Who's The Boss? Business Owner's Guide To Mastering Administrative Basics

An outdoor shower is a useful addition to your yard. It gives you a place to clean up after working in your yard, and a way to cool down on a hot day. It's also an important feature if you have a pool since you have a way to rinse dirt off before you jump in the water.

Outdoor showers can be simple and fairly inexpensive or more luxurious and costly. Here are four decisions to make about your new shower and the plumbing services you'll need to install one.

1. If You'll Want Hot And Cold Water

You might get by with a cold-water shower since you'll probably use it mostly in the summer. If your shower only needs cold water, the installation is easier and less expensive if you hook the shower up to the existing water bib outside.

If you also want hot water, a plumber needs to install a hot water line. They may mix the water indoors and run a single line to a new outdoor faucet or install a hot water faucet next to the existing cold-water bib outdoors.

New plumbing lines need a shut-off valve inside where the pipes are protected from freezing so the water can be shut off before winter and the outside line drained so it won't freeze and burst.

2. If You Want A Wall-Mounted Shower

Mounting your shower on the wall near the hose bib is a common choice. These can be privacy showers with an enclosure or an open shower. You can make a wall-mounted shower attractive since it's permanent. You might add a tile floor and walls.

Your plumber needs to follow local codes when installing an outdoor shower. An enclosed shower might need to have a drain installed too that empties into your sewer main.

3. If You Want A DIY Shower

If the shower needs to be away from your house to be convenient, you might want a portable setup. All you really need for one of these is something to hang the shower head from. You can attach the head to the end of a hose and hang the hose from about anywhere. You can even hook this shower up by yourself since it doesn't need any plumbing.

4. If You Want A Remote Pedestal Shower

Other portable showers are built into a pedestal. The pedestal can be moved when needed so you can put the shower away during the winter. They can also be left in place permanently. These often have a foot shower at the bottom for rinsing feet and a shower head at the top for a full-body shower.

Pedestal showers can hook up to a hose too, but you can also have plumbing lines installed for the water source and drain. If the plumber needs to install new water lines for the shower, the lines need to be buried deep enough to avoid freezing in the winter. However, it's best to drain the outdoor lines before freezing weather sets in.

For more information, contact plumbing services near you.