Walk in Showers or Wet Rooms?
Discussion
Wet rooms tend to be a tiled room with a drain in the floor. So the whole room is designed to be waterproof. You have to lay waterproof tanking membrane on the floor and partially up the walls. A 'tray' is buried in the floor to the same level as the remaining floor level. Tiles and membrane then go over this.
Walk in showers are more of a designated showering area normally separated off by a shower screen or similar without a door. Normally with a shower tray, be it low profile.
A wet room is a more expensive option. Two that we've fitted lately have been for elderly people who need the flat, constant height floor with out obstacles like shower screens.
Walk in showers are more of a designated showering area normally separated off by a shower screen or similar without a door. Normally with a shower tray, be it low profile.
A wet room is a more expensive option. Two that we've fitted lately have been for elderly people who need the flat, constant height floor with out obstacles like shower screens.
furtive said:
With a wet room the whole floor will get wet. So after you've showered and gone out to get dressed, you'll get wet socks if you have to go back in there to put your hair gel on (or whatever you need to go in there for)
This is a pain in the arse!!! in hindsight the shower should have been furthest from the door not the nearest. And definitely not the main bathroom as a wetroom.Keithyboy said:
Underfloor heating sorts out any wet floor issues outside the showering area - it does in ours 
It doesn't in mine.The novelty wore right off after the very first morning while brushing my teeth wearing socks - pain in the arse. The other thing you cannot do is come in from a run, dump your gear on the bathroom floor and have a shower (this was day 2).
Saying that, I do like the look and cleaning is a breeze, even if spraying the shower around the room "is not cleaning, do it properly". You also don't need a manky old bathmat and cannot be moaned at for leaving the floor wet - result! Would I pay to have one installed? Probably not. Would it be a major plus point if I was moving to a new place? Probably.
Only thing I want to change in there is to put a waterproof speaker in somewhere.
Wet rooms are ideal for wheel chair users, but for virtually everyone else they are a pain in the neck.
As others have said the whole floor gets wet, the are impractical on upper floors unless you have concrete floors, IMO they look cheaper and less exclusive than a good walk in shower but cost heaps more.
We stopped putting them in new luxury houses as they cause no end of on going problems and customer complaints.
If you go for a walk in shower and it is against a tiled wall, make sure that the tray has a built in tiling upstand. If it doesn't and you have a half decent shower then it will leak.
As others have said the whole floor gets wet, the are impractical on upper floors unless you have concrete floors, IMO they look cheaper and less exclusive than a good walk in shower but cost heaps more.
We stopped putting them in new luxury houses as they cause no end of on going problems and customer complaints.
If you go for a walk in shower and it is against a tiled wall, make sure that the tray has a built in tiling upstand. If it doesn't and you have a half decent shower then it will leak.
blueg33 said:
If you go for a walk in shower and it is against a tiled wall, make sure that the tray has a built in tiling upstand. If it doesn't and you have a half decent shower then it will leak.
That is exactly the problem I currently have. Any tips for sorting it out? My builder is coming back tomorrow to have a look at itfurtive said:
That is exactly the problem I currently have. Any tips for sorting it out? My builder is coming back tomorrow to have a look at it
A shower tray shouldn't leak if correctly installed. Make sure it's solid on it's legs/ base and doesn't move.
Silicone around.
Tile to tray.
Silicone again.
Where the shower screen profile attaches to the wall and sits on the tray. Make sure it's siliconed here. Many installs aren't. You'll have to remove the screen is see if the bottom of the profile is siliconed.
Many install the screen then silicone afterwards causing this problem.
Also, a shower screen should only be siliconed on the outside, not the inside.
Check these first.
furtive said:
That is exactly the problem I currently have. Any tips for sorting it out? My builder is coming back tomorrow to have a look at it
A shower tray shouldn't leak if correctly installed. Make sure it's solid on it's legs/ base and doesn't move.
Silicone around.
Tile to tray.
Silicone again.
Where the shower screen profile attaches to the wall and sits on the tray. Make sure it's siliconed here. Many installs aren't. You'll have to remove the screen is see if the bottom of the profile is siliconed.
Many install the screen then silicone afterwards causing this problem.
Also, a shower screen should only be siliconed on the outside, not the inside.
Check these first.
Gingerbread Man said:
A shower tray shouldn't leak if correctly installed.
Make sure it's solid on it's legs/ base and doesn't move.
Silicone around.
Tile to tray.
Silicone again.
Where the shower screen profile attaches to the wall and sits on the tray. Make sure it's siliconed here. Many installs aren't. You'll have to remove the screen is see if the bottom of the profile is siliconed.
Many install the screen then silicone afterwards causing this problem.
Also, a shower screen should only be siliconed on the outside, not the inside.
Check these first.
Not an easy fix TBH, we changed over 200 shower trays in new houses to ones with a tiling upstand. We were using very good specialist fitting them, but it was cheaper to re-do 200 than to visit 200 houses to re-silicone on a regular basis. In each case the shower tray and screen (matki) were installed to manufacturer specs and in some cases were examined by them, but leaks still occurred. Tiling upstands sorted the problem.Make sure it's solid on it's legs/ base and doesn't move.
Silicone around.
Tile to tray.
Silicone again.
Where the shower screen profile attaches to the wall and sits on the tray. Make sure it's siliconed here. Many installs aren't. You'll have to remove the screen is see if the bottom of the profile is siliconed.
Many install the screen then silicone afterwards causing this problem.
Also, a shower screen should only be siliconed on the outside, not the inside.
Check these first.
love my wetroom and it doesnt get that wet as I have one of these:
http://www.ukbathrooms.com/shop/bathroom_accessori...
and under floor heating and its dry in minutes... Also the only thing that gets wet is just in front of the shower and nothing else, its not like its pissing all over the room.
Plus if I remember correctly it was only £2.5k for the bathroom people to do the whole job and I bought the tiles etc seperately.
the 2.5k included the under floor heating and reworking the pipes as I moved several of the items round and they needed to sink a pipe into the floor for the wetzone bit.
http://www.ukbathrooms.com/shop/bathroom_accessori...
and under floor heating and its dry in minutes... Also the only thing that gets wet is just in front of the shower and nothing else, its not like its pissing all over the room.
Plus if I remember correctly it was only £2.5k for the bathroom people to do the whole job and I bought the tiles etc seperately.
the 2.5k included the under floor heating and reworking the pipes as I moved several of the items round and they needed to sink a pipe into the floor for the wetzone bit.
I went for a compromise and have a fixed glass screen. I wanted the open look of a wet room, but without the flooding and having to mop up every time the shower is used. It does not stop 100% of the water escaping, could be reduced totally using a bath mat or installing a raised lip of some sort.
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