Thank you for this very detailed response! A new showerhead has been on the todo list for quite awile, but recently the handle on ours broke clean in half (had been lightly bumped while on the floor of the bathtub and just came apart like it had been sawed in half), so the project has been bumped to the top of the list. Will update as I go!
This is a great question, I think a good shower head can change your whole day! If you are still using the shower head that came with the unit you will notice a HUGE difference if you swap it out for pretty much anything. The shower heads installed in this building are very low flow. The good news is, changing a shower head is one of the easiest DIY things you can do. Our set up with the hose attachment halfway down the wall means you would be best to choose a shower head that also uses a hose to connect to the plumbing system. Trying to install a direct mount shower head in this location might be a little more challenging.
After you choose your shower head with hose attachment, you will unscrew the hose at the wall and screw your new hose on where the old one came off. To ensure you don't scratch the chrome on your showered during installation you might want to wrap a light cloth around the chrome fitting to keep a barrier between the chrome and the tool. To remove the old shower head you just need a pair of channel lock pliers which you can get from the tool library if you don't have them. A wrench would also do the trick here, but wouldn't work with the cloth, though you likely wouldn't need a protective cloth if using the right sized wrench. Threading your new shower head on should mostly be done by hand, with a 1/4 turn or half turn past snug. Do not over tighten this, if you do you can crack fittings. If you put it on too loose, after you turn the shower on if you see a leak just tighten a little more. When installing, be sure the threads are moving smoothly as you hand tighten to be sure you are not cross threading.
After your new shower head is connected to the plumbing you need to hang it up. It may hang easily on the shower head mount already in place from your old shower head, though it's possible it may not hang properly with the old mount. If this is the case, you need to install a new mount, it is also possible your new shower head would come with a new mount. It would be specifically called a wall mount shower head, and would have a mount in the box. If it hangs easily on the old mount and seems secure, believe it or not, YOU ARE DONE!
If I was installing a new shower head in my unit today I might buy a couple regular hand mount shower heads and see which one hangs best on the existing old mount. It seems that direct wall mount shower heads aren't as common to come by. I made my shower head work in the old mount by using a little zip tie to keep it from popping out of the mount. The regular shower heads are meant to connect to the pipe that comes out of the wall at head level, since our system does not have that pipe and has a lower plumbing connection, there will be a part in your box that you discard, which is supposed to be the mount for your new shower head. Before you buy a few shower heads, make sure you can return the one that doesn't fit. If you want to go ahead with the wall mount option I'll include some tips below.
To remove your old mount, you can see on the bottom of it a small hole. Very likely inside this hole will be a small Allen key screw or star head screw to be removed, either way, it will be very small. Removing the screw at the bottom of the mount will allow you to take the old mount off and make a plan for installing your new mount.
If the screws line up for the new mount you won't have to drill any holes, if they don't, you will have to drill at least one hole for your new mount. Hold up the new mount to the old holes and see how the holes line up, mark where you need a new hole and drill one. If you can drill through the grout between the tiles you can just use a masonry drill bit for this, if you need to drill right through the tile you may need to get a special tile drill bit to make your new hole.
Remember you do not want to have your drill on hammer drill for this if you are doing it, this will likely crack the tiles.
I couldn't find a waterfall shower head specifically after a few web searches but here is an example of one I might get. Pfister Moen and Waterpick are the better brands for this type of thing. Read some reviews and even check out some YouTube reviews of the shower heads you are considering, that might help narrow it down. If you find one or two and post them here I will let you know if they seem compatible or not. Good luck! Feel free to post questions here along the way 😀
Thank you for this very detailed response! A new showerhead has been on the todo list for quite awile, but recently the handle on ours broke clean in half (had been lightly bumped while on the floor of the bathtub and just came apart like it had been sawed in half), so the project has been bumped to the top of the list. Will update as I go!
This is a great question, I think a good shower head can change your whole day! If you are still using the shower head that came with the unit you will notice a HUGE difference if you swap it out for pretty much anything. The shower heads installed in this building are very low flow. The good news is, changing a shower head is one of the easiest DIY things you can do. Our set up with the hose attachment halfway down the wall means you would be best to choose a shower head that also uses a hose to connect to the plumbing system. Trying to install a direct mount shower head in this location might be a little more challenging.
After you choose your shower head with hose attachment, you will unscrew the hose at the wall and screw your new hose on where the old one came off. To ensure you don't scratch the chrome on your showered during installation you might want to wrap a light cloth around the chrome fitting to keep a barrier between the chrome and the tool. To remove the old shower head you just need a pair of channel lock pliers which you can get from the tool library if you don't have them. A wrench would also do the trick here, but wouldn't work with the cloth, though you likely wouldn't need a protective cloth if using the right sized wrench. Threading your new shower head on should mostly be done by hand, with a 1/4 turn or half turn past snug. Do not over tighten this, if you do you can crack fittings. If you put it on too loose, after you turn the shower on if you see a leak just tighten a little more. When installing, be sure the threads are moving smoothly as you hand tighten to be sure you are not cross threading.
After your new shower head is connected to the plumbing you need to hang it up. It may hang easily on the shower head mount already in place from your old shower head, though it's possible it may not hang properly with the old mount. If this is the case, you need to install a new mount, it is also possible your new shower head would come with a new mount. It would be specifically called a wall mount shower head, and would have a mount in the box. If it hangs easily on the old mount and seems secure, believe it or not, YOU ARE DONE!
If I was installing a new shower head in my unit today I might buy a couple regular hand mount shower heads and see which one hangs best on the existing old mount. It seems that direct wall mount shower heads aren't as common to come by. I made my shower head work in the old mount by using a little zip tie to keep it from popping out of the mount. The regular shower heads are meant to connect to the pipe that comes out of the wall at head level, since our system does not have that pipe and has a lower plumbing connection, there will be a part in your box that you discard, which is supposed to be the mount for your new shower head. Before you buy a few shower heads, make sure you can return the one that doesn't fit. If you want to go ahead with the wall mount option I'll include some tips below.
To remove your old mount, you can see on the bottom of it a small hole. Very likely inside this hole will be a small Allen key screw or star head screw to be removed, either way, it will be very small. Removing the screw at the bottom of the mount will allow you to take the old mount off and make a plan for installing your new mount.
If the screws line up for the new mount you won't have to drill any holes, if they don't, you will have to drill at least one hole for your new mount. Hold up the new mount to the old holes and see how the holes line up, mark where you need a new hole and drill one. If you can drill through the grout between the tiles you can just use a masonry drill bit for this, if you need to drill right through the tile you may need to get a special tile drill bit to make your new hole.
Remember you do not want to have your drill on hammer drill for this if you are doing it, this will likely crack the tiles.
I couldn't find a waterfall shower head specifically after a few web searches but here is an example of one I might get. Pfister Moen and Waterpick are the better brands for this type of thing. Read some reviews and even check out some YouTube reviews of the shower heads you are considering, that might help narrow it down. If you find one or two and post them here I will let you know if they seem compatible or not. Good luck! Feel free to post questions here along the way 😀