Hello and thanks for reading,.

I ran 3/4" lines from the main supplies. 2 hot , 2 cold. I have a rainshower head that is 20" x 16" with a 1/2" threaded inlet. I also have a handheld that is 1/2" threaded.

I would like the rainshower and handheld to have independent on/off functions, but share temperature control and be pressure balanced. So result, I can have rainshower on, or just handheld on, or both on.

How can I achieve this in rough in?
do I have to buy the trim from where I buy the rough in valves?

Thanks,
Jason, green plumber, ontario canada 28

Hi plumber and welcome to The Plumbing Page at AskMeHelpDesk.com

I would like the rainshower and handheld to have independent on/off functions, but share temperature control and be pressure balanced. So result, I can have rainshower on, or just handheld on, or both on. I don't know about roughing this inh. It's more of a trim out. See if this works for you. You will need a double shower arm, (see image) and two chrome inline stops, (see image)

Instrall the double shower arm and the inline stops. You mat now install your shower head and hand held. Don't forget to Teflon Tape the threads. Good luck, Tom.

There is currently no functional shower plumbing. Shower is newly built. There are the 4 pex lines to backside of shower only. Im not sure where these arms fit in to the plan.

Rainshower will be flushmounted to the ceiling, and the handheld hose will connect somewhere near the shower controls lower

I'm not sure where these arms fit in to the plan

Hi GP

You only need one 3/4" hot and one 3/4" cold water pipe for this installation.

For best results you want to purchase a rough in thermostatic mixing valve with 3/4" inlets/outlets (see image). You could also probably pull this off with a 1/2" thermostatic mixing valve, but for full volume flow, 3/4" is best!

Then, you'll purchase 2 volume controls (see image of a single volume control). Each one of these are basically on/off valves so you can use either shower head separately or together...;)

The piping arrangement will be shown on the instructions with the thermostatic mixing valve. I suggest coming out of the shower supply with 3/4" and branching off to the 1/2" volume controls using a 3/4"x1/2"x1/2" tee fitting... ;)

Individual trim packages are available with many different options. The images shown are GROHE valves/controls. These are great valves with many trim options.

Mark



A quick visual for you, Jason... see image. Here, you would use a bullnose tee (1/2" x 1/2" x 3/4" tee) to branch off for the shower heads/volume controls.

Running 2 separate lines does not give me better pressure than Teeing from 1 line?
Are they equal in pressure?


You only need one 3/4" hot and one 3/4" cold water pipe for this installation.

As for the rest I understanding and visualizing what your saying

Oh yes, perfect illustration, thanks a lot!

Running 4 separate lines will not work using ONE thermostatic mixing valve, and that is all that is needed here... one thermostatic mixing valve.

Point in fact, I just did an 8 shower head job (3 shower head, and 5 body sprays) and used only one 3/4" port thermostatic mixing valve and a bunch of volume controls... all work perfectly.

Things get complicated when you get into more than 4 separate shower heads/body sprays as you need to pipe all up in a LOOP SYSTEM, but that doesn't apply here as you only have two shower heads. Frankly, could have pulled all of this off with 1/2" (probably), but like I said earlier, the 3/4" will make this a much better job! Good for you!

Back to you...

OK you that makes sense. Wow that sounds like a real luxury shower. I thought about body sprayers but that's out of my reach for now. Ill leave that stuff to the pros. Haha.
Your info was really helpful and I understand what I have to do.

I just have one more question:
Does pipe distance from the T to the volume control need to be equal between the 2 showerheads? I wanted to stack the controls vertically

Nope... no issue with vertical spread. See image below... just lots of elbow/turns, but should be no issue!

Thanks a lot! I will gather my supplies and get to it.

Pop back as you go if you need anything! A local plumbing supply house with a showroom will be super helpful at this point!

Good night!