If you move into a home without a shower curtain, or you’ve had your bathroom renovated and the curtain rail removed, then you face the task of installing a new curtain rail and deciding how high you should hang a shower curtain.
Standard shower curtains have a length measurement of 72 inches, so based on this, you should hang your shower curtain pole at a height of between 75 and 77 inches. This means that the curtain won’t hang so low that it drags along the floor, but it won’t hang so high that water escapes into the bathroom when you are using the shower.
The height of a shower rod may not initially sound like a very important decision; however, if you hang it at an inconvenient height, you will soon find that it becomes very annoying. Below are the points you will want to consider when measuring the height to install your shower rod.
No dragging
You should fix your shower curtain rod at a height that ensures your shower curtain is not going to drag along the floor. This is because the bottom of the curtain will collect dust and dirt off the floor, meaning that it needs to be cleaned more frequently than usual.
This is an annoyance- who wants to clean more than they really need to?! And it will also shorten the lifespan of your shower curtain because washing machines wear the fabric down.
To avoid this situation, always measure the height of your shower curtain rod before you fix it into position, making sure that enough clearance is available to prevent the curtain from dragging on the floor. A shower curtain that drags along the floor will also look messy, which isn’t the style most people want in their bathrooms.
No gaps
To ensure your shower curtain doesn’t drag along the floor, you might be tempted to hang the curtain as high as it will go; however, this would be a bad decision.
If you hang the curtain too high, then it may not reach the edge of your bathtub; in that case, water can escape and make a wet mess on your bathroom floor when the shower is in use.
The whole point of a shower curtain is to keep the shower water inside the bath, so if gaps are present, the curtain cannot perform its most basic job.
To get the height measurement just right, you’ll want to hang the shower curtain so that around 6 inches of fabric hang over the side of the tub, with a few inches of clearance from the floor level.
Hook or ring size
One thing that many people forget to consider when measuring their shower curtain height is the size of the curtain hooks or rings.
If you have a 72-inch long shower curtain, you may decide to install the shower rod at 73 inches so that there is a 1-inch clearance between the bottom of the curtain and the floor.
However, if you have large hooks or rings, then this is going to add an additional amount to the total length.
For example, if the hooks are 2 inches in height, then the total length of your 72-inch curtain, including the hooks, is going to be 74 inches, so you’re going to need to hang the shower curtain rail at a minimum of 75 inches high, or potentially higher if you want more than a 1-inch clearance gap from the floor.
Curtain length
Before you measure the height at which you need to install your shower rod, you’ll need to be certain of the length of your shower curtain.
If your curtain is new, then refer to the packaging for the dimension size, or if you are using an old shower curtain, maybe from your last home, then you’ll need to measure it with a tape measure to find out an accurate length size.
Although the standard length of a shower curtain is 72 inches, you can buy longer shower curtains that can measure up to 84 inches in length.
If you have a longer than average shower curtain, then, of course, you are going to need to install the shower rod at a greater height to avoid the curtain dragging on the floor.
If you have already installed your shower rod at the standard height, only to find that your shower curtain is extra-long, you could cut the bottom end of the shower curtain off with a pair of sharp scissors since many shower curtains have raw ends and therefore can be cut to size.
However, in an ideal scenario, you would position your shower rod at a height that suits your shower curtain size.
If you have an extra long shower curtain measuring 84 inches in length, then you will need to install the curtain rod higher than 85 inches from the floor level.
Room height
The height of your bathroom is also going to come into play when figuring out the right height to hang a shower curtain.
If you have very high ceilings, then a standard shower curtain of 72 inches, hanging 74 inches from the floor, is going to look a little feeble in the space. You will end up with a large area of unused space in between the curtain rod and the ceiling, which can look odd.
In the event of high ceilings, buy an extra long shower curtain and hang it higher up on the wall so that the distance between the rod and the ceiling isn’t so vast.
If your ceilings are lower than average room height, then the opposite will be true, and you will need to buy an extra short shower curtain, hanging it as high up on the wall as is possible.
Alternatively, you could upcycle an old long shower curtain and cut a few inches off the bottom of the fabric to stop it from dragging along the floor.
