Does anyone have a wet room? Tell me about it please.

[FuriousGeorge]

The endless bathroom planning has taken a new turn.A plumber has suggested a wetroom type bathroom instead & TBH we had never considered it before.He says there is a special type of flooring they can use to achieve this,instead of tiles,but stupidly,I forgot to take note of it's name.

The reason they suggested a wetroom,is that the bathroom is small 6ft by 9ft & we wanted an extra loo {there isn't one in there at present} & a shower cubicle.They reckon that if we do away with the cubicle idea & have a showering area with a curtain,it will make the room appear larger & not look so crowded with the loo in there too.

I thought it might be a bit high tec for our little 3 bed semi in a tiny village,but the plumbers say that everyone wants one now & they are a good selling point should we decide to move.

Any thoughts/comments would be most welcome.I just don't have a clue.

[ruddynorah]

i wouldn't have one with a curtain, i'd have a glass screen or wall.

my gran has one. it is very nice but on the downside there's no bath and i do like baths. and if someone with kids buys it they will probably want a bath. or is this a 2nd bathroom?

her flooring isn't tiles, not sure wht it s but it's kind of bobbly to stop slipping.

[ruddynorah]

what i meant was the point of it is that everything gets wet, so neo need for a curtain. but if you feel too exposed or dont want everything getting wet then a glass screen looks better.

[babyblue2]

We have a small bathroom which is tiled throughout. Its not a wet room as such because its not sealed on the floor for copious amounts of water. We have a shower over the bath but agree that if its your only bathroom, most purchasers would want a bath. You would be limiting your market if you were to sell.

[MrsWeasley]

i agree ith BB2, I wouldnt buy a house without a bath!

[LIZS]

Is this a 2nd bathroom ? Pil's have put a walk-in shower instead of a bath in their only bathroom , also in a 3 bed semi, and it feels wrong. Personally I don't like wet rooms with a loo (imagine I'm paddling in pee) and a screen/tiled part height wall contains the splash much better than a curtain.

[UCM]

FG Is it upstairs?

[LIZS]

don't you also have to have a floating floor to allow for drainage and water tight sealing ?

[chipkid]

I would never have a wet room upstairs. I don't care what the plumber says-the potential for disasterous leakage is there.

But I am not a great risk taker! I would worry about it all the time.

Agree with earlier post there is something not nice about wet floors near toilets!

[babyblue2]

DH (building surveyor) says you don't need a floating floor but you would need to have serious confidence in your tiler or vinyl floor finisher if its a first floor. DH wouldn't recommend a wet room on the the first floor unless its a concrete floor which is rare, he would recommend it if the bathroom was on the ground floor though.

[FuriousGeorge]

ought to have said,it is upstairs,will still have a bath as I can't be without one.There will be a seperate loo next door,which is currently the only loo.There is nowhere else in the house to put any other loo/bathroom,hence my trying to get another one into the actual bathroom.

I'm not keen on the idea of a clammy shower curtain sticking to me,but plumber says thy are different now?.

Oh,its so confusing.Thanks for all the comments,they are really helpful & have given me a lot to reconsider.

Please keep them coming!

[babyblue2]

DH says your flooring should be (and I quote) 'a high quality contract vinyl with welded seams and coved upstand edge detail formed in the same vinyl, also with welded seams, the vinyl should be slip resistent such as polysafe'. What a load of gobble-de-gook.

[UCM]

I think your designer is talking bollocks mate.

I would go for a shower which runs from the mains, but thats me, they are much more powerful usually and I would either have a double shower tray or a bath. Maybe you can hve one which has a rounded end.

Did your plumber talk about putting lead or copper down as a seal?

[MadLabOwner]

We had a wet room type area built into our last bathroom - it was such a big room (ex bedroom) that I wanted a really big hotel type shower, that we could just walk into. Builder said it would be fine to have a shower without a shower tray, and they used a rubber solution painted onto the plywood to form a waterproof barrier, then we tiled over the top.

Have to say, this was an upstairs bathroom and it did leak several times in the first few weeks until it was properly sealed and grouted by yet another plumber (used 3 in total!). Have since sold house, and am very glad we have as I was not at all confident about the sealing and general waterproofness of the shower, and think that at some point there will be a nasty great mess for someone to clean up on the ground floor. Wouldn't do this again TBH, would stick to shower trays, marvellous invention!

