step 3: Cut PVC

Using my limited space I decided on 7 pieces of 12 1/2 inch long PVC and 9 pieces of 1 1/2 inch long PVC. This would allow me to stay inside my constraints of my shower being 29 inches wide.

Step 4: Clean Parts

I wanted a cleaner look than just PVC hung above the shower. So I soaked all my PVC parts in hot water to loosen up all the bar codes stuck to them (If you find the kind with printed bar codes on the part you don't need to do this step). Using a sanding attachment for my Dremel, I cleaned off all the knobs and logos from the PVC parts.

Step 5: Assemble

Time to test fit and glue everything together. I used a very small amount of PVC cement to glue it together as to keep it looking as clean as possible.

Glue everything except the threaded part that will fit on the inlet to the shower. This will allow for easy installation in step 10.

Step 6: Paint

This step isn't necessary, but I wanted my inexpensive shower to look as classy as possible.

Cover threads with painters tape and paint.

Once dry, attach shower heads.

Step 7: Anchor

Using a stud finder, look for the floor joists in the ceiling to attach the eyes to (you don't want your recent project to turn into a concussion waiting to happen). Attach s - hook.

Step 8: Attach Chain

Using a pair of pliers, open one of the links in your chain and wrap the chain around the pipe. Close link.

I chose to use 3 - 2 foot long chains to hang my shower. Depending on how large yours ends up being, you may need more or less.

Step 9: Hang Shower Heads

Hang shower heads level above the shower stall.

Step 10: Install Tubing

Heat up the flexible pipe on the stove in a pot full of water. I used an old pot so as to not worry about high temperature plastics somehow getting into my food.

Once hot, shove it onto the removable PVC piece that will attach to the shower heads.

Tighten down using a stainless steal hose clamp.

Reheat the other end of the pipe, slide on the hose clamp, and press onto the spout of your shower.

Attach PVC piece to the shower head.

Step 11: Done

Put your shower curtain back up and you are good to go!

Go enjoy your new luxury shower!