If you’re searching for some way to open up the bathroom space and build it in a luxurious way, add a contemporary feel to your home, or upgrade your living space with a stylish and attractive design feature, you might want to consider a wet room. You might not be certain yet whether you will be able to add it to your home and if it will fit your needs and preferences. However, a wet room can perfectly match the general design of any house and make for a practical and efficient bathing space – as long as it is correctly planned and implemented.
Important points to consider while making a wet room:
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Waterproofing
The most essential thing about a wet room is to make sure that it’s properly waterproofed (tanked) to stop moisture migration and leaks. Tanking is a waterproofing procedure that involves priming the floor, lower section of the walls, and the entire wall area around the shower. The primed surfaces are covered with a self-adhesive membrane that features a thick rubberized waterproof layer containing a glass fiber mesh on one side for extra protection against moisture.
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Water drainage
To make sure that the wet room is waterproof, it needs to be properly tanked to prevent moisture problems in your home.
In order to make sure effective water drainage, a gradient must be created along the ground to channel the shower water into the drain. One of the most common methods to form a gradient is to install a subfloor made from plywood which creates a ‘fall’ towards the drain. Another option is to put in a ready-made sloping shower former (pre-formed wet room tray) that slopes towards a drain. Remember that whatever the position and the type of drains you select for your new bathroom space, such as linear drain panels, or modular drain systems, it influences the selection of materials and styles suitable for your wet room flooring.
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Safety
Safety must be your primary concern when designing a wet room. This is super important when it comes to the flooring; all floors used in wet rooms should be slip resistant and offer a good grip in order to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries. So, when choosing a floor for your wet room, make certain you select anti-slip tiles, vinyl or rubber floors with a high slip resistance rating or other types of flooring that meet the safety standards.
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Size
If you’ve got an oversized space, it will be expensive to make a wet room. You can consider installing a bold feature wall, tiling the whole shower area with fascinating mosaics, using elegant dark colors, and more.
If the available space is little, you should be more careful with your choice of materials, styles, and colours. It’s a decent idea to use larger tiles or floor panels to make the illusion of much bigger room light and subtle colours to open up the space. Using a similar tone on floor and walls with a splash of interest in streaks of vivid colour are often a resourceful way to maximize the looks of space. Besides, you would need a floor that adapts easily – some wet room floor panels are quite bulky which makes them perfect for open spaces, but inappropriate for tight rooms with multiple corners.
You need to consider the available space when designing a wet room. Large tiles and light and subtle colors can make the space look bigger and brighter.
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Style
It should go without saying, but you should pick a wet room design that complements the rest of your interior décor and reflects your unique style and aesthetic preferences. With so many materials, colours, and patterns to choose from, you should be able to create the exact style and feel you want for your wet room – from a minimal, modern appearance to a warm, luxurious look.
Advantages of having a wet room:
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Accessibility
Since a wet room has a similar level of flooring as the rest of the bathroom, you’ll be able to simply walk into a shower. You need not to worry about any hazard of tripping related to a conventional shower tray.
Also, a wet room has no shower door — making it an ideal bathroom solution for old people, wheelchair users, and those with compromised mobility. Since there’s an absence of a shower tray, the access to the shower is far easier.
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Easy Installation
The best part about installing a wet room is that it can be constructed almost anywhere within the house. In fact, you’ll be able to fit it anywhere in the house on timber or concrete floors provided you utilise the suitable floor formers and drainage system. The key’s to make sure that your bathroom is secure in terms of waterproofing of floors and walls.
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Space Utilisation
A wet room is an ideal solution for little bathrooms. Instead of a tub, you simply have to install a showerhead and make the space appear more spacious and open.
You certainly don’t need a bulky shower enclosure with doors intruding upon whatever little area you’ve got. All in all, a wet room creates the visual illusion of space within the smallest of bathrooms. Furthermore, it nicely maximizes the total area in your bathroom.
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Low Maintenance
One of the most important advantages a wet room enjoys over a bathroom with a tub or shower is the ease with which it is often cleaned. Due to clean, minimal lines of a wet room, its maintenance or cleaning is simple and less time consuming leaving you with more free time to enjoy your shower time!
What’s more, you’ll be able to use normal household bathroom cleaner right around such a wet environment to disinfect and keep mold and mildew away.
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Availability Of Different Options
Last, but never least, there are plenty of design options available when it involves such a bathroom. With a proper material and pattern, your bathroom can look incredibly stylish.
You’ll be able to use stone, concrete, mosaic tiles, or any material in a wet room because it requires a minimalistic styling. The idea is to make the space look aesthetically good and practical.
If you plan to tile your wet room, look for some great tiling options. There is a wide collection of tiles ranging from matt to glossy and from ceramic to natural available in the market. Happy Tiling!!
Author Bio:
Isha Tandon works as a Digital Content Strategist for Orientbell Limited, a leading tile manufacturer in India. Isha’s knack for understanding audiences helps her create value-driven content for her readers that not only educates and informs but is engaging and interesting to read as well. She creates lifestyle pieces that focus on interior design products, trends and processes. She loves to travel to historic places with rich architecture.
