Post by WM Wetroom Materials
Turning your loft into a wetroom has numerous advantages, including increasing the value of your property, expanding your functional living space and adding a ‘wow’ factor to your house. If you are still deciding whether or not a loft conversion is right for you, then it might be useful to read our blog ‘Why You Should Turn Your Loft Into A Wet Room’.
Decided? Read on for our planning and installation tips for turning your loft into a wetroom…
Once you have decided whether to go ahead with the conversion, the next thing to do is to plan. Draw up a scaled floor plan to give you an idea of the space you’ll be working with, taking time to figure out the distance from floor to ceiling space so you know where a person can stand at full height. It’s important to position the shower, sink and mirror in these full height areas to avoid having to hunch over.
For the majority of loft conversions, especially those where you are not extending or altering the roof space, you do not need planning permission because they generally fall under the category of your permitted development rights. However, there are a few exceptions, so it’s best to check with a builder or architect once you’ve got an idea of what you want to do, just to confirm.
When it comes to choosing the fixtures and fittings within your loft conversion, you must centre it around space-saving solutions. With most lofts having only a limited amount of vertical wall space, you have to be selective with your design. You can use the corners of the room to position a corner-fitting bathroom suite, like with a corner shaped toilet and sink unit.
In a wet room, your shower doesn’t need a type of enclosure or glass screen. All you need is a showerhead fixture on a vertical wall.
You also need to consider what type of water system you have. Most properties host a gravity-fed system, with the water tank in the loft. When extending into the loft, it is likely that any water outlets in your new wetroom will be higher than the tank itself, meaning a gravity fed system won’t work. To solve this issue, you need to move the tank to a higher position in the loft space, ensuring the base is at least 60cm higher than your taps and shower outlet – or add a negative shower head pump to your system.
When it comes to the installation of the wetroom, it’s important that it is done perfectly in order to prevent immediate and ongoing damage to the property. It requires a lot more than just installing a toilet, shower and sink system.
The whole room needs to be tanked and waterproofed, with each component plumbed in with best practices and following building regulations. Remember that if you are inexperienced or a beginner with wetroom installation, please do not attempt to do this yourself. Tanking the wetroom properly adds a secure layer of protection between the walls, ceiling and flooring to prevent leaks.
Make sure that your wetroom is properly ventilated, as it is an important factor for protecting against mold and fungus. A strong electric fan is the best solution, with a time switch so that the fan will still be working for a while after you have left the bathroom.
A lot of people also opt for underfloor heating, which is a great way to add room heating without the need for a wall hung radiator, which can also take up valuable space.
If you would like to do more with your loft space, a wetroom is the perfect way to do so. We offer a large range of wetroom kits and bathroom products. We also provide a nationwide wetroom installation service with our official contractor Wetroom Materials Installations.
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Bathroom Space Saving Tips
30th March 2020
My client bought a range of Wet Room Unislope Systems from our local retailer, Bathworks. We struggled to find anyone to come to site and take responsibility for the waterproofing until we came across WM | Wetroom Materials. They were willing to stand over their tanking system and more than helpful throughout all stages of the installation from site survey and room preparation to installation. A 10 Year no leak fully insured warranty gave me the confidence that we were dealing with a professional organisation. I would highly recommend these guys and will certainly be using them going forward.
Steven Quinlan | Director | Citius Limited
I have honestly found, WM | Wetroom Materials to be an easy and reliable company to work with. Whether it be a one wet room residential project, apartment block or a gym; they ensure there are no installation problems and we don’t have to worry about leaks. They take care of the specification and advising us on correct build ups and preparation. On a recent project we were able to buy their Unislope System from our bathroom show room retailer and they subsequently came to site to tank out the bathrooms. It was a time sensitive job and The Wet Room lads worked through the evening and into the weekend to ensure we completed the project on time. I have no hesitation in recommending WM, they are a pleasure to deal with.
Noel Geraghty | Director/Founder | NGS Mechanical Services
In Bright Designs, we understand the importance of specifying a reliable waterproofing system for bathrooms. We have worked on a number of projects with WM | Wetroom Materials over the years and I can honestly say that their waterproofing installation service offers complete peace of mind for us and our clients. The WM Team are there throughout all stages of the project from site survey and specification to installation. More importantly they also give us a 10 year no leak guarantee. I also like the fact that they will handle communication with the client and contractors in terms of delivering a high-quality installation which allows me the head space to focus on other aspects of the build."
Alan Burns | Director/Co-founder | Bright Designs. B Arch, B Sc Arch, MRIAI.
