Choosing Your Wet Room

Firstclass Impey Wet room

The First Class Wet Rooms 'How To?' Guide to choosing & constructing your Wet Room 

In this guide we will endeavour to answer most of the questions you will find yourself asking when installing a wet room but should you require further guidance, then First Class Wet Rooms have Technical Advisers available on 01626 332210 to assist you.

You will also find in this guide many videos to assist in guiding you to the correct products that you require for the construction of your Wet Room. You will also find links to any products that are mentioned to aid you in locating the products required. We will also try to simplify wet room terminology and give definitions of what we are referring to with the assistance of images where possible.

1. What is a wet room?

A wet room is by definition exactly what its name implies, a room that is designed to be wet. Always keep this in mind when designing your wet room because the entire room should be designed to be tolerant to the exposure of water. A little bit of stating the obvious there you may think but all too often we hear of installations where only the showering area has been waterproofed and water penetration has occurred because the entire room has not been waterproofed in the correct fashion. Also keep in mind that water doesn’t flow uphill so if there isn’t a fall towards the drainage point, the water will pool.

Having said all of the above, dont be misled into thinking that the entire floor will be a pool of water, because if designed correctly, it will only be the showering area that is wet. The showering area should have gradients towards the gully or waste outlet and the easiest and most common way to achieve this is to use a tray former. 

2. What is a tray former?

A tray former is best described as the shower tray that creates the gradients in the floor in the showering area and replaces the existing floor boards, it is then covered by the flooring choice of tiles or a vinyl covering. Tray formers come in a large variation of sizes so if you fit the largest former possible it will reduce the amount of floor sculpting that is required to ensure a fall across the wet room floor to the gulley/floor outlet. There are many choices when it comes to tray formers, some will require support beyond the existing floor joists, some will not, some have gulley outlets that are in fixed positions and some a degree of flexibility, (Ideal for avoiding existing joists and other obstructions) if in doubt please call our Technical Advisers for assistance. You may click on the following manufacturers to see the units they offer. Impey Tiled Floor, Impey Vinyl Floor, Contour Tiled Floor, Contour Vinyl Floors, Firstclass, Kudos, AKW Tiled Floor, AKW Vinyl Floor, Novellini.

This image is of a Impey Tray Former & Gulley. The Gulley seating rotates through 360 degrees to aid avoiding obstructions such as joists.

Impey Tray Former with exploded gulley

Impey Tray Former with square gully top suitable for tiled wetrooms.

3. What is a Floor Gulley?

Floor gullies are the outlets through which to discharge waste water from your shower into the drainage system. Normally the circular outlets are designed for Vinyl flooring whilst the square options are for tiled floors. Linear gullies are also available which lend themselves for use with both tile and vinyl floor coverings. Be sure that the gulley you choose has the capacity to drain the volume of water that it will have to contend with. Most gullies will cope with the average flow from domestic single head showers but if you have a rain water head, a pumped shower or a shower with body jets it would be prudent to consult with our Technical Advisers.  

Examples of AKW Gullies

TF75 AKW GulleyPGTF Pumped Gulley 

TF75 AKW Gulley  PGTF AKW Pumped Gulley

 

Examples of the Impey Range of Gullies for their Tray Formers

 

Impey Gulley Range

 If the shower of your choosing does have a very high flow, then you may need to consider installing a shower channel. A shower channel is also sometimes referred to as a linear gulley. This link will take you to some of the shower channels that we offer. Below is an example of Impeys Linear Gully and Tray Former.

Impey Linear Gully Glossy

 Impey Linear Gully & Deck

The images above are of the Impey Tray Former with a Linear Gully. The image on the top shows the finished appearance while the bottom image shows the Tray Former and Linear Gulley arrangement. This type of tray former is available with either a 2-way fall or 4-way fall to the gully. It is important to order the correct unit to suit the tiling design that you require.

This link will take you to a PDF of the Impey Catalogue

 ACO Shower Channel

This is the ACO Shower Drain C with a capacity to clear nearly 60 litres of waste water per minute

For more details on the ACO range of Linear Channels and Wet Room Gullies click on this link.

 4. How do I water proof my wet room and why?

Use this link to a separate page dedicated to Tanking (Water Proofing). There are also many options on creating a water proof wet room from using water proof membranes to using UPVC floor and wall panels such as the Kudos wet room system.

An example of a wetroom tanking kit showing the Waterproof Membrane, Internal & External corners as well as the Jointing Strip & Sealants required.

  Impey Tanking Kit

 

 5. Not sure of whether to opt for a Tiled floor or Vinyl?

Both tiles and vinyl flooring can be used in wetrooms. If choosing tiles you may have concerns over the risk of slipping. If this is the case then you can reduce this worry by opting for tiles that are designed to be slip resistant. The slip resitant rating of tiles has a scale that goes from R9 to R13 with R13 being the highest in slip resistance. For a more detailed explanation of the considerations that are required when chosing tiles click this link. Explain Tile Slip Resistance

For the list of slip resistant floor tiles that we can offer you can use this link to take you to our complete list of Slip Resistant Tiles.

6. Am I restricted on the location of a wet room?

The simple answer is No. A wet room can be located virtually anywhere. With the increasing demand of consumers wanting a wet room, manufacturers have developed products to make locating a wet room simple. Even where the floor level is below a point where gravity drainage can be accommodated a wet room can still be installed with the use of a waste pump.(Technical Help, Waste Pumps) Waste pumps do vary in cost normally due to performance and noise volume. It is vital that whatever waste pump is used is sized correctly for the volume of water that it would need to discharge and should be calculated against the maximum possible supply. The link 'Technical Help, Waste Pumps' above will take you to further details on waste pumps.

Wet rooms can also be located on ground or upstairs floors, be they timber or solid concrete.

7. What different components are needed in creating a wet room?

The basic items required will be 

1. A tray Former (For The Showering Area)

2. Floor Waterproofing 

3. A gully or waste that is compatible with the chosen Tray Former and has a drainage capacity greater that the maximum flow or the chosen shower.

Below are a series of installation videos from different manufacturers. These videos give a step by step guide on how to proceed once you have chosen your preferred product.