Bathroom/wetroom planning
Discussion
Ive got the builder booked for the first week of April to fit our new bathroom (we used him for the kitchen and he was top notch). Generally we have to have everything planned out and explained clearly and he'll get on with it and do it well - when we leave questions or things unclear he melts down and doesnt like it at all. It works for me generally as I'm a bit of a control freak anyway.
However, I know very little about bathrooms.
My room is 2.7m x 2.1m and doesnt need a WC (this is in a seperate alcover off the main room), so 'just' needs to fit a bath, shower and sink (plus a towel rail).
To fit everything in with enough circulation space I think we will really need to have a largely open shower, which is getting into the realms of a wetroom and this is where I have some questions:
The floor is timber (its ground floor though), so I will ensure he puts extra joists in to strengthen it. Some will be rotten anyway as the bath looks to have leaked for years (we moved here in the summer). So these will be replaced.
For the shower, I think we'd still like a tray, but somewhat flush with the surrounding tiles. The tray will take most of the water, but not all so the surrounding area will need to be 'waterproof' too.
Are we best off just buying the Impey wetroom sheets and joints (strips and corner) to do the whole floor? I assume we tile directly onto these with a super low profile shower tray plonked where we need it (and tiled upto)? How can we get it flush with the tiles - build up around it with ply boards maybe (then wetroom sheets over the top)?
Underfloor heating - given its a small space (especially with the shower and bath footprints taken out), we are going for electric UFH in addition to a large towel rail. We want the UFH to primarily dry the floor, but also be warm underfoot. I think the towel rail will probably provide most of the heat. Any suggestions which brand is best and has a timer control?
Finally - I want a powerful extractor. There is one in the wall at the moment, but is there any benefit to having one directly above the (open) shower? Any recommended brands? Is a heat exchange one worth thinking about?
Im PH style, I'll stick some progress pics up shortly.
Thanks in advance
However, I know very little about bathrooms.
My room is 2.7m x 2.1m and doesnt need a WC (this is in a seperate alcover off the main room), so 'just' needs to fit a bath, shower and sink (plus a towel rail).
To fit everything in with enough circulation space I think we will really need to have a largely open shower, which is getting into the realms of a wetroom and this is where I have some questions:
The floor is timber (its ground floor though), so I will ensure he puts extra joists in to strengthen it. Some will be rotten anyway as the bath looks to have leaked for years (we moved here in the summer). So these will be replaced.
For the shower, I think we'd still like a tray, but somewhat flush with the surrounding tiles. The tray will take most of the water, but not all so the surrounding area will need to be 'waterproof' too.
Are we best off just buying the Impey wetroom sheets and joints (strips and corner) to do the whole floor? I assume we tile directly onto these with a super low profile shower tray plonked where we need it (and tiled upto)? How can we get it flush with the tiles - build up around it with ply boards maybe (then wetroom sheets over the top)?
Underfloor heating - given its a small space (especially with the shower and bath footprints taken out), we are going for electric UFH in addition to a large towel rail. We want the UFH to primarily dry the floor, but also be warm underfoot. I think the towel rail will probably provide most of the heat. Any suggestions which brand is best and has a timer control?
Finally - I want a powerful extractor. There is one in the wall at the moment, but is there any benefit to having one directly above the (open) shower? Any recommended brands? Is a heat exchange one worth thinking about?
Im PH style, I'll stick some progress pics up shortly.
Thanks in advance
If you are tanking, do the walls as well, its up to you if its just the shower area or if you go for the whole bathroom.
Stops a lot of heart ache later.
I tanked the whole wetroom, which was a godsend when I found out I had a hidden leak some 3 years later, the water went up into the wetroom, instead of down and destroying the floor and ceiling of the level below the wetroom.
Stops a lot of heart ache later.
I tanked the whole wetroom, which was a godsend when I found out I had a hidden leak some 3 years later, the water went up into the wetroom, instead of down and destroying the floor and ceiling of the level below the wetroom.
Impy is a good system. But a little odd to use it with a shower tray over their tile over designed tray.
You can mostly hide a tray by flushing boarding between the joists where it will go and plonking the tray down. Then boarding the room with 25mm ply onto the joists. Check the tray height, but after a tile, adhesive, UFH mat and membrane you'll be close. Not done before with the membrane/ UFH mat though, so it could be close.
Then make sure your falls fall towards the drain as needed. I've seen a puddle of water the opposite side of the room and it's not pretty!
The Imply system is simple to lay if you stick to the instructions. There are even YouTube guides.
You can mostly hide a tray by flushing boarding between the joists where it will go and plonking the tray down. Then boarding the room with 25mm ply onto the joists. Check the tray height, but after a tile, adhesive, UFH mat and membrane you'll be close. Not done before with the membrane/ UFH mat though, so it could be close.
Then make sure your falls fall towards the drain as needed. I've seen a puddle of water the opposite side of the room and it's not pretty!
The Imply system is simple to lay if you stick to the instructions. There are even YouTube guides.
Comfort Zone is very popular (& recommend) for UFH.
Floor MUST have additional noggins as well as any doubling up. Glue & screw as usuall, no tacking.
Insist on latex over UFH mat.
Lost count of bathrooms we've ripped out through floor & adhesive problems by so called 'Bathroom Specialists'.
Floor MUST have additional noggins as well as any doubling up. Glue & screw as usuall, no tacking.
Insist on latex over UFH mat.
Lost count of bathrooms we've ripped out through floor & adhesive problems by so called 'Bathroom Specialists'.
