Walk in shower/wetroom

Luckylow10 · 20-10-2019 2:30pm #1

Just looking for some tips or advice. We are doing up one of our bathrooms. It’s a very small 2 x 1.7 m

Going to remove the bath and put in a walk in shower. This will hopefully create the illusion of more space. (We have another bathroom with a bath so don’t mind getting rid of this one).

So we want to keep budget down so trying not to be moving location of the current set up .

I was thinking about a full width of room low profile shower tray 700 x 1.7 with a shower screen panel of 800. Can anyone see any problems with the size of the screen would have? we can’t really go bigger as we won’t have room to get in and out of shower.

Here is the current set up

Dr_Colossus · 20-10-2019 5:19pm

First problem is I suspect the soil pipe from the toilet and waste from the sink is going under the reclined section of the bath so will be difficult to install a full width shower tray there. Also not sure if you'll get a shower tray 700x1.7 as lenths generally seem to be in 200mm increments so either 1.6m or 1.8m. 700mm is also quite narrow so see if you can fit 800mm width.

Is there a window to the right of the door as you walk in or one at all?

One solution regarding the soil pipe is to build your own shower former and bench/seat over the pipes but will be more involved.

listermint · 20-10-2019 5:38pm

Wouldn't want a 700 tray no thanks far to small to maneuver in. Uncomfortable showers.

Luckylow10 · 20-10-2019 5:41pm

The soil pipe and sink waste I believe is going behind the wall directly behind toilet and sink (which is a cavity wall) The bathroom is in the middle of the house so no Windows unfortunately.

I have had a look online and can see shower trays for the measurements I need but I’m just worried with a screen size of 800 will the water be splashing every where. Although at the moment there is a shower over the bath and water seems to stay contained reasonably well with a small shower screen.

Yes 700 is very narrow but it seems to be standard width (700 or 800). I think it might not be as small as it sounds as it will be quite long..can’t fit a wider shower in as much as I’d want. We have 4 bathrooms and they are all quite small. I suppose that’s what people want these days instead of larger (but less) bathrooms in their homes.

Luckylow10 · 20-10-2019 5:42pm

I agree it’s small but it’s better than what we are currently doing and showering in the bath.

listermint · 20-10-2019 6:13pm

It's too small. I've just finished my bathroom and put in a 900.

800 is the minimum you should be aiming for. That's standard not 700. 100mm makes a huge difference.

I'd recommend you find it buy moving the sink and toilet

Don't sacrifice on the shower you'll appreciate the effort when you use it.

Also he length of glass is too small. You won't get away with that in that length of shower. It will piss water all over the floor whenever someone's in it. The screen should be 1200 or 1400 for that length no less.

Dr_Colossus · 20-10-2019 6:18pm

Luckylow10 wrote: »

The soil pipe and sink waste I believe is going behind the wall directly behind toilet and sink (which is a cavity wall) The bathroom is in the middle of the house so no Windows unfortunately.

If the room is in the centre of the house I presume all surrounding walls are timber partitions rather than block cavilty walls (I'm assuming this is an upstairs bathroom over joists and timber subfloor). What's on the other side of the wall with the toilet/handbasin and where in relation to the diagram does your pipes exit the house.
No window is not necessarily a bad thing as makes redesign that bit easier in terms of waterproofing/tiling. What's your current ventalition like, extractor fan into the ceiling?

Luckylow10 wrote: »

I have had a look online and can see shower trays for the measurements I need but I’m just worried with a screen size of 800 will the water be splashing every where. Although at the moment there is a shower over the bath and water seems to stay contained reasonably well with a small shower screen.

Your current set up have the taps to the left as you're facing the bath. If you go with the walk in shower and 800 screen size you'll have to move the water source to the right and have the shower screen protecting the toilet otherwise you will have water everywhere. Would also need longer than 800, at least 1000 leaving 700 to enter. Plus if you have the shower screen to the left in conjunction with the water source it will be difficult to enter with the toilet in the way.
Instead of a 800 screen how about a 800 bifold door and screen protecting the rest effectively enclosing the shower completely?

