Nearly every house on Folly has an outdoor shower, and they take more punishment than anything else on the property.
Outdoor showers and salt
An outdoor shower gets salt air, sand, sunshine and constant use all summer, then sits unused all winter. Valves seize, cartridges corrode and heads block with a mixture of salt and scale. Most of it is repairable, and a rebuild is usually far cheaper than a replacement.
Winterising is worth doing
An outdoor shower left charged with water through a freeze is one of the most common burst pipes we see on the island. Draining it and isolating the supply each autumn takes minutes. If you are not sure where the isolating valve is, that is worth finding out before December.
Indoor showers: you may not need to lose the tile
Many valve repairs can be reached through the existing trim plate or a small opening in the wall behind — often a closet. Before agreeing to a quote that involves taking out tile, it is reasonable to ask whether the valve can be reached from behind.
Sand is hard on drains
Sand tracked in from the beach settles in traps and shower drains and builds up over a season, particularly in a rental. It is worth having those cleared properly rather than waiting for a drain to stop.