Wet Rooms
Wet rooms from bathrooms in 300 easy steps
Wet rooms are a very attractive way of making space in your bathroom. They remove the need for a shower tray and the cubicle walls and, when the shower is not in use, the available elbow room grows by at least one square yard.
Of course, turning your bathroom into a wet room is by no means cheap. The entire room must be water tight and the drainage system either has to be accommodated in the floor void or it must extend into the room below. In addition, the floor must slope in from all sides towards the drain. Thankfully there are now many proprietary products to help create such a room without too much heartache.Pre-formed glass reinforced plastic panels can replace your wooden floor in the wet room to provide the correct contours for drainage. Over this and also over the wall surfaces you apply a specially textured, self-adhesive waterproof membrane that will effectively seal the entire area. It has a special glass fiber mesh on one side that provides a key for the tile cement and, being a rubberized compound, it will take up any shrinkage or movement without splitting like so many other waterproofing solutions. The adhesive does not need cure time so you can waterproof and tile on the same day.Tiled floors are so uninviting when cold. To combat the chill factor lay low voltage under-floor heating pads over the membrane in the most appropriate wet room areas. Now you can apply conventional wall and floor tiles to complete the effect.To your fully tiled spa room you should add low voltage, recessed lighting units in the ceiling. Specialist units come with a sealed cover for extra safety. Because wet rooms are designed to be completely soaked in water it is forbidden to have any mains voltage outlets fitted, so you’ll have to put up with electric shaving in other parts of the house.Once everything has been fitted you should spend valuable time sealing all joints between fittings and the tiled surface with silicon sealant to prevent water from being trapped. Although almost as tedious as grouting tiles, it will be well worth the effort to avoid fungal growth and the accompanying odor in your wet room.Fit your wet room with a luxury shower panel incorporating high pressure and steam jets and you will have a dream spa experience.