Wetroom Floor

[wobblycogs]

Believe it or not this question is wood related!

We have decided to install walk in shower on the top floor of our place. What I need to find out though is what to do about the floor. At the moment we have really old worm eaten floorboards to obviously they are coming out but what would it be best to replace them with?

My first thought was to put down straight edge 20mm redwood floorboards and then over board with 8mm WBP ply screwed down every 150mm. The alternative plan was a single sheet of 25mm WBP ply.

The joists aren't terribly level (it's an old house) and my thinking is that it will be eaiser to put the required slight slope towards the drain when laying floorboards than a a big unweidly sheet of ply.

Thoughts? Should I just give up now?

 

[jasonB]

Use a wetroom tray such as the Impey Aquadec, this has the falls in it and is the same thickness as standard 22mm flooring.

I persomnally use 8x2 sheets of T&G flooring plywood in bathrooms, "sprucefloor" is quite a common brand. Its WBP bonded, and goes straight onto your joists saving having to overboard(8mm is too thin for overboarding) and as its T&G you don't need noggins under the joints.

Watch the Aquadec video

http://www.impey-showers.com/wetrooms-introduction/

Jason

 

[wobblycogs]

Cheers, that video is strangely similar to the one I found on the Wickes site only with more technical content .

I had intended to use a tray but I was thinking of trying to also make at least some of the rest of the floor slope towards the drain. Now I come to look at it again though I think that's a stupid idea as it would leave too much of a step up at the door. I'm going to have enough of a game just making the floor flat I think - it it really quite seriously out of flat at the moment.

If I bottle it and decide to put in a low profile tray instead is it safe to assume that the requirements for floor preparation are less? Could I get away with 20mm floorboards for example?

 

[jasonB]

Either overboard the existing with an absolute minimum of 12mm preferable 15+.

Or my preference is to rip all the old boards up, shim the joists level and the screw down the 22mm T&G ply. Tile straight onto that. This will mean that the tile & adhesive thickness is approx the same as the average carpet/underlay so no step. Flexibel tile adhesive and flexible grout.

The low level tray can be bedded onto the ply using rapidset flexi tile adhesive and by the time the tiles butt upto it it will be almost floor level like this matki or this Bathstore one

Jason

 

[MikeG.]

As an aside, it always tickles me when clients ask me for a "walk-in shower".



I mean, what is the alternative? A fly-in shower? A swim-in shower? So when they say "can I have a walk-in shower" I tend to ask if there is any other type.

Mike

 

[wobblycogs]

Thanks for that, should keep me busy for the next few weekends.

I must admit it feels rather silly to refer to it as a walk in shower but the alternatives are equally silly like easy access shower - what, you don't need to pick a lock to get in?

 

[big soft moose]

As an aside, it always tickles me when clients ask me for a "walk-in shower".



I mean, what is the alternative?

Mike

well ive got a "climb awkwardly over the side of the bath trying not to catch your bollocks on the flush handle of the toilet, and not to dislodsge the curtain rail from the wall (again)" shower, does that count :lol:

tho it would take a particularly masochistic client to request one like that :shock:

 

[Shultzy]

Mike, there is of course a "climb-in shower". We have one, we have to "climb-in" the bath :lol:

 

[wobblycogs]

Ok, I went back last night and looked at what I'd need to do to level up the floor. I don't think I'm going to be installing a wetroom. The drop in the floor is greater than 25mm/m and sloping away from where the drain would need to be. I'd almost need to install a set of stairs to get into the bathroom (slight exaggeration there, the step up would be about 60mm though)!

We've decided instead to install a quadrant shower which I'll level separately and the rest of the floor can remain as it is. Damn old houses nothing is every easy

 

[MikeG.]

........the step up would be about 60mm though!

That's not a step.....that's a trip hazard!

Mike

 

[2tone]

when i was in australia we used to but down a Composite/particle weather board sheet down similar to an asbestos sheet but not aspestos.

This was on top of the floor which was 30mm masonite.

Out line the area for the wetroom floor and cover with a liquid rubber, forget the name but this stuff similar to the bostic parquet flooring glue, once set you make a dry sand cement mix at about 50MM thick falling 10mm into the waste - JOB DONE

 

[neilc]

My only advice on wetroom showers is to make sure you tank it. I built our house around three years ago and didn't tank the wetroom the first time. No matter how well you grout the tiles you will get hairline cracks which will cause leaks. Luckily the other side of one of the shower walls was an alcove where I hadn't at the time fitted my daughters built in wardrobe and the leak showed there (the house was a timber frame build).
Anyway to cut a long story short I ripped out all the tiles from the shower area, tanked and re-tiled. We haven't had a problem since. The tanking I used was a paint that dried to a rubbery film. I put on three coats. It was expensive stuff but really worth it. I did do a little experiment with it where I painted a small test piece on clingfilm. Poking my finger into the middle of it I couldn't pierce it.
Hope this helps,
Neil

 

[jasonB]

Common mistake, "waterproof grout" means that it will not degrade when in contact with water, it DOES NOT form a waterproof barrier.

I tank all the showers I put in.

Jason

 

[wobblycogs]

Cheers for the advise guys. We've decided to put a quadrent shower in this bathroom rather than a wetroom area it was proving too much work. I've got two more bathrooms to do after this though so I sure I'll be using this advice in due course.