Wet rooms on suspended floors - bad idea?

[David WE Roberts]

We are getting into the planning of our downstairs extension/redesign. [With reference to an earlier thread, the planning software "SweetHome 3D" seems at first use to be quite promising.]

We are planning a downstairs toilet/shower which must be disabled friendly, as we are not planning to move again and at some point through old age and/or infirmity we will stop using the upstairs part of the house.

Shower trays are a straightforward method of making a roll in shower, but they come in set sizes so a tanked and sealed wet room would be more flexible. However one friend has had a tanked wetroom installed downstairs in two seperate houses with problems both times.

So was she unlucky, or is a wetroom on a suspended floor a recipe for disaster? I assume a wetroom on a solid floor is a much easier proposition.

Cheers

Dave R

[YAPH]

Depends what the problems were, but obviously it's (a) hard and (b) important to get it right first time. There are various proprietary systems such as membranes applied between floor and tiles, and vinyl wrapped up the walls (like coving at the floor/wall interface) and weld- jointed at the corners. Things to get right are applying the waterproof layer correctly, getting the levels right so you have a suitable fall to the drain, sealing the drain to the waterproof layer, and ensuring the waste pipework takes water away effectively.

But I'm afraid I've yet to do one of these so this is just general waffle on my part.

Only inasmuch as you're less likely to notice any leaks ... at least until they cause major damp problems.

[djc]

My wetroom is on the second floor, its been there for over five years now with no problems. The original (rotten from previous shower tray) floorboards were removed, and replace with a sheet of ply, then a Wedi tray installed

some pictures:

[David WE Roberts]

Thanks for the link :-)

[Lobster]

Really nice job. (Tell me - can you brush your teeth at the sink, shit, and shower all at the same time?!)

Having just installed a conventional tray at home myself, I might well have been tempted down this road myself had a known about these. I imagine getting the necessary fall on the outlet drain - ie basically within the downstairs ceiling space - could be a problem? (would have been for me, anyway!)

David

[djc]

Getting an adequate fall would be much the same problem with a conventional shower tray; a matter of how far it needs to go and are there joists in the way. In my case the the joists were built up so there is a 3inch step up to the wetroom As the flat is on the second floor up four flights of stairs I do not consider that a problem. Wedi have modified the design since mine was installed so the installation of the drain is even less work. Another advantage of the Wedi system is that it provides 40mm layer of foam insulation under the tiles so they never feel cold to bare feet.

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

What's wrong with installing a stair-lift and using the whole house?

[Steve Firth]

It will also be a bad idea. Wet rooms just are, a really poor idea. Still, if you're the sort of person who likes damp towels and soggy loo paper then a wet room will be ideal for you.

[David WE Roberts]

More hassle, electricity costs, still need a disabled friendly bathroom, why struggle when you don't have to? Easier to use a downstairs shower/toilet than transfer to a stair lift, then transfer off again at the top. Also most stairlifts I have seen have a seat, not a wheelchair platform.

Big bedroom and large living room/kitchen should provide more than enough living space for two of us (and presumably eventually one). If you use the upstairs, you also have to heat it and clean it on a regular basis. You have an extra toilet and bathroom to clean for no particular benefit. We are going to have a downstairs toilet/shower anyway so the extra effort to make sure it is disabled friendly is well worth while.

A downstairs toilet is always a bonus, and if you are going to build a new one then making it more versatile seems a good investment.

A stairlift might be an option if we weren't going to knock the house about anyway, but given that we are ripping the back off and extending the ground floor any extra expense involved in adding a shower and toilet is not massive in the overall scheme of things.

We are extending the house anyway, to create a living space for us to enjoy now. We are merely including some forward planning to get the maximum return on our investment.

Cheers

Dave R

[Gazz]

after a curry, you shit yer keks by the time the stair lift is half way up, mind, if you specify a commode instead of the normal seat on the stair lift, problem sorted.