Outdoor Showers

There are things in a house that you never knew you needed until you actually installed them and found out what you have been missing. An example is an outdoor shower. One might reason that it is a pointless addition to a home, considering the fact that you could add as many bathrooms and as many showers as you want. However, outdoor showers help in a lot of ways though. Below are a few ways they help:

• They prevent you from tracking mud and outside dirt into your house. This keeps your house clean and free of external germ factors. They are also easier to clean than indoor showers, so you do not have to worry about the mental stress of dirtying them beyond a certain level.

• They wash dirt off you before you use your pool, thereby keeping your pool clean.

• They are optimal places to bathe your pets. You rarely would have to worry about hair clogging the drain or any similar problem. Your pets would also find them more comfortable than they would an indoor shower.

• Can be used to wash off your tools and equipment after doing outdoor work like gardening, fixing your car, etc.

Wisdom needs to be applied when you own an outdoor shower, though. You need to be strategic about the drainage system, the installation, and most important of all, the maintenance. The maintenance of your outdoor shower is of utmost importance to ensure:

• Longevity. An outdoor shower that is usually serviced would last long.

• Cleanliness. There is no point in an outdoor shower if you are only going to get dirty again after using it.

• Optimal function. If you want your outdoor shower to function well, you need to be intentional about maintenance.

TIPS FOR MAINTAINING YOUR OUTDOOR SHOWER

Here are a few tips for maintaining your outdoor shower;

• Make sure it is aired out

You have surely smelled the scent of wet grass, sand or cement. It is a pleasant earthy smell, but can quickly become pungent when mixed with other chemicals and left within a closed system where air cannot get to it. When using your outdoor shower, you may be one to use soap or other chemicals, and while you may need your privacy, leaving it open to air and sunshine after use would help you dry the place out evenly. This would help you get rid of any lingering scents and would deter mold or algae from developing around the area. It would also prevent your safe spot from becoming a haven for insects.

• Clean it out regularly

Drying your outdoor shower alone wouldn’t do much for you. Sure, the sun would take care of the air and scent, but the dirt and grime would have to leave the shower somehow. Do not operate under the impression that a shower is self-cleaning – you would soon find that an outdoor shower that isn’t regularly cleaned out would be nasty to use when the dirt accumulates. It is also a haven for germs to breed; germs that you wouldn’t ordinarily find even in your house. Scrub the floor occasionally. Keep the walls clean. If the place is tiled, ensure that the tiles sparkle every time. This also improves the aesthetic of the place.

• Protect the drain

An outdoor shower drain is one of the most important aspects of the shower itself. Cleaning and drying out the outdoor shower is made infinitely easier by the existence of the drainage. Why is this? Your drainage seeps away water and moisture and dirt away from the place and keeps it dry for the most part. A problem arises though. Unlike your indoor shower, your outdoor shower would have to be protected in more intentional ways to prevent a variety of situations. For one, an outdoor shower drainage system needs to be covered so that dangerous creatures do not find it easy to maintain a nest within. It would also prevent large external debris from being lodged within. A simple but fine screen would do. You could also go for a larger, more encompassing cover whenever you are not using it.

• Empty the drainage occasionally

The point of a drainage is to, by design, automatically remove waste materials from your outdoor shower. It would perform this task well enough, but there is usually a glitch in this design. Occasionally, the wastes, dirt and grime would accumulate and block the drainage system from performing its work. This is nasty, and quite dangerous. Again, this puts you at risk of developing diseases from insects that may nest within the accumulated dirt and it would destroy the aesthetic of your outdoor shower. It would also make the place pungent. To remedy this, frequently remove the drainage cover and manually disperse any accumulated dirt that seems to be clogging the place. You would not have to deal with the side effects if you do this regularly.

• Weatherproof your pipes when it’s time to do so

Outdoor showers see much action during summer, when the air is warm and the weather is mild. The worst that could happen during this period is having your pipes expand due to the heat, and that in itself is rarely cause for alarm.

In winter though, the chill could make your metal shower accessories brittle and may exacerbate leaks and other structural integrity problems. You would want to replace your showerheads every winter, so it is best to maintain the one you have by weatherproofing it.

If your metal isn’t a good conductor, you do not have to worry much, however, frost proofing it would still do you a lot of good. You could coat the accessories to prevent formation of icicles and you should always drain any water that has been left in the pipes so that they do not freeze and expand your pipes, causing damage to the system.

With these in mind, it should be easy for you to add a lifespan of at least 2 years to your outdoor shower. And if you are either having problems with your shower or you need to install one, contact us at Brooklyn Copper. We would be happy to help you install your showers and provide you with whatever accessories you may need.