what is a wet room|wet room action plan|wet rooms|wet room installation kits|wet room products

What is a wet room?

A wet room bathroom has a shower area is level with the surrounding floor

Building a wet room is time consuming & difficult, with complex issues to consider. We will guide you through them so you can make informed judgements about the system best suited to you. We are here to help, so call us on 08456 436 176 whenever you need advice.

Wet Room Action Plan

Draw up a wet room action plan with notes on time, responsibility for action, & costs per action listed alongside.

For example.

WET ROOM SITE CONDITIONS. Research the room. Draw & note down, room size & location of doors, windows, supply & waste pipes, joist location & direction etc.
WET ROOM COST. How much can you afford, reduce it by 10% (for a contingency fund) & stick to it. Use our handy calculator as a guide.
WET ROOM INSTALLATION. Who will fit it. Remember, 50% or more of the total cost can be installation, so if you're on a budget, consider 'Do It Yourself'.
WET ROOM DESIGN. Consider your 'essential features'. The tiled look across the whole floor is the look most people aspire to, but some will downgrade to a low level tray with a lip. A 1" step into a room is easy live with, & to get used to. But some refuse to consider this option. Mosaic tiles on the floor may be vital to the look you want but they'll allow more water through because the many gaps. Each point is a small, but important issue, with a technical, financial, & aesthetic implication.

Now you've done this, you can consider...

WET ROOM PRODUCTS. There's lots of products to choose from, and your choices will be effected by all of the above.

DOWNLOADABLE WET ROOM ACTION PLAN

Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, please click here

EXISTING WET ROOM FLOOR

What type of floor is there in the proposed wet room?
Generally there are three different types.
A. Wooden flooring. Very common in the UK & Ireland. This floor type (usually with planks, or boards) covering supporting joists or beams. The joists or beams support the whole floor & sometimes even the 'studded' walls dividing a space into different rooms. Found in most houses, especially on the 1st floor and in older buildings. These floors do have some movement, although after about 3 to 5 years much of a building will have 'settled'. Movement is more of an issue in newer homes, especially those less than 2 or 3 years since completion.

B. Concrete floor. European homes are usually made in this way but it is less common in the UK & Ireland. Made in a variety of ways, this is a very strong, and stable floor. Commonly found on the ground floor of a building, throughout apartment blocks, or in recently built structures.

C. Other. More difficult to define, & certainly less common, combination floors exist such as a wooden framework, with a floorboard covering floating (not fixed) on top of a solid concrete floor. Sometimes found in older apartment blocks.

How big do you want the wet room shower area?
The shower area will be about the same size as the wet room shower tray you choose. Most people want a wet room shower about the same size as traditional shower trays, but the trend is towards larger wet rooms. Huge wet room shower trays cost more so the choice of wetroom shower tray is a compromise between size & cost.
How enclosed will the area be?
Generally, the more enclosed, the greater the wet room cost, but the better controlled the water will be. Open areas allow water to get everywhere, so single screens are a good compromise between control & freedom of movement.

All wet room systems have broadly similar components:

The Wet Room Shower Tray & Outlet

This is a flat shower base, similar to a shower tray, with a flat underside and built-in gradient or slope to guide waste water to an outlet. Made from various materials & in many different sizes, they are ready to tile. Different wet room build methods, existing shower floor type & budgets dictate wet room product selection, along with installer knowledge, skill, experience. Available types are for UK style TIMBER Joist Shower trays, European style CONCRETE FLoor tray, or individual SHOWER DRAINS, FLOOR GULLYS & SHOWER CHANNELS.

The Waste & Trap

Joins the shower base, & outlet to the drains. Has a defined specification to meet regulations, the waste & trap should stop smells & should be a simple & secure method of being joined to pipes. Some have complex seals to assemble, and thus can be awkward for DIY installers. Check waste capacity is bigger than the shower output.

The Waterproof Wet Room Tanking System

Used to seal the room, so water doesn't leak causing damage to the building. Usually sold separately from the shower base, as part of an integrated system, although some cheaper systems partially rely on 3rd. party materials. Competing systems offer huge differences in simplicity, installation time, & the tools, skill, & knowledge required.

Installation has a number of phases, when different components are fitted together. The system you choose will effect how much time you spend on the frustrating assembly of complex components or simple but time-consuming preparation. Overall, the total time to install one system or other works out about the same, but we would recommend you choose a system that matches your patience, as well as your skill & experience.

NOTE. Water can ruin your home. We'd rather you fitted a traditional shower tray, than have a leaking wet room. Your objective is to stop water getting in to the fabric of the building, and this is all about how to reduce the risk. Choose well, & you should have no significant problems for years to come.