The ultimate shower – go for a wet room

For many of us living busy modern lives, the convenience of the shower has overtaken the indulgence of running a bath. Houses built
in the first half of the 20th Century would not generally have been provided with showers at all, but in recent generations increasing numbers of us are opting for a quick blast in the morning, rather than
a languid soak at night. But what's the next development in our bathing habits? Perhaps your conventional shower is looking a bit tired and dated, or maybe it's feeling a bit cramped? If you're looking for ideas on how to transform your bathroom, one option to consider is having a wet room fitted.

Is a wet room the right choice for your home?

A wet room is a modified shower room, where instead of a conventional shower tray keeping everything in, the water is allowed to spill over onto the floor of the room. Installing a wet room has a number of attractions; they are fashionable, stylish and practical. They also allow you to walk straight into your showering area without having
to climb over a tray and shut a door behind you, making your routine easier – something which can help if you are a little slow to come round in the mornings. For those with reduced mobility, the level access a wet room provides can create a much safer showering environment.

Wet rooms can make an ideal second (or third) bathroom, provide versatility, and can even add value to your home. Getting rid of a shower cubicle or bath and creating a more open-plan area can be a clever way to turn a relatively small bathroom into one that has
a feeling of space.

Like many big home improvement projects, however, wet rooms are not suitable for everyone and may have disadvantages. For example, if the wet room is not professionally waterproofed, leaking water can cause significant damage. And while it could be seen
as a good selling point for many future buyers, if it involves converting and removing the bath from the main bathroom, it could be a risky investment.

Costs to consider

Before going ahead with installing a wet room in your home, there are many factors to consider. Firstly, it's likely you'll need to have your bathroom surveyed to make sure you have the correct foundations in place. There aren’t too many restrictions on where they can be used, with installation being possible on concrete floors, or even upstairs between joists.

You’ll then need to pay to have it professionally installed. If you want to use the whole bathroom, it'll have to be waterproofed, or 'tanked'. The flooring also needs a gradient to channel the shower water to the drain. To make sure the walls are waterproofed, wet rooms are usually tiled right up to the ceiling – something that will cost a fair amount more than just tiling around the shower enclosure of a standard bathroom.

This new bathing experience doesn't necessarily come cheap; the cost of installing a wet room is usually between £5,000 and £10,000, or more if you want something out of the ordinary. You may also need to pay a tiler and an electrician, or decide to have under-floor heating fitted.

Installing a wet room really can be a significant investment – if it is something you feel is worth doing, taking out a loan could be a convenient way to fund your project.