We like showers, they get a lot of use in our house - but i hate havin
to do the job twice!
Just started the extension and am planning to build two walk i showers.
Ignoring the 4" mains water supply and the manchester boiler that will need, I'm looking for looking for construction solutions. If I' doing the job I want to do it properly and once only - I dont want an of my current problems. Grout staining, glass staining grou cracking,silicone growing cultures, hard to clean shower cubicle corners, cubicle seals discolouring and growing cultures, etc, etc. ( sure everyone could add to this list)
Whats the answer?
What about - heated walls/floor, dehumidifiers, West Cumberland slat walls (I like this material) / floors, granite, use coloured cemen instead of white grout, are there NON staining glasses (Not intereste in the word RESISTANT) (I like the idea of a glass deviding wall) Extraction fans the size of a RR Trent
I think the most important thing to have in any wetroom is a humidistat fan which will stay on until the pre-set humidity level (like 50% which I've got in the cellar shower room). Combine that with some permanent heating like those undertile electric mats or a panel heater and you won't have any more mould problems.
The next thing I wish I'd done is to put in the biggest drain you can get. If I was doing it again I'd use 110mm orange underground pipe with a gully trap and one of those 150mm or so square hoppers, like an outside drain. I've used a shower trap which you can access from the top but it gets blocked with hair (women in the household) and also if it ever does get completely blocked I'd have to dig up the floor. If you're starting from scratch you cold put in underground drainage with a suitable mini inspection chamber and get that water moving.
Apart from that I guess any hard easy clean surfaces will do the job. I used a few of those glass bricks and really like the way they look.
Fit a drain water heat exchanger. These transfer the warm drain heat to the cold water inlet, means you use less hot water for the same shower. This gives you longer showers, and also hot showers with lower hw temp if occasionally necessary. They also pay back their cost quickly, and keep on paying. They reduce energy use, reduce pollution, etc
use a varnish-like sealer on top of the grout once its dried. Gives a glossy smooth cleanable surface.
Clean it with a limescale removing bog cleaner than contains hydrochloric acid, wipe it on smear-thin, taking care not to let it get on the frame. Wash off well. Instant solution.
Use a waterproof grout, not compromise grout-and-adhesive. Also use dedicated adhesive, aagin not a compromise job. Dont tile onto plaster, as plaster falls apart once it gets wet. Tile onto sulphate resisting concrete for max life.
do you bleach spray it? Faster drying from a dehumidifier helps too. Also below...
water softener. The big problem is when water deposits a microscopic film of scale: then dirt sticks, mould grows, and its tough to remove. You can use acid on tiles to a limited extent, but it must be kept of the grout at all times, acid eats grout. With a water softener this wont happen.
ditto, scale deposition makes this much worse.
dh, definitely. Better than a fan, cheaper long term too. Be sure to get a humidistatic one tho.
Also they dry clothes well, saves the need to use a tumble dryer. Put damp clothes away, hanging up, and the dh keeps the RH down while they dry over night.
Also they deal with the occasional kitchen steam up, etc.
not easy clean is it?
Look at swimming pools, they get wet day in day out, but are fine. Simply a case of using right materials and right cleaners.
The solution is in the cleaner, use HCl. Avoid metal frames, HCl will eat those for breakfast. I'm no fan of plastic (upvc) windows, but theyre the obvious choice for wet rooms.
dh is better, no need for extraction fans.
Dont forget a foldaway shower seat for after a really hard days work, and people-cleaners that dont contain the usual toxic sodium laureth sulphate.
- Get a water softener then you won't have your glass scaling. Any muck on the glass is usually soap/shampoo and is simply rinsed off with the shower on hot. Not cleaned my shower glasswork since installing a softener as glass is self cleaning.
- Use expensive silicone sealant with fungicide in to stop mould. Also noticed since getting a water softener mould has not appeared in the sealant unlike when we had hard water.
- Use epoxy grout then doesn't stain/discolour. If not doing new grout use grout whitener which works well. Again since getting water softener discoloured/mouldy grout just doesn't happen.
- Use a temperature compensated humidistat fan else you will find in the winter a cheap humidistat fan never switches off or just randomly comes on during the day.
Use an ion-exchange water softener and seal the slates/tiles/grout with suitable products, such as Lithofin KF/MN StainStop.
Don't use coloured cement. Decent grout is basically cement designed for the purpose. Just get a high quality type, such as ArduFlex FL and seal it with Lithofin MN StainStop (assuming slate).
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