Installing a wet room

[NetZeroZealot]

I think we want to do this for my elderly parents. Stairlift probably not an option as they live in a listed house, and both upstairs bathrooms have steps to access.

Interested in others' experiences. Did you just use a local builder/plumber or a wetroom/ disability specialist? I think we are going to need to move some partitions to make the bets use of the space available.

If you use an ordinary building company is it still VAT exempt?

Request an assessment from social services. They can install an accessible bathroom

But only if they think it necessary.

Look for a bathroom installer rather than a plumber. You’ll want them to do the tiling and electrics as well as the plumbing

SS assessment is a good idea as they may also help with funding.

We used a general builder as the wetroom was part of wider adaptations. They brought in a specialist flooring guy but the rest was basic electrics and plumbing etc.

I used my regular heating / plumbing engineer, but he has taken years to assemble his bathroom team. Full strip out to brick and rebuild of two bathrooms last summer, one as a walk in shower only with bidet toilet and basin. Very pleased with the results You need to put the research in on materials and be very clear on requirements, but open to suggestions.

I am happy to recommend him if you are in the same region, where are you?

If you ask SS you would get an occupational therapist assessment which would give you expert opinion on what would work best, even if you then end up funding it yourself. Or ask a private OT Otherwise you may make expensive mistakes, e.g. the OTs I have worked with told me those adverts for baths with doors in are rubbish

What sort of listing? Unless it's Grade I you can likely have a stairlift. Even then I've been to one that had a stairlift.

And the wetroom would be more likely to need Listed Building permission than a stairlift.

Practically nothing is VAT exempt on listed properties anymore. However the link below suggests stairlifts might be! A wet room probably wouldn't as it's not disability specific.

https://www.lpoc.co.uk/help-advice/vat-information/

Only if this is currently indicated for their needs, can't be done in a cheaper way, they aren't self-funding.

And you are prepared to wait years for it to happen.

I think it is worth requesting an assessment for further adaptations, including bathroom, from Social Services. I am going through the process now for DH and it is moving quite quickly. We already have stair rails, handles, two rise & recline chairs etc. we are self funding for care but the adaptations and bathroom are not means tested. When it comes to it, if we want extras we can incorporate at our cost. The people I have dealt with have been brilliant and, as I said, it's moving quite quickly. Why not check?

I got mine after a social services assessment. Took about 3 months from request to installed and it got fully funded.

I've had it almost 10 years now and never had any issues with it. Several people I know who had them done by private builders have been having problems with water not draining and mould so I'd try SS first in case they are eligible.

Thanks for the advice.

Social services have been round before & assessed him as being able to use the stairs to go upstairs for a bath (although the bed has been moved downstairs) - which he needs a carer's help with - so I'm not sure what they'd say about a wetroom downstairs. Just trying to do some future-proofing. Also think it's worth paying more to get something aesthetically pleasing that will not devalue the house.

I will also get stairlift company round to assess, but social services said the staircase wasn't suitable - it has 2 turns in it and the 2 bathrooms are on landings off each turn.

I thought disability bathrooms were VAT exempt? He is already registered disabled as he has a blue badge.

We looked at this and the house was inspected by bathroom fitters. Apparently you need to be able to get under the floor to have drainage space for a wet room. They said to us because of where the room was, the nature of the flooring (concrete) that it would be a big building job so we decided not to do it.

This is another lift option but may not suit you given what you say about stairs in bathroom anyway.

https://www.stiltz.co.uk/

If the bed is downstairs anyway and he has a carer, it is possible to be cleaned using soap, wet flannel and rinsing etc - sort of like a bed bath -either in the bed or out of the bed. It's not ideal obviously but just letting you know that if you are looking at any kind of continuing deterioration physically that it maybe they get to the point where they can't use a wet room anyway and it is manageable in other ways.

If you don't have them already, definitely look at installing grab rails around the loo to help them stand.

Thank you.

Unfortunately when he was ill recently he refused to let the carers give him a bed bath. The one who helps him with the proper bath is more of a family friend. Hence wanting to prepare for what may be coming down the line in the future.

I guess the thing with a wet room is step free access to a shower, but I suppose that a low step could also be feasible? Will need to get experts round to have a look.

Unfortunately when he was ill recently he refused to let the carers give him a bed bath.

