Rain shower with hand held questions

Hello all, gotta say I love this site. I am in the middle of a master bath gut job and I have reached the plumbing stage. Let me tell you about the space. Bathroom is on the second floor with an unfinshed attic above it. I live in long island where coldest month is January average of 25 degrees but i can get much much colder.

I wanted to find a way to install a rain shower with a hand held. I have two questions.
1. Can I run the shower piping in the attic if I box it in put insulation on top of the pipe but not beneath it so to get heat from below? What is the best way to do this? I really dont want the rain head coming out from the wall.

2. What is the proper diverter valve for this set up? I only want either the rain or hand held to operate on at a time not simultaneously. The walls are all open so I can do anything. If you could include a link so I can vizualize this would be helpful.

Thanks everyone!

 

The only comment I would offer is that just an opening from the bottom may not be enough to keep from freezing. Perhaps a fan assist would help. But the bigger question is it even to code and allowed by the municipality? Never heard of this. Interesting.

 

I am not worried about code since I am not having it inspected

 

As suggested you need to allow the heat from the room to enter your insulated chamber, so that is a heat loss you may not want to encounter. If there is power up there, you could always attach a heat tape to the pipe. But in reality there isn't much water up there for prolonged times anyway since it all falls down once the water pressure is released. One thing to consider is if using Delta or similar equipment they will most likely call for copper pipe for the rain head. For some reason using cpvc or PEX is not approved, and they didn't say why. I figure friction, but could be wrong. Check the instructions.

 

I don't think that you will have a problem with the line freezing. If you make sure the line slopes a bit to the head it will not have any water to freeze.

I've added a pic of the shower I put in last year. It was DIY except for the glass. Installing the shower plumbing was probably the easiest part of the job. I used PEX and had it roughed in in a couple of hours. The only critical part is valve standoff so that the trim fits correctly.


Here is the piping diagram All you would have to do is extend the standpipe into the attic.

The valve/trim is a Symmons Dia system. We use it daily and have had no problems. It has a 6" shower head and it provides plenty of water but I would check with whatever manufacturer that you buy from to make sure that your water pressure/volume is adequate for a rain shower. Ours was not - hence the 6" head.

 

I know that local code where I am does not allow water pipes in an outside wall but I don't know about an attic. I do know that our local inspector has allowed supply pipes in a false wall (insulated, doubled 2X6 against an outside wall. I don't know if the plumbing code addresses that.

As Chandler said it isn't a problem because thee is no water in the line.

 

If you want to ensure that there is no water in the line, install a tub spout in the shower, then when you shut the water off 100% of the water will drain. Otherwise, expect a long "dribble time" as the water slowly exits the rain head - could be annoying.

Chose the brand of rough in you plan on using and there will be a 3/6 function diverter that goes with it. It allows you to seamlessly switch between heads as well as use both at the same time. It is just a built in feature, but one you do not have to use. Otherwise, you have to install multiple handles that work independent of each other. It is much cleaner with the 3 function diverter.

Let us know what brand you choose.