How difficult is it to create a wet room?
Don't be scared off installing a wet room in your home by any rumours you've heard about it being a job only for the professionals. With fantastic materials available off the shelf from tile specialists, and expert advice available online, the task has become an attainable one for any DIY enthusiast. Probably the most daunting aspect of creating a wetroom is the scale of the project; and this is something that's not worth skirting around. Installing a wet room needs to be done with care, to a high-standard, and with an understanding of the materials involved. Since the idea is to create a completely waterproof environment, it's important not to skimp on any part of the project that might jeopardise the effectiveness of your waterproofing, and lead to potential damage to your home.
Perhaps the second most daunting aspect of the job, most commonly reported, is the level of technical understanding needed to employ the techniques involved, and select the correct materials. Whilst it is true that creating a wet room does involve a wide range of DIY skills, beginning at surface preparation and ending with laying wall and floor tiles, choosing the correct materials for the job is easily half of the challenge, and this how now been made much easier with helpful product guides and advice available in store and online from your tile specialist. If there's one area of the project that you feel particularly inexperienced in, why not get help from a friend or even hire in a contractor to complete that part. The benefits of this will be a high level of confidence in the completed work, whilst maintaining the satisfaction of it being (for the most part) a complete DIY job.
You may find when creating a wetroom, that this is a necessary approach with regard to your level of skills – particularly if you're not comfortable with plumbing (which may be necessary when attaching the drainage system if there's not one in place already), or with fitting electrics (very important when testing and finishing your underfloor heating system). If you're unsure of any stage in the process, it's much better to ask for help from a qualified individual, than to risk doing damage to yourself or your home.
There are however many stages of installing a wet room that you might already be familiar with, or that you shouldn't be scared off trying for the first time. These involve for starters, preparing the surface of the floors and walls in the room you are converting. This is important, particularly if you're working with an uneven concrete floor since maintaining dimensional consistency is very important to ensuring the proper flow of drainage water. If you are working with an uneven concrete floor, you can fix the problem with the use of some self-levelling compound, a baton, and a spirit-level. Other scenarios may be that you need to prepare your plastered or painted wall by scoring the surface to create a good texture to promote adhesion, or removing old and damaged tiles or vinyl before laying your tile backer board. Other jobs involved in creating a wetroom can involve cutting away floor boards to install the top deck former, laying HardieBacker board, laying waterproof matting, and of course laying the all-important tiles themselves.
Perhaps the second most daunting aspect of the job, most commonly reported, is the level of technical understanding needed to employ the techniques involved, and select the correct materials. Whilst it is true that creating a wet room does involve a wide range of DIY skills, beginning at surface preparation and ending with laying wall and floor tiles, choosing the correct materials for the job is easily half of the challenge, and this how now been made much easier with helpful product guides and advice available in store and online from your tile specialist. If there's one area of the project that you feel particularly inexperienced in, why not get help from a friend or even hire in a contractor to complete that part. The benefits of this will be a high level of confidence in the completed work, whilst maintaining the satisfaction of it being (for the most part) a complete DIY job.
You may find when creating a wetroom, that this is a necessary approach with regard to your level of skills – particularly if you're not comfortable with plumbing (which may be necessary when attaching the drainage system if there's not one in place already), or with fitting electrics (very important when testing and finishing your underfloor heating system). If you're unsure of any stage in the process, it's much better to ask for help from a qualified individual, than to risk doing damage to yourself or your home.
There are however many stages of installing a wet room that you might already be familiar with, or that you shouldn't be scared off trying for the first time. These involve for starters, preparing the surface of the floors and walls in the room you are converting. This is important, particularly if you're working with an uneven concrete floor since maintaining dimensional consistency is very important to ensuring the proper flow of drainage water. If you are working with an uneven concrete floor, you can fix the problem with the use of some self-levelling compound, a baton, and a spirit-level. Other scenarios may be that you need to prepare your plastered or painted wall by scoring the surface to create a good texture to promote adhesion, or removing old and damaged tiles or vinyl before laying your tile backer board. Other jobs involved in creating a wetroom can involve cutting away floor boards to install the top deck former, laying HardieBacker board, laying waterproof matting, and of course laying the all-important tiles themselves.