Having a wet room in your home can be the most luxurious thing ever, especially if you love to take long baths and showers. If you want to design your bathroom this guide is the first stop to figuring out your wet room costs and things you will need to consider before getting started!
Tiling
When it comes to tiling your wet room, your choice will come down to style, but be sure to also follow these guidelines:
- Choose floor tiles that are suitable for the bathroom environment. If you’re opting for a wet room as opposed to a shower cubicle with a wet floor, your floor tiles will be constantly exposed to moisture. Therefore, it’s important that they’re slip-resistant and waterproof—and don’t pick tiles with a rough or sandy finish.
- Make your wet room feel larger. As well as being practical, the right choice of wall tile can make all the difference in visually expanding the size of your room. Mosaic-style tiles create interest without making an area look too busy (which would actually have the opposite effect), while large format wall tiles can help to open up a narrow space.
Design with drainage in mind – make sure the water will flow where you want it.
When designing your wet room, you want to make sure the water will flow where you want it. That means installing drainage that can pull moisture away from the area and out of your home (which may require some rerouting of existing plumbing).
Once the drains are in place, you’ll need to move on to waterproofing. This is often done with a shower tray or membrane which is installed directly beneath the floor tiles. Some experts will tell you that after this step is complete, all your work is done—you just put up some walls and call it a day. But there’s one last thing you should include to make sure the space stays dry: sealing around the door frames and gaps between walls so water doesn’t seep through into other areas of your house.
Underfloor heating
Keep in mind, that you can also warm up your wet room with underfloor heating. They come in a variety of styles and are easy to install—as long as they are insulated and not placed over a timber floor. The insulation will ensure your system doesn’t come into contact with moisture that’s present in the wet room, which could cause electrical damage if it was directly exposed to water. But once you have the right coating installed, an underfloor heating system could be just the touch that turns your cold wet room into a warm luxury spa. Just be warned: it can get pricey.
Ventilation
One of the questions many people ask is how to properly ventilate a new wet room. It’s an especially important question since ventilation is crucial for keeping a wet room in working order. Improper ventilation can cause potential problems with the room’s water system and/or damage to the walls.
There are various ways of ventilating, but one of the easiest methods is by using ceiling fans, which can help dry out the floor after you’ve taken a shower or bath. In addition to making sure your bathroom has good ventilation, it’s wise to have good lighting as well. Showers and bathrooms that are too dark can be hazardous and make it more difficult to properly clean your space.
Choose the right shower
We live in a small two-bedroom condo, so space is at a premium. Our shower is pretty small, especially compared to the size of our apartment. It’s also in an awkward place—on the far end of our living room, which has limited space for closets and storage (something I’ve learned after years of living in apartments is that your bathroom is usually the only room that has a lot of square footage). And let’s be honest: it doesn’t look great.
The first step in making this space feel more spacious and inviting was to replace the old shower with a custom deck-style shower enclosure. To do this, we removed the original clear glass panel surrounding the shower and installed glass doors instead (we installed low-flow shower heads so that we have less water consumption).
This new set up also allowed us to install a wall mirror above it—a feature we’d been wanting to get on our walls for some time now (and one I probably should have done sooner rather than later!). We put this mirror up because of three main reasons:
- We wanted to be able to see ourselves after taking a bath or shower
- We wanted to make sure that someone who comes into our home does not feel intimidated by how clean and empty it looks without furniture or pictures on the walls
- Most importantly, part of hygiene is ensuring you’re clean when you step out of your bathroom
Consider the wallcovering – do you want to see tiles, plaster or something else?
Wallcoverings are the most common choice for a wet room, and there are various options to consider. You can tile the area or plaster it over, but you could also choose a painted or tiled wallpaper if you’re looking for something more quirky.
Plastering is an option because it’s moisture proof; however, as noted above, plaster can deteriorate if not properly maintained. The same goes for varnish on top of paint – without proper maintenance and cleaning, these surfaces will likely corrode over time.
A wet room can be a great way to utilize space in a bathroom and make it more functional.
Wet rooms are becoming more and more common in homes across the country, and for good reason. They utilize space in a bathroom very efficiently, allowing you to have everything you need (shower/tub, toilet, sink) in one area. No longer do you have to worry about doors swinging open when you’re trying to access the shower or bath—instead, everything is out in the open (and easy to see).
The benefits of a wet room don’t stop there: they’re also easier to clean than traditional bathrooms featuring separate cubicles for each fixture. What’s more, because there are no walls or doors dividing up the room, the wet room can make your bathroom appear larger than it actually is. You can even opt for built-in shelves so you don’t have any storage issues either!