I presume the water feed to the bath at present is just a gravity feed. What are you planning for the shower, will require either a pumped feed or an electric shower from the water tank in the attic.

XsApollo · 20-10-2019 6:19pm

I was thinking of doing the same thing with a bathroom exactly like that.
I was abroad recently and saw the sink in the shower at the opposite end of the wall.
So I’m going to put a sliding door at the end with sink and a solid pane of glass at the shower side. Toilet will be beside the other wall which should create more space all around.

Luckylow10 · 20-10-2019 11:50pm

So it’s a third floor bathroom. I have a townhouse. To the left is an en-suite to right is a bedroom. The wall where the current toilet and sink has a cavity wall I assume put there for waste pipes all the way down to ground floor( I had this bathroom done 6/7 years ago and had hidden toilet cistern installed)

The Current bath and shower are both pumped.

If I went with an 800 width I would have to have toilet and sink moved a few cms and also the Entry door would have to be moved to the right. seems like a lot of money for just a few cms.

The idea of having the shower screen beside the toilet is good but it would only leave 13 inches of elbow space from middle of toilet as opposed to the recommend 15 inches.

I suppose I’ll just have to get an idea as to cost first . I know moving toilets can be pricey I wanted to do a quick simple makeover but doesn’t look likely..

Lex Luthor · 21-10-2019 10:52pm

We had a wet room put in a couple years ago on first floor

One word
Disaster
Leaked and had to take it out for a shower tray
Wouldn’t recommend it imo

Luckylow10 · 21-10-2019 11:01pm

Yes it’s not going to be a true wetroom. I had a look around today, I’m liking a low profile slate tray. got a couple of quotes too, wasn’t prepared 😩

limnam · 21-10-2019 11:04pm

Lex Luthor wrote: »

We had a wet room put in a couple years ago on first floor

One word
Disaster
Leaked and had to take it out for a shower tray
Wouldn’t recommend it imo

The problem is generally not the wet room, it's who installed it.

wandererz · 21-10-2019 11:48pm

Have a look at this small walk in

listermint · 22-10-2019 8:06am

wandererz wrote: »

Have a look at this small walk in

Not that small. By my count it's about 900 wide based on the tiles on the floor. Lovely wide space there to move around

Lex Luthor · 22-10-2019 6:11pm

limnam wrote: »

The problem is generally not the wet room, it's who installed it.

There were a few people who came out afterwards to look at the fix and said we shouldn't have put it in upstairs

In general it looked like a decent install

Wall was tanked, the former was put in on top of marine ply on top of the joists

The tiles just started lifting, maybe the tiles were not set properly but it ended up being a complete disaster

The low profile tray is far better

Dr_Colossus · 22-10-2019 7:32pm

Lex Luthor wrote: »

Wall was tanked, the former was put in on top of marine ply on top of the joists

The tiles just started lifting, maybe the tiles were not set properly but it ended up being a complete disaster

Was it one of those foam formers? Personally I don't trust them and the connection/seal with the drain seems very flimsy despite the mad money they cost.

listermint · 22-10-2019 8:13pm

Lex Luthor wrote: »

There were a few people who came out afterwards to look at the fix and said we shouldn't have put it in upstairs

In general it looked like a decent install

Wall was tanked, the former was put in on top of marine ply on top of the joists

The tiles just started lifting, maybe the tiles were not set properly but it ended up being a complete disaster

The low profile tray is far better

If your doing this. The joists have to be reinforced. Then new ply down. Then I'd go with a dry mix . Let it set. Then tank. Let it set. And run water over it first. Or let it hold water for couple of hours before tiling.

Then tile if all above is good.

hesker · 23-10-2019 5:43pm

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Was it one of those foam formers? Personally I don't trust them and the connection/seal with the drain seems very flimsy despite the mad money they cost.

