Bathroom Wet Rooms — Is This Trend Right for You?

Elevating your bathroom with an extensive remodel typically brings about much greater satisfaction and enjoyment with your home.

A bathroom remodel may not net you the most money during resale, but it’s hard to put a dollar amount on increased happiness in your home. One recent trend in bathroom remodels is to transform the space into a wet room. Outside of wowing visitors and guests, there can be many benefits of turning your standard bathroom into a stylish wet room with a bath, especially for people with mobility issues.

Let’s take a closer look at wet rooms in bathrooms, including the best features to add, pros and cons, and average cost for installing a wet room in your bathroom.

What are Bathroom Wet Rooms?

The simplest definition of a wet room in the bathroom is that it lacks any type of enclosure to separate the shower from the rest of the space.

Most showers have a threshold you have to step over to enter the space, but in a bathroom wet room, the shower is completely level with the bathroom floor. There is no shower door, although many homeowners choose to place unframed glass panels and partitions in strategic locations to minimize the amount of water that splashes onto the bathroom floor. The shower floor also has a slight slope to ensure water drains properly.

Why They Are Gaining Popularity

The open design of wet rooms in the bathroom lends itself to simplicity; however, the spaces usually feature custom tile work and glass partitions that also add unmatched elegance — this isn’t your high school’s walk-in locker room shower.

Here are some of the benefits of adding a bathroom wet room:

• Frameless showers let in more light.
• There’s no shower door to trap humidity, so the space dries out more quickly, which reduces the potential for mildew and mold to surface.
• The space can be easier to clean since there are fewer obstructions to inhibit your reach.

Transforming your bathroom into a wet room can bring greater freedom of movement for people with mobility issues — there aren’t any troublesome thresholds or curbs in the shower area, so you can take a wheelchair or walker right underneath the water without any difficulties. The sink and toilet areas also are seamlessly incorporated into the design of your bathroom wet room, so you’ll have no issues moving from one place to the next.

There can be some drawbacks to wet rooms in the bathroom. These may include:

• It’s much easier to splash water about when showering.
• You may feel chilly breezes brushing your bare bum.
• The additional tile work and waterproofing requirements can push up overall remodel costs
• Existing cabinetry may need to be replaced with a water-resistant vanity.

Due to their open design, wet rooms in the bathroom also can be a bit noisy.

Let’s take a look at some special considerations and best features found in bathroom wet rooms.

Four of the Best Bathroom Wet Room Features

Transforming your bathroom into a wet room changes the dynamic of the space and may bring up some special considerations. Here are four suggestions for the best features to add to your bathroom wet room.

• Storage. You may have to relocate linen storage outside of the space, especially if your existing cabinetry is located near the shower area. It’s going to get wet, so if it stays in the same spot you may need to change your cabinetry to water-resistant stained, painted, laminate, or lacquered laminate base materials.
• Radiant heat. This is an excellent option to make large, open wet rooms in the bathroom cozy and comfortable in those chilly winter months when walking on bathroom tile can feel like dipping a toe in the north Atlantic Ocean.
• Pedestal sinks. A full porcelain pedestal sink base won’t ever get damaged by water.
• Multiple shower fixtures. The open design of the shower in bathroom wet rooms makes it the perfect place to install combination or dual shower fixtures.

Larger showers also can accommodate a built-in bench for next-level luxury.

Where They Work Best

Wet rooms work in nearly any bathroom space, from expansive master suites to small guest bathrooms. The waterproofing requirements for bathroom wet rooms are basically the same as installing a standard shower enclosure, so they really can be installed on any floor of your home as well.

Wet rooms also work well in attic conversions or other rooms with slanted ceilings that wouldn’t take a standard shower enclosure. The master bath typically has the most square footage, giving you the most design flexibility, but you can transform the bathroom in your in-law quarters into a wet room if mom is in a wheelchair.

Average Cost of Adding Wet Room in Bathroom

The real cost of a bathroom remodel that includes a wet room is hard to figure. Costs vary greatly depending on the size of the space, waterproofing requirements, materials choices, contractor labor rates, plumbing and electrical changes, and any upgrades and additional features you want to have installed.

Expect to spend between $9,000 and $30,000 to install a wet room in the bathroom. A standard bathroom remodel, meanwhile, could cost between $6,600 and $16,800. You may be able to work with a contractor to reduce some costs by self-performing demolition of your old bathroom features.

Working with a licensed bathroom remodel contractor can help you decide where to best spend your bathroom remodel and wet room installation dollars.