How does it work?

Increasingly popular, wet rooms look super stylish and streamlined, and can add value to your home. But how do you keep your towels dry? And where does the water go? Here's all you need to know.

A true wet room is a fully tiled room with an open shower area. It usually includes a loo and sink and often no bath. When you come to sell your house, a wet room can be an asset – estate agents report that buyers may pay a premium of up to £10,000 for a wet room in place of a standard bathroom. However, it's important that it's an en suite or second bathroom, as removing the bath from a family bathroom could make your home less saleable.


How does it work?
In a new build, it's usual to construct a gradient into a concrete floor as it's laid. With wooden floors (which most houses have), a whole is cut in the joists and a ready-made shower former with the right gradients (like a shower tray you tile over) is sunk into it. The rest of the floor is then raised fractionally and levelled to sit flush with the top of the tray. Often the door threshold is raised by about 5mm from the bathroom floor in case the room starts to fill with water (if someone covers the grate with a towel, for example, and the water can't drain away). You can also have a joiner make a whole floor out of four separate pieces of wood, to create a gentle slope down to a drain – but this is a job for a real specialist and not the method used by most companies.


In many cases, the wooden floor is primed and special reinforcing tape is applied to any joins and vulnerable areas, such as corners. The whole floor, the walls around the shower area and the lower section of the other walls are then covered with a thick waterproof membrane. Once it's set (which can take 24 hours depending on the product used), the area is tiled using a waterproof adhesive and grout. This kind of waterproofing is called 'tanking'.


Advantages
•It's a great way to make the most of the space in a small bathroom.
•With proper installation, the bathroom floor is better protected than it would be in a standard shower room because trays can leak and no tile adhesive or grout is completely waterproof.
•As there's no step up to get into the shower, it's good for the elderly, those who are less mobile and children, too.


Disadvantages
•In smaller rooms, watch out for soggy towels and limp loo roll caused by spray.
•If installation isn't done properly, leaks can occur. Opt for a company with plenty of experience tanking wet rooms.
•You may be restricted in your choice of shower. For example, power showers can produce too much water.
•You might not be able to have the tiles you want – porous materials will require a lot of maintenance.

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