dropped ceiling in the shower area

[GREASER]

I see it in older houses, assuming its to stop steam/humidity from building up in the area. Not sure I have see it on newer homes though. I am rerocking the bathroom and trying to decide if I actually NEED to have a shorter or ceiling or not. Suggestions?

[musicman]

are you talking something like a furdown?

[GREASER]

No...just a hollow cavity in the shower area. My old house had it and my new (1970) has it. I assumed it was there so the humidy would travel to a higher part of the room. Talkin like 1 foot dropped.

[flipper]

We always take those out.

flipper

[GREASER]

I want to take mine out too, but I am guessing someone smarter than me builds like that for a reason, so before I change it, I would like to know why its there to start with.

[20thStDad]

Ours are not dropped. There might be a physics reason for it. Too high of a shower/bath area and you could end up making clouds above you if you like it hot in a cold room. I've done that before in a really big shower (this was a 10x10 multi-shower set up, we had no heat, and it was 35 degrees...not normal conditions, but it made clouds and rain with hot water). The lower the ceiling the closer the ceiling temperature is to your shower temperature. I know, hot air rises, but at a certain distance above the hot water, the heat dissipates and it gets cooler again. Then you might have condensation on your ceiling, which would be bad. I don't think this is a problem for normal 8-9 foot ceilings though. Unless you have tile on the ceiling which stays cooler, but then you wouldn't care too much about the condensation except for it dripping cold back down on you. I am thinking as I type so this could be way off base.

Or maybe sometimes builders just take advantage of the extra space to run duct work in a space where the higher ceiling is not needed.

[BryanS]

Lose it.

My house, designed in the 70's... also has... err... had... the kitchen ceiling dropped down like that. Tore that out.

I would go in the attic, over where the shower is, confirm there are no plumping, electrical, or other surprises in that cavity. Then get happy with a hammer and rip it out. More of style element than anything...

[GREASER]

Resheetrocking all. The bath is gutted at this point. There was nothing in that area.

[musicman]

Resheetrocking all. The bath is gutted at this point. There was nothing in that area.

in the past they were used to house ducts (or other services) like 20th said. most are more aesthetic now (over cabinets, etc)

[ssullivan]

I HATE dropped ceilings over showers, or even worse, in the entire bathroom. Usually they are way too low if you're tall, and make the bathroom feel claustrophobic. The worst ones are so low my hands hit the ceiling above the shower when washing my hair. And usually bathrooms like this include shower heads mounted at about 5'10", and bathroom counters that anybody taller than a six year old child finds the sink too low.