Please tell us more. I’m in the middle of installing one of these. The foam former is only a sound dampening support for the drain in my case so don’t understand why it should be a weak point. Not sure if we’re talking about the same system but mine is one of those Schluter kerdi linear drains. Have not found any negative reviews of them

Dr_Colossus · 23-10-2019 7:42pm

hesker wrote: »

Please tell us more. I’m in the middle of installing one of these. The foam former is only a sound dampening support for the drain in my case so don’t understand why it should be a weak point. Not sure if we’re talking about the same system but mine is one of those Schluter kerdi linear drains. Have not found any negative reviews of them

Schluter in fairness have a great rep and similarly haven't read any negative reviews but man is it expensive gear.
I'm talking about the foam shower formers with the preslope that you tile over where the drain just glued on. Don't understand why they aren't more solid especially if tiling with mosaics which are likely to deflect yielding to failed grout and water ingress.
I prefer a solid base especially in the floor but even on the walls I'd be nervous about screwing in the likes of a grab rail in case of deflection and cracking a tile.

hesker · 23-10-2019 11:20pm

Got my Schluter gear from Germany for nearly half price vs what I was quoted here. I couldn’t recommend the place I bought from though as there was a right balls up of my delivery address and had to get it delivered a second time.
I didn’t go for one of the foam preslopes but have seen lots of tilers online using them. Like any system I expect it is dependant on having good solid walls and subfloor.

Lex Luthor · 25-10-2019 8:27am

not sure if it was foam but it was €400 so cost me more than what the tray cost to replace it

Total waste of money

GolfNut33 · 25-10-2019 8:28am

Lex Luthor wrote: »

not sure if it was foam but it was €400 so cost me more than what the tray cost to replace it

Total waste of money

Do you know where yours failed?

Lex Luthor · 25-10-2019 8:34am

GolfNut33 wrote: »

Do you know where yours failed?

The tiles just started lifting after cracks appeared in the grout

We had it re-tiled and happened again

after that it was just enough and had to have it all out

The low profile shower tray is much better

Muahahaha · 25-10-2019 2:25pm

Luckylow10 wrote: »

Yes it’s not going to be a true wetroom. I had a look around today, I’m liking a low profile slate tray. got a couple of quotes too, wasn’t prepared 😩

How much does these low profile shower trays cost? Like the OP Im planning on removing a bath and replacing it with a walk in shower. And is there a way to get them truly flush with the rest of the bathroom floor or is there always going to be a bit of a step up?

listermint · 25-10-2019 3:30pm

Muahahaha wrote: »

How much does these low profile shower trays cost? Like the OP Im planning on removing a bath and replacing it with a walk in shower. And is there a way to get them truly flush with the rest of the bathroom floor or is there always going to be a bit of a step up?

They can be any money the fancy ones are around 700 . Yes they all have to have a lip on them. Its a tray it's job is to keep the water inside it's boundaries.

The pluses are they are one unit. And install should be easy.

Lex Luthor · 25-10-2019 10:52pm

Mines is a slimline from Sonas

Dr_Colossus · 02-11-2019 10:12pm

Here's a good video on my previously mentioned concerns regarding foam shower formers

Muahahaha · 02-11-2019 10:28pm

Jesus that is some amount of damage the shower caused. Underscores the importance of having them fitted correctly

Luckylow10 · 21-12-2019 10:32am

Just to update the thread- bathroom is done.

Went with 800 x 1700 low profile shower tray (flair) and 1000 glass panel. Had to remove the door frame to fit the tray.

As we have 3 bar pump,I Upgraded the waste to a McAlpine fastflow- no issues with the water drainage now. No issues with water splashing out from the shower even with 2 young kids. Installers put in magnesium backer board and tanked the area and used Classi seal.

Installed aqualla concealed shower shower outlet with overhead and handheld shower.

Thanks for the input

XsApollo · 21-12-2019 11:05am

Post up a picture

Thanks

Edit : If you don’t mind of course :-)

wandererz · 22-12-2019 12:55pm

XsApollo wrote: »

Post up a picture
[PHP][/PHP]
Thanks

Edit : If you don’t mind of course :-)

Yup!
Where's the darn video?

Walk in shower/wetroom

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