People have been in love with open concept homes for the last decade and then some. With open concept homes, frequently, come open concept showers. In our last article, we discussed the pros of open concept showers. This time, we’re going to tackle the cons of open concept showers. After all, before jumping into a renovation, you want to know exactly what you’re getting into.
Not as Warm
The first con of open concept showers is that they don’t stay as warm. There is a benefit to a bathroom being somewhat small: it holds in heat and steam better. Open concept showers are typically seen in a master bedroom, in a corner, with one, or no, glass divider. That means your shower will be completely open to the bedroom on one or two sides.
If the room is nice and warm, you should have no problems with your shower being warm. However, your shower can’t save you from the cold of winter if all of your shower heat is dispersing throughout the bedroom.
For some, this might be considered a pro, as showers may be too warm or steamy for their comfort. However, for the grand majority of people, we like to step into a sauna when we take our shower. It’s extremely refreshing to feel the day’s sweat and grime simply melt away under some hot water.
Possible Increased Likelihood of Mold
Because steam is freely flowing into the surrounding room, there is an additional concern: mold. If you take very hot showers, your shower will produce a lot of steam. Bathrooms are equipped to handle this. A bathroom is typically painted with a special, moisture-resistant paint. There is also, usually, an overhead, bathroom fan that can reroute that moisture to the outdoors.
One of the cons of open concept showers is that that moisture will be going directly into your bedroom. There are 3 main ways you can fight this:
- Ensuring your bedroom is painted with moisture-resistant paint
- Installing a bathroom fan right near the shower
- Showering with the window open, to allow airflow
If you do these things, you can lower the chance of mold cropping up in your bedroom space. However, the risk will still be there.
An important thing to note is that, the bigger the room, the less likely it is to get mold from an open concept shower. After all, plenty of places are humid. The chance of mold growth is higher in those places, but not to the point of it being considered a risk. Therefore, if your home is extremely open concept (such as having your bedroom open to the living room, kitchen, and so on) you may have enough open space that the steam from your shower won’t increase the humidity to a concerning degree. In fact, with a large, open space, the humidity from a shower may actually improve your living conditions in the same way a humidifier would. If you struggle with dry air, this might just belong on the pros list.
Reverse-Visibility
And, finally, there is reverse-visibility. As we mentioned in the pros list, it’s nice to be able to see out from the shower, which can be hard if you have a fogged-glass enclosure or opaque curtain. However, with that newfound visibility, people can also see in. If you live with family who aren’t your partner, with roommates, or anyone else you don’t want seeing you in the nude, open concept showers may be a slight risk. This is especially true if your home is almost entirely one room. The important thing is to keep the door locked to whatever space your shower is in, since the second the door is open, there’s nothing between you and your unexpected guest.
