Wet Room Installation
A wet room turns the whole floor into the shower area: tanked wall to wall and laid to a gentle fall, with no tray to step over. We design and fit them end to end for homes across Brighton, Hove and the surrounding Sussex towns.
What's involved
A wet room is a sequence of stages, and each one has to be right before the next goes on top of it.
Design and Survey
Working out the layout, the drain position and the fall, and checking the floor structure will carry the former, screed and tiles.
Strip Out and Drainage
Taking the old bathroom back to bare walls and subfloor, then setting the gully and waste at the right depth and fall.
Tanking and Waterproofing
Primer, membrane and taped joints across the floor and shower walls, with corners and pipe penetrations sealed before any tile goes on.
Tiling and Second Fix
Boarding and tiling with wet-area adhesive and grout, then the shower valve, screen, basin, WC and extraction fitted and tested.
A floor that is built to get wet
A wet room is not a shower enclosure with the tray taken out. The whole floor becomes the shower area, which means the structure underneath has to be right, the fall has to be right, and the waterproofing has to run unbroken from wall to wall. Done properly it gives you a level-access shower, a floor that is quick to clean, and a room that feels considerably larger than the one it replaced.
We design and install wet rooms from the first drawing to the final seal, working in homes across Brighton, Hove, Woodingdean and the surrounding Sussex towns. Complete bathroom design and installation is what we do most of, so the same team surveys the room, does the strip out, sets the drainage, tanks the floor, tiles it and fits the sanitaryware. Nothing gets handed between trades at the points where wet rooms usually go wrong.
Everything you can see in a finished wet room is sitting on something you cannot.
The order of work
First the existing bathroom comes out: sanitaryware, tiles, boarding and floor covering are taken away until we can see the subfloor and the pipe runs. That is the point at which we can say honestly what the floor is capable of. A concrete floor is usually straightforward. A timber floor may need noggins, extra support, or a former designed to sit between the joists rather than on top of them.
With the structure sorted, the waste and gully are set. This decides everything about how the room drains, so the fall is formed toward it, either with a pre-made former or in screed, and checked with a level before anything covers it. Pipework for the shower valve, basin and WC is run at first fix, and if a radiator or heated towel rail is moving, that happens at the same time.
Then the room is tanked. Primer goes down, the membrane goes over the whole floor and up the shower walls, and every internal corner, joint, pipe penetration and drain flange is sealed with tape and collars. This is the stage that decides whether water stays in the room or finds its way into the ceiling below, and it is not a stage to rush.
Tiling follows onto boarded and sealed surfaces, using adhesive and grout intended for wet areas, cut around the fall so water runs to the gully and not to the doorway. Second fix brings in the shower valve and head, the glass screen, basin, WC, towel rail, lighting and extraction. We then run the shower properly, watch where the water actually goes, and check the drain clears as it should.
More information
What we check before recommending a wet room
- Whether the floor is timber or concrete, and what it can carry
- The depth available below floor level for the gully and the fall
- Where the existing soil and waste runs are, and whether they can be reached
- Room size and door position, so spray stays where it belongs
- Ventilation, since an open shower area puts far more moisture into the room
If the floor will not take it, we would rather tell you at survey than halfway through.
Accessibility and everyday use
Level access is why a lot of people ask about a wet room in the first place. Taking out the step makes the shower usable with a stool, a frame, or someone helping, and it is far easier to build that in now than to retrofit it later. Grab rails, seat positions and a screen that folds back can all be designed in from the start.
Timescales depend on the size of the room and on what turns up once the old bathroom is out, so we give you a realistic run of dates once we have surveyed it.
We are based in Woodingdean and cover Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Lewes, Shoreham-by-Sea, Haywards Heath, Seaford, Burgess Hill and surrounding Sussex towns. Call 01273 911551, or come and see us at 58 Warren Road.
Worth considering
Shower Installation
Showers fitted watertight and level, from a simple replacement to a fully tiled walk-in enclosure, for homes across Brighton, Hove and Sussex.
Shower Installation→Bath Installation
Bath installation across Brighton, Hove and Sussex, from panelled straight baths to freestanding tubs, fitted level, connected and properly sealed.
Bath Installation→En Suite Installation
Design-and-fit en suite installation for homeowners across Brighton, Hove and the surrounding Sussex towns, from first fix through to tiling.
En Suite Installation→Accessible Bathroom Installation
Design-and-fit accessible bathrooms with walk-in showers, grab rails and level floors, installed tidily across Brighton, Hove and Sussex.
Accessible Bathroom Installation→Cloakroom Installation
Design-and-fit cloakroom installations for homeowners in Brighton, Hove and Sussex, from planning through to finished tiling.
Cloakroom Installation→Bathroom Tiling
Precise, watertight bathroom tiling from R.K Plumbing & Heating, part of their full design-and-fit bathroom service across Brighton & Hove and Sussex.
Bathroom Tiling→Before you book
The questions people ask us most before committing to a wet room.
What is the difference between a wet room and a walk-in shower?
Can any bathroom be turned into a wet room?
What is tanking, and why does it matter so much?
Will I be without a bathroom while the work is done?
Are wet rooms a good idea for accessibility?
Do I need a glass screen in a wet room?
How do I get a price for a wet room?
Which areas do you cover?
Let's design your wet room
Tell us about the room you have in mind and we'll talk you through what's possible.
Call 01273 911551