Gingerbread Man said:
Impy is a good system. But a little odd to use it with a shower tray over their tile over designed tray.
You can mostly hide a tray by flushing boarding between the joists where it will go and plonking the tray down. Then boarding the room with 25mm ply onto the joists. Check the tray height, but after a tile, adhesive, UFH mat and membrane you'll be close. Not done before with the membrane/ UFH mat though, so it could be close.
Then make sure your falls fall towards the drain as needed. I've seen a puddle of water the opposite side of the room and it's not pretty!
The Imply system is simple to lay if you stick to the instructions. There are even YouTube guides.
Thanks for this - Ive seen the Impey sloped drain tray thing (technical!) which we can tile over. I think this seems like the simplest solution, especially if we use it with the impey sheeting for the rest of the floor/wallsYou can mostly hide a tray by flushing boarding between the joists where it will go and plonking the tray down. Then boarding the room with 25mm ply onto the joists. Check the tray height, but after a tile, adhesive, UFH mat and membrane you'll be close. Not done before with the membrane/ UFH mat though, so it could be close.
Then make sure your falls fall towards the drain as needed. I've seen a puddle of water the opposite side of the room and it's not pretty!
The Imply system is simple to lay if you stick to the instructions. There are even YouTube guides.
There's a few options of trays, some allow the waste to be variable within reason as to avoid joists or similar. They can be chopped down, good system really.
Tiler needs to be able to cut the tiles in nicely. Or you use mosaic tiles which mould to the falls.
Idealy for electric UFH, it should be laid and then skimmed over to ensure a solid encasement, no air gaps as it were. This is applied on top of the Impy membrane.
You can then waterproof the walls if needs be. I've used Ardex before for this.
Tiler needs to be able to cut the tiles in nicely. Or you use mosaic tiles which mould to the falls.
Idealy for electric UFH, it should be laid and then skimmed over to ensure a solid encasement, no air gaps as it were. This is applied on top of the Impy membrane.
You can then waterproof the walls if needs be. I've used Ardex before for this.
We have a similar sized bathroom to you, but slightly smaller.
We are also looking into the Wetroom & UFH.
For the UFH heating we are opting to pay approx £400-500 extra for the wet system, and buy a 2 zone one to connect to a second bathroom later on in the year. Main reason is long term cheaper running costs (our long term home) and I want to be able to use & abuse it for as long as I want going forwards. Leccy one I'd always be hesitant, so paying more to remove that factor.
We are doing pipes at 150mm spacing on 50mm insulation under the floorboards (half of which are coming up for wetroom, below) so we can run it at a cooler temperature (yet still warm the floor) and not disrupt the rest of the (modern) house's balance.
As for the wetroom, we are buying a MAXXUS rigid wetroom kit, that replaces the floor boards so can have the full room tiled. Then a 1200mm screen to divide the room so we dont have excessive water everywhere. Ove rhead rain shower, and hand held wall mounted one. Underfloor heating would then be run under the shower as well, to help dry everything off quickly.
Floating sink to stop the risk of it sitting on damp water/water soaking into it, and a mid sized Towel rail.
UFH in total will be around £600 (thou should do us for 2 rooms)
Wet Room kit another £600
With total bill of approx £4,500 fitted.
We are also looking into the Wetroom & UFH.
For the UFH heating we are opting to pay approx £400-500 extra for the wet system, and buy a 2 zone one to connect to a second bathroom later on in the year. Main reason is long term cheaper running costs (our long term home) and I want to be able to use & abuse it for as long as I want going forwards. Leccy one I'd always be hesitant, so paying more to remove that factor.
We are doing pipes at 150mm spacing on 50mm insulation under the floorboards (half of which are coming up for wetroom, below) so we can run it at a cooler temperature (yet still warm the floor) and not disrupt the rest of the (modern) house's balance.
As for the wetroom, we are buying a MAXXUS rigid wetroom kit, that replaces the floor boards so can have the full room tiled. Then a 1200mm screen to divide the room so we dont have excessive water everywhere. Ove rhead rain shower, and hand held wall mounted one. Underfloor heating would then be run under the shower as well, to help dry everything off quickly.
Floating sink to stop the risk of it sitting on damp water/water soaking into it, and a mid sized Towel rail.
UFH in total will be around £600 (thou should do us for 2 rooms)
Wet Room kit another £600
With total bill of approx £4,500 fitted.
Good advice in regards to tanking, do and redo everything. We had similar issue earlier this year, but instead of tiling over shower area we decided to go with tray from
http://www.just-trays.com/products/jt-naturals/
Pro;
Trays are really beautifully made and they come with rubber edging that you tile over so no leakage. They are much more pleasant to stand on than tiles themselves, and since they are very low profile our tiler managed to tile to the same height.
Cons;
They are not cheap, our was £480 just for the tray + £45 for drainy bit in the middle. Saying that they really are quality product. Took two guys to get ours to the first floor.
No connections to JT apart from being very satisfied customer.
http://www.just-trays.com/products/jt-naturals/
Pro;
Trays are really beautifully made and they come with rubber edging that you tile over so no leakage. They are much more pleasant to stand on than tiles themselves, and since they are very low profile our tiler managed to tile to the same height.
Cons;
They are not cheap, our was £480 just for the tray + £45 for drainy bit in the middle. Saying that they really are quality product. Took two guys to get ours to the first floor.
No connections to JT apart from being very satisfied customer.
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