Bathrooms
Wet room or shower cubicle? How to choose, and how to build one that does not leak
Wet rooms look wonderful when they are built properly. The build is what decides whether yours does.
A wet room is the right choice when you want a level, open, easy to clean space, when the bathroom is small enough that an enclosure would dominate it, or when someone in the house needs step-free access. A shower enclosure is the right choice when you want to keep the rest of the room dry, when the floor is timber and the budget for proper tanking is tight, or when the bathroom is a family thoroughfare. Both can be excellent. The difference is in the detail of how they are built.
What a wet room really is
A true wet room has no shower tray. The floor is laid to a fall towards a drain and the whole floor and the lower walls are waterproofed, or tanked, beneath the tiles. The shower is open or has a single glass screen. It is one of the most unforgiving things in building: if the fall is wrong, water pools; if the tanking is skipped or badly lapped, water finds its way into the floor and the ceiling below.
The timber floor question
Most first floors in Sheffield terraces and semis are timber. Timber moves, and tiles do not, so a wet room on a timber floor needs a stiff, level base, a preformed shower former to set the fall, a proper tanking membrane that runs up the walls and over the former, and tiles and grout chosen to cope. It is entirely achievable and we build them regularly, but it is a build sequence, not a product you buy. Anyone who proposes to tile straight onto the floorboards is going to give you a leak.
Where a wet room wins
Small en-suites and downstairs shower rooms, where an enclosure leaves no room to move. Homes where a step into a tray is a problem now or will be in a few years. Anyone who wants a continuous floor and the calm, hotel look that comes with it. And anyone who hates cleaning shower trays and door runners.
Where an enclosure wins
Larger family bathrooms with a separate bath, where keeping the floor dry matters because of towels, bath mats and children. Rooms where the joists cannot easily take the extra depth of a former. And projects where the money is better spent on the suite and tiles than on the floor build-up. A low-profile tray with a walk-in glass screen gets you most of the look of a wet room with far less risk.
Things people regret
The most common complaints we hear about wet rooms built by others are a floor that stays wet for hours, a cold room, and water reaching the toilet roll. All three have the same cause: too little fall, no screen, and no thought about ventilation. A single fixed glass panel, a slightly stronger fall and a good extractor on a timer solve all of them. Underfloor heating in the wet area helps the floor dry and makes the room comfortable in a Yorkshire winter.
What we check before quoting
Floor construction and joist direction, where the soil pipe runs, whether the drain position gives a workable fall, water pressure at the shower, and how the extractor will vent. That survey is part of the free consultation and it decides whether we recommend a wet room, a walk-in enclosure or a mix of the two.
Common questions
Can you have a wet room upstairs on a timber floor?
Yes, with a stiff level base, a shower former to set the fall and a tanking membrane carried up the walls. It is routine work for us but it must be done in the right order.
Do wet rooms always leak eventually?
No. Wet rooms leak when the tanking is missing, badly lapped or punctured. Built properly with the right membrane and falls they last as long as any bathroom.
Is a wet room cold?
It can feel cooler because the floor is tiled edge to edge. Underfloor heating in the wet area and a heated towel rail deal with that.
Does a wet room add value?
Buyers like them in en-suites and ground floor shower rooms, especially where they offer level access. In a family bathroom many buyers still want a bath, so keep one if you have the space.