[whomovedmychocolate]

Hiya, I had one done last year - well actually we did most of it. First of all your walls need tanking - this means you put some stuff on the walls and floors which stops water leakage. Then you can tile - you need non shiny, non slip tiles. We went to Topps tiles and they can show you which ones - small ones are good.

Go for a glass shower screen - makes the room look bigger. We have one jutting out 60% into the room

Building is talking bollocks about the curtain, cold wet shower curtains are attracted to warm skin like a rampant doggy on heat!

You do have to shape the floor correctly but only UNDER the shower, not the entire room. Get a nice showerhead though, makes a huge difference.

Oh and legally you have to have an extractor fan if it's a new bathroom.

If you want to see mine, I have some photos online somewhere?

[FuriousGeorge]

Thanks for all the feedback-it always astounds me how much help & advice you can get on everything here!

From what I've read,I am steadily going off the idea for our upstairs bathroom.The thought of leaks,soggy loo roll,slippy floors & wet footprints all over the house just don't do it for me!If we ever get an extension downstairs,I'll think again.

Thanks too,for asll the techy advice about linings,extractors ect.We didn't get as far as that on the plumbers 1st visit,but now I know,I can wait & see if he mentions stuff like that-it will give me an idea of how competent he is.I think he should be ok,as he wasb referred by my nbeighbour who used to employ him to do jobs for the city council (plumber is not a council plumber though}.

Next thing is-anyone know where I can get a cheap,plain bathroom suite?

ps whomovedmychocolate,I'd love to see pictures if you don't mind.It will give me something to dream about for the future.

[Mumpbump]

I wanted a wet room for our downstairs cloakroom, but then went off the idea 'cos of the soggy toilet roll issue and where do you put towels? Definitely would not go for a curtain if you change your mind and do the wet room thing.

Screwfix have some very cheap suites and a website.

[FuriousGeorge]

Thanks Mumpbump.I have the Screwfix catalogue & the suites there seem so cheap,I'm wondering if there is anything wrong with them.But every plumber I know says that it is pointless buying fancy suites,that it is all basically the same & you are only paying for the name on the more erxpensive ones.They say it is better to pay more for decent tiles than an expensive suite.

£185.00 all in certainly brings out the skinflint in me-I'm embarrassed to admit it,but I get quite excited when the Screwfix catalogue comes! I settle down with a cup of tea & read it from cover to cover..

[golds]

My dh fits wet rooms, so if you need any advice, I can give it. One thing I would say is that make sure the plumber knows what they are talking about. Wet rooms are a specialist job and very involved, not many plumbers know how to do them. They are also expensive, but do look great.

you have to take up the floor area of the shower and fit a aqua deck, then tank the whole room with a waterproof membrane (not just the floor) and then fully tile the floor and shower area, if the bathroom is small then the whole bathroom really should be fully tiled. You either have a screen or nothing at all, you don't have a curtain. Don't use vinyl, only tiles, mosiacs are used for the deck area as they can be shaped. It won't leak if done properly. Everyone of Dh's jobs are wetrooms and he has never had a leak. I just wouldn't trust your average plumber to be honest.

[FuriousGeorge]

Thanks golds.From your description of the work involved,it will probably be well beyond our budget!Thanks for the info though-if I ever can afford it,I'll know now to use a specialist.

How are you these days? I remember you had a very distressing ectopic pregnancy a while back.(I was Mirage before my namechange & I had an EP 4 years ago).I hope things have gotten better for you.

[UCM]

Furious George, you can't get excited over the Screwfix catalogue surely

DH & I had one of our very rare rows over the fact that I had thrown the latest one in the recycling bin

They are sacred in our house, sadly.

[FuriousGeorge]

UCM I have such a dull life that the Screwfix catalogue arriving is a highlight! I like it almost as much as the Lakeland catalogue.
Your dh sounds like a man of tate & refinement!

[golds]

I'm good, thanks for asking, decided not to go for another one, the decision was too difficult to make, it does make you realise how your own life in very important, so trying to live it to the full now.

As for the wetroom, just a indication, my dh works for a well known bathroom company, and he has never installed one under £10,000 they are known for being pricy though