Builder says he won't build a wetroom upstairs?

[TerrysNo2]

he thinks they are a bad idea. can't remember why he doesn't like them but just wondering what everyone thinks.

does he have a point??
thanks

well, I've lived in the Med and even there they only work five months of the year. Here you need underfloor heating and will still get wet toilet paper.

We have a wetroom upstairs. Works fine.

The ceiling needs to be strong and v waterproof. In many cases it would mean a new ceiling. In other countries they would dry quite quickly but in the uk most of the year they would just be a wet mess to go into if you wanted to do something else other than shower

What is it for? They just look like showers without curtains to me

can I be really annoying and ask what a wet room is?

I always assumed that it was just a bathroom with a shower in it that didn't have a bottom iyswim

so just a slopey floor towards the shower corner ish

why would they only work for five months out of the year and why would you toilet roll be wet?

My guess is he is not confident in his own ability to do a good enough job. After all if it's botched, it could be messy. Maybe get another builder, preferably one who specialises in bathrooms because it certainly can be done.

my main attraction to a wet room us the fact you don't have a yucky white shower tray that gets covered in lime scale (yes I am a lazy cleaner )

It may be he isn't capable of waterproofing it properly.

You need a firm who specialises and offers a 10 year guarantee. For the wet room installation itself.

Whilst I love wet rooms and I had one in our previous house, I do think there are other alternatives which are not only cheaper but also avoids the issue of leaks later on.

My favourite (this is what I have in both bathrooms). Is a tray cut out of stone to match you bathroom floor and wall tiles. I have limestone and two solid limestone trays.

They are beautiful. And you have the full wet room effect without risk of leaks (provided plumbing in of waste was done properly in the first place).

A limestone/granite/marble tray will set you back between £400 and £800 depending on stone used and whether its a bespoke size.

I went bespoke and used these guys (they shipped to London for me). This is one of my shower trays: www.stonevale.co.uk/store/product/442/jerusalem-ramon-grey-limestone-showertray
And the other www.stonevale.co.uk/store/product/448/jura-beige-limestone-shower-tray-honed-finish

They have grooves cut to mount the shower screens in. It looks beyond amazing.

And way way cheaper than a wet room. After these I would never again have the expense of a wet room installation. I'd do these every time.

Another option is a flush mounted tray (bette or Kaldewei) which have special fittings with a drip collection system underneath so you are guaranteed leak free. The tray and mounting system will set you back circa £900+ pending size of tray. This is also vastly cheaper than a wet room installation. In fact thousands cheaper. And you still have a flush floor and tray. Most plumbers know these systems well.

If you like the stone tray option and unlike me don't need a particular size of tray then a cheaper option is Mandarin Stone with tiles to match. Their 20% off July sale is still one btw.

Here: www.mandarinstone.com/product/_/368/flax-honed-oblong-showertray/?cid=21

They have lots of options and you need not match the tiles to the tray but I would for a more seamless look.

But if you're lazy you'll just have a really messy floor with limescale everywhere with a wet room. Shower cubicles have smaller areas to clean.

Bette floor do different colour trays as do Kaldewei.

Kaldeweis are enamelled steel trays. Where as bette are some form of composite stone with an overlay I think

If you don't like cleaning, don't go for a wet room.
After every shower, you will have to get the mop out and mop all the floor.

We don't

We have a wet room floor. There is a shower screen flush to the floor from waist height, which extends from one wall to around 700mm from the other wall (basically a doorway sized gap for you to walk in to the shower area). A shower curtain goes around this.

The drainer is half-way along the wall.

DD1 has showers of over 45 minutes to calm her down, and unless the plughole is blocked with hair, the rest of the room stays dry.

We don't mop our whole wetroom after every shower. Only the part just under the shower gets wet. It's got cambering underneath somehow that tilts everything towards the drain.

There's no screen or curtain on ours - completely open. Still only gets wet under the shower!

Everyone I know with a wet room upstairs has eventually had problems with leaks. My friend even had problems with the wet room leaking into her neighbours house it cost £££ to sort out.

Do you have a toilet and basin in your wet rooms? How does that work? I've seen a house I want to view with a wet room which has toilet and basin and I struggling to see how it doesn't just get soaked?

It just doesn't. I do not wot of its magic.

When you view, ask them to turn the shower on.

We have a toilet on the far wall (away from the shower) and a sink next to the shower. Neither get wet, unless the drainer is blocked with hair.

My dh is a plumber and will only fit a wet room downstairs. They're a nightmare to tank and eventually most of them go wrong.

I guess if your upstairs has a timber floor under the tiles and is resting on timber joints then there will be a bit of flex over time, therefore any tanking he does to waterproof it could not be guaranteed to last. All of the wetrooms I've seen have been on the ground floor therefore on concrete. Some people have concrete hollow core floors upstairs but that's rare enough.

Ooo that sounds good, I worry that Dh and my bodies would make it splash out if that makes sense right, well I shall add that house to my view list then, thanks.

joists not joints

I think he has a good point. Houses move and you would need to make sure it was 100% waterproof. I would not do it.

Blimey, Polter, what a faff!

But then I really don't see the point in wet rooms if you are not a gym/swimming pool changing room. Surely shower cubicles were invented for their practicality and ability to keep the water contained, not spray over everything?

But sorry, OP, that's not what you asked, is it?