Shower rings have grown less common in favor of shower rods, since most showers are built into an alcove within the bathroom. A shower ring is required with showers installed in bathrooms without this alcove, when a shower curtain needs to cover the entire shower rather than one side of it. Installing a shower ring is somewhat more difficult due to the required procedure.
Ladder
People frequently use stepping stools when installing items into the ceiling or high on walls. In many cases, a stepping stool is more than adequate. However, you want a full ladder when installing a shower ring. The support rods, also known as escutcheons, connecting the shower ring to the ceiling have to be precisely mounted. It is very difficult to properly position these rods if you are constantly stretching to reach them. A full-size ladder will make installation much easier and less frustrating.
Riser Pipe-Mounted Shower Rings
Some shower rings are mounted to the riser pipe that holds the shower head. You always want to install the shower ring to this pipe before positioning the escutcheons. With a fully ceiling-mounted shower ring, you have a little leeway over position. You could be off by about an inch from the correct position and the shower curtain is still going to work perfectly well in most cases. However, even a slight misalignment with the escutcheon mounting would prevent the shower ring from connecting to the riser pipe. You want to mount it to this point before anything else.
Ceiling-Mounted Shower Rings
Some shower rings are fully mounted to the ceiling and not connected to the riser pipe at all. Attempting to position and mount all of the escutcheons at once is difficult and has little margin for error. It is unnecessarily frustrating and difficult to attempt to install a shower ring in this manner. The easiest way is to fully mount one of the escutcheons first. Having one of the rods mounted fixes the shower ring in one place, which makes mounting the subsequent rods much easier.
Only Use a Shower Ring When Necessary
Shower rings are a little more decorative than the more utilitarian shower rod design, which may appeal to some people. You should avoid trying to install a shower ring if your shower is built into an alcove, as in most modern homes. A shower rod is easier and faster to install with less chance of user error. The most decorative part of the shower ring are the escutcheons, the metal rods that connect the ceiling to the shower ring. You can use these on a shower rod with similar visual results. It would not need to function as a support; it would just be added as a decorative element. There is no need to go through the difficulty of installing a shower ring to get this effect.
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