Wet rooms are one of the new trends in home building and remodelling. What’s a wet room, you ask? It’s basically a small room that’s just a shower.
There are many advantages to having a wet room installed, such as improved aesthetics, easier to clean than a standard shower, and accessibility. The last is especially important as our parents start to age and need care we haven’t necessarily considered.
Unfortunately, building a wet room isn’t a DIY project. it’s essential that this job is left to the professionals for a myriad of reasons. Why? Let’s explore the reasons.
Must Be Completely Sealed Off
First and foremost, you need to have the correct infrastructure in your wet room. This includes sealing off any moisture that may seep through with waterproof boarding. This makes sure that water cannot leak in or out of your wet room. After all, without proper sealing, you’ll be opening yourself to all kinds of issues like flooding, water damage, and even mold.
Sealing off a wet room can be a complex process that generally involves the following steps:
- Priming the floor
- Priming lower wall sections
- Priming full shower area
- Covering the shower area with a waterproof membrane
A professional or team of professionals will know the ins and outs of this job and should ensure that all aspects are covered by their work. They should also provide a guarantee that the wet room is completely sealed off.
The Best Aesthetic Result
Of course, hiring a professional can also ensure the best aesthetic result as a bathroom installer will have plenty of experience with constructing a wet room.
You’ll likely want to hire a professional for the design process too. Ultimately, they’ll play the most significant role in ensuring a good aesthetic outcome for your home’s wet room. However, a good professional/team of professionals are also needed to bring these plans to life.
You’ll still want to run through various design ideas with an interior design professional, so that your vision is met while they fill in the fine details. Of course, you can always have the designer or architect come up with most of the details, they’ll manage the overall theme and look of your wet room. Either way, working with a designer or architect can be a great way to develop your wet room design plans.
Practical Design
Experienced professionals will take the steps needed to make sure your wet room is functional and ideally, in a way that works for your household. With the right design approach, it can increase how much a wet room may add to your home’s resale value.
Safety Concerns
As touched on, a professionally constructed wet room should meet all safety standards. Construction professionals will know what steps are needed to make sure that all necessary building regulations are met, and should both pull the correct permits and be on site for inspections. Both steps are important from a legal and safety perspective.
Hiring the Right Professionals for the Job
Whether it be hiring an architect/designer for drawing up your wet room or a team of professionals to build a wet room, it’s best to get quotes from at least three professionals before making a decision.
We recommend weighing the following key factors; the price of the job, their levels of experience, and any online reviews/ratings they have. You also want to see a portfolio of previous jobs and ask for any recommendations. In doing so, you can then work out which option provides the best value for your money, and the most experience. Remember the old saying, sometimes the cheap comes out very expensive.
On average, a wet room installation costs somewhere in the region of $4,000 to $12,000. The total price largely depends on the size of the wet room. However, other key price factors include where you live, and the materials used.
When you hire the right professionals for the job, you can increase the chances of having a safe, practical, and aesthetically pleasing wet room build.