Shower heads

I have been pursuing shower heads for some while now, our previous shower head having been taken out of service, after many years good service, the hard water & accompanying vinegar washings having taken their toll. A pursuit which was last noticed here on the 7th June.

The previous shower head was, I think, something called a traditional rose, the business part of it being a circular plate, maybe 15cm in diameter and with lots of holes in it. Just the thing for our gravity feed shower, despite it being plumbed in all wrong with the cold feed off the mains rather than off the cold water tank in the roof, this plumbing problem having been well sorted by the insertion (by one Mr. Gary Mills of http://www.glmillsbuildingcontractors.com/) of a pressure regulator on the cold feed - taking the cold feed up to the cold water tank being a rather major operation, an operation which should have been carried out when the shower was first installed, maybe forty years ago in a fit of sixties DIY by one or other or our predecessors. Nothing wrong with the Mira mixer unit though - although it does fur up and we are now on the second or third. Nothing wrong with the gravity feed either, with the shower being downstairs and the cold water tank being in the roof. Plenty of head for everyone.

None of the usual suspects could offer the same shower head as was being retired so we first settled for one which was rather smaller at 12cm diameter plus a rather hefty swivel fitting. Branded 'Bristan'. Failed to gush in the approved manner and the swivel fitting cost one over an inch of height while serving no purpose as the rose was mounted directly over the head, rather than on the wall.

Shopped around a bit more and came up with a rather different sort of rose, out of some plumbing emporium on the Richmond Road out of Kingston, handily open on a Sunday afternoon. Bigger and we thought better at 15cm diameter plus a rather lighter swivel fitting. In fact, the whole thing was much lighter being chrome finished plastic rather than metal all the way through. Branded 'Bristan' again. The salesman explained that while there might be fewer holes they were greatly superior holes with the little plastic nozzles fitted to each deterring the build up of the scale which destroyed the original rose. But the gush factor turned out to be inferior to that of the first attempt.

Tried the plumbing place opposite Travis Perkins on the Longmead estate and their Wolseley catalogue did not have anything which looked any better. Onto the Bathroom Centre on East Street (http://www.epsombathrooms.co.uk/) and they had a rather superior catalogue offering a 20cm traditional rose, chrome finished brass if you please. Branded 'Tre Mercati' - see http://www.tremercati.co.uk/ for the 'finest quality brassware in the whole entire world since 1977'. Rather heavy with the swivel, but there were lots of holes. Also rather dear, but got a substantial discount by gentle poking - which rather irritates - they should put a proper price on the thing in the first place - but I was far too pleased to find a better looking rose to walk out. Splendid gush, just the job for the presently sultry weather.

So, in sum, might be a hundred pounds or so out of pocket, but I now have a shower head which I like. Plus two in reserve. Also open to offers.

PS: the winning shower head arrived in a box, as is usual, but also wrapped in a natty drawstring bag made of some very soft white material, thus ensuring that this luxury product arrived at one's shower cubicle in absolutely perfect condition. Very thoughtful of them.