Wet Rooms

Buyers Guide to Wetrooms

What are wetrooms?

A wetroom is a bathroom or shower room that is fully or partly waterproofed around the showering area. The shower can be open or walk-in in style, but the water falls on a surface that is level with the rest of the room, draining away through a waste outlet set in the floor. Wet rooms are tiled, waterproofed (“tanked”) bathrooms. This style of bathroom came across to the UK from Europe, Europeans have had wetrooms in their homes for decades, due to the construction of most European homes (concrete floors) wetrooms were easier for them to create, whereas UK homes traditionally had bathtubs which sat on floorboards. UK Bathrooms sell a range of leading wetroom brands such as Wedi, Impey Aqua Systems and Abacus wet rooms.

Wetroom Advantages

With modern advances in bathroom technology, there really isn’t a huge division between wetrooms or bathrooms any longer. Baths and toilets can easily be incorporated into a wetroom design, and there are quite a few advantages of installing a wetroom:  

Waterproofing

Your wetroom can be fully tanked out to make it a 100% waterproof space. Brands like wedi offer a 100% waterproof guarantee for their waterproofing boarding products … so you don’t have to worry about leaks.

Bathroom Design

Wetroom builds offer huge flexibly and creative design possibilities. Otherwise wasted or non-standard spaces such as niches can be transformed into beautiful wetrooms.. Specialist waterproof lighting creates atmosphere and interest, and there is the possibility of building in shelving, pipe covers and seating, half walls, steps and curved shower walls – the only limit is your imagination. Your chosen tiles can be used to create different areas, shapes and designs on top of the wetroom waterproofing kit.

A Pleasure to Use

A well-designed wetroom is an open-plan, light, clean, space which is a daily pleasure to use. Zoning your areas with tiling designs or building part walls for example can define the flow of the room, and creating shelves for storage.

How to Install a Wetroom

There are so many possibilities that it is easy to be creative when installing a wetroom. If you are creating an open wetroom space you can zone different sections and create feature walls and textures to accent areas of the room. For example, large flat tiles can be used on shelving and countertop sections, a decorative smaller patterned tile can be used on a feature wall.

We would always recommend the use of a quality tile adhesive, such as the reliable wedi 320 tile adhesive. This can be used on wedi board but also on a wide variety of surfaces such as natural stone, cement, screeds, tiles and glass mosaics.

The video below shows how simple and straight forward constructing a wetroom is with wedi, so many features can be created, and it is all 100% waterproof!

Wetroom Components

Wetroom Flooring

First identify what kind of floor substructure you have. If this is a renovation you may need to lift the tiles or existing floor layer and have a look with the help of your builder or contractor.

The next step is to work out how much, if not all of the rooms’ surfaces you want to ‘tank’ (waterproof). Are you just waterproofing the floor? If you are creating a shower area you will need to waterproof the walls too. 

Finally, thinking about the final finish, do you want to tile the entire surface? You can purchase shower tray packs from wedi for example that will join onto the rest of the wetroom area but have their own ready to use surface, the wedi Fundo Top, in various attractive and contemporary colours.

Questions to answer:

1. What floor substructure is there? (Concrete or floorboards)
2. Do I want to waterproof the floor only or the walls too?
3. Do I want tiles throughout the room, or a tray area surface with tiles around?

See our wetroom flooring page for a full range of product options.

Wetroom Shower Bases

Wetroom shower bases require a tray former to create a walk in shower tray area. UK Bathrooms sell a variety of wetroom trays - in square, rectangular, quadrant and even circular and spiral shapes. 

We recommend two top quality brands: wedi and Abacus, both of whom can supply everything required for a stylish and effective wetroom. 

See our wetroom shower bases page for a full range of product options.

Wetroom Packs

A great way to source everything required for a wetroom installation from recommended quality manufacturers like wedi and Abacus is to consider a bespoke wetroom pack. By buying it all together, customers can save money on the individual parts, receive everything at once, and benefit from our years of experience in helping our customers design, purchase and fit their new wetrooms. 

See our wetroom packages page for a full range of product options.

Wetroom Screens

Wetroom screens are an integral part and shield the rest of the room from shower spray while retaining an open feel; they’re particularly important when using modern showers with powerful sprays.

Shower screens attach to either the wall or bracing bars. They create a spaciousness and contemporary feel and can be used to construct a variety of wetroom areas including corner and three-sided enclosures. You can choose from chrome, gold or coloured frames from a supplier like Kudos, April, Roman or Makti, a trendy black version from Impey or Sommer, or a frameless screen to enhance the expansive feel of the bathroom. 

See our wetroom screens page for a full range of product options.

Shower Wall Panels

Shower wall panels are a contemporary way of waterproofing wall areas without the use of tiles. Also known as bathroom panels and bathroom boards, they offer a cost effective way to build a wetroom or walk in shower area. Easy to install and able to be cut to size, they are available in a fashionable array of textures, patterns and colours and can add a luxury design feel to your bathroom. 

See our shower wall panels page for a full range of product options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a wetroom be installed upstairs?

Yes! Advancements in wetroom technology by specialist manufacturers such as wedi, Impey and Aqua4ma by Kudos, or Abacus mean that spaces such as upstairs rooms can now be converted into wetrooms. For example, wedi can be installed in rooms with floorboards - either integrated flush into the timber floor or laid on top of the floorboards. 

Is a wetroom expensive?

At first glance this may seem true, but don’t forget that a well installed wetroom built with best quality products will add value to your home, as well as giving users a very pleasant daily bathing experience. By purchasing the materials as part of a wetroom pack, customers can save considerable costs. 

How long does it take to install a wetroom?

This obviously depends on the size of the wetroom and the complexities of it’s design, but as a general guide, it can take just a couple of days or up to a week. Drying time for sealants and tiling adhesive needs to be factored in. We always highly recommend using professional contractors who are experienced in creating wet rooms for the best job possible.