I think there are a number of things here - one is establishing a relationship of trust with a carer. This usually requires the same person attending over a period of time to get to know them.

Another, sad to say, is decline over time. He may be resistent now but if he becomes bed bound and using pads rather than being able to get up to go to the loo, he won't have any option. At this point it can require two people and it is usually possible to clean someone even if they are resistent if there are two people.

Hopefully he won't get to that stage but you never know I suppose. Aging is tough. Caring is tough. My user name was chosen for a reason.

Is it really a good idea for the bed to be downstairs? This seems to be the default option, even when the only toilet is upstairs. My mum was put in a bed downstairs which she could not get in or out of, she may as well have been in her bedroom. Access to the toilet/bathroom is far more helpful to the disabled person than access to the kitchen imo. I wouldn't worry about it being aesthetically pleasing for future sale, I think the most noticeably "disabled" features are handles, rails and shower seat, all of which can be removed easily enough but the biggie would be the floor. it seems to be very common for purchasers to replace bathrooms anyway and I'd be surprised if only one bathroom in a whole house of a disabled person is all that would need renewing. My BIL had one of those arse washing toilets in his!

DA is in the process of having one fitted now. An OT referred them.

Davros, the bed is downstairs because when he came home from hospital he could not use the stairs, and there is a downstairs toilet with no steps.

The plan is to convert the downstairs toilet into a bathroom with shower or wet room.

I hope that works for him

A wet room probably wouldn't as it's not disability specific Does it have to be disability specific or simply specific to his disability needs? You don’t have to pay VAT on wider fitting shoes if they’re required because of an illness/disability (oedema) rather then just having wide feet.

There’s various ways of being VAT exempt. The OP I think was asking about VAT exemption for medical reasons (eg the wide shoes above, and why a stairlift could be exempt). The link is about the now-discontinued VAT exemption for work on a listed building.

You can request another SS visit if his health/mobility has deteriorated since the last one. I

I will also get stairlift company round to assess, but social services said the staircase wasn't suitable - it has 2 turns in it and the 2 bathrooms are on landings off each turn. You may be pleasantly surprised. My Dad’s had one turn and a change of slope. I’ve seen stairlifts with a lift up section of rail to go past a doorway.

Consider getting a quote on a reconditioned stairlift. They’re generally used for only a year or two. Even with a bespoke rail, a reconditioned seat will save money.

When we converted DMs bathroom we ripped out the bath and put a low level shower tray in with a side panel and a short panel hinged to 180° to give access to carers (and keep the spray in the shower). The cubicle was fitted with a fold down shower seat and a grab handle. DM had carers in to help with showering and this worked for them. We did get Social Care to do an assessment but as she was self funding and there was a long wait for the work through them, we got a plumber to do the job.
I don't personally like wet rooms as the water gets everywhere!

We had work done on one of our bathrooms for another disabled family member. This was arranged by Social Care and they used a plumber who specialises in bathrooms for the disabled. The only bit he got someone else in to do was the non slip hospital type flooring.
When DH recommended him to someone else who was having work done privately the guy was too busy with SC work to take on the private contract.

You will find a lot of tradesmen will be unfamiliar with the vat exemption system for disabilities - a lot of it is not black and white. We actually had a builder refuse to quote for our extension because he feared any comeback if he got the VAT exempt element wrong. Should be slightly more clear cut with an additional bathroom specifically for a disabled person though - but study the guidance notes carefully.

Please please please do not use Premier Care / Mobility plus or any companies linked to the same business address without reading some of the online reviews. They have some really worrying business practices, some of which impacted my parents and I would hate someone more vulnerable to be caught by it

If you are looking for a shower seat that doesn't look "public service toilet", I'd highly recommend Keuco products. We got this one and it's fantastic. I think it does need to be attached to a solid wall though. It was recommended by our bathroom fitter

https://catalog.keuco.com/engb/details/14980010037

Keuco also have a lot of products that don't look like they are disabled aids. They have shower rail "systems" that look like they are part of the shower itself see here:
https://catalog.keuco.com/engb?query=rail&limit=1-20

Everything we had that was Keuco is beautifully designed and looks great.

Thanks for the warning! I've just contacted these people about a stairlift. Are they the same group? https://www.pcmobilityservices.com/stairlifts.html

Not as far as I can see, these guys do seem to be a family business based in South Wales, its probably worth checking on online reviews, but I can't see any links that are obvious