Adrian Sainz
Associated Press

Tell me if you’ve had this problem before: You’re enjoying your shower, someone in the house flushes a toilet, and all of a sudden it turns from heaven into Hades.

That scenario has been an annoying facet of America’s daily bathroom life for decades — the rapid increase in a shower’s water temperature when a toilet is discharged. But, thanks to digital temperature controls and single-valve technology, homeowners looking to remodel their aging bathrooms can make shower scalding a thing of the past.

That’s one of many technological and design improvements and trends available in the bathroom remodeling world, helping homeowners improve their quality of life and add value to their homes. Other trends in bathroom designs include the installation of showers with multiple heads and body spray nozzles, steam baths and even music; heated floors and toilet seats; raised sinks; brushed nickel and chrome fixtures; and the use of remote, digital controls to turn on showers, tubs and lights.

“The bathroom, especially the master, is one of those places of refuge either at the end of the day or a long week, where people are going to seek solace,” said Michael Menn of Design Construction Concepts in Northbrook, Ill. “They don’t want the postage card-sized bathrooms of the past.”

Homeowners spend an estimated $280 billion a year on remodeling, accounting for nearly 40% of all residential construction and improvement spending, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Last year, bathroom remodeling in the United States totaled about $16 billion, said Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president of research for the National Association of Home Builders’ economics department.

One of the hottest trends in bathroom remodeling is the emergence of what some call the “car-wash” shower that provides a spa-like experience. These are tub-less showers with doors. They can have a wide shower head that makes it look and feel like a rain shower, plus another handheld shower head with an extension.

These showers can also include a steam bath and can be controlled by a digital keypad.

Technological advancements allows showers to operate on a single valve, which means the water volume and temperature control are manipulated in one knob. That technology essentially separates the toilet’s water flow from the shower’s, preventing burns, said Ibrahim Guzman, showroom manager at Coral Gables Plumbing in Miami.

Toilets also have been improved. Not only are there toilets that use just 1 gallon of water per flush — down from the average flush capacity of 1.6 gallons — but also, some “dual-flush” toilets have sensors which determine how much water is needed to get rid of the waste.