Bathrooms & Wet Rooms
Wet room installation
TL;DR
A properly built wet room in the North West is £7,500–£14,000 fitted, and takes 10–15 working days. The single biggest cost isn't the tiles or the fittings — it's building falls into the floor and tanking every millimetre of it, because a wet-room leak is a ceiling replacement job. Anyone quoting under £5,000 for a full wet room is either skipping the tank or laying it on top of a shower tray, which isn't a wet room at all.
A wet room is a fully waterproof shower area with a floor drain, no cubicle, and no step. Done well it lasts 20+ years and is one of the most future-proof things you can do to a house. Done badly it leaks through your ceiling within 18 months. There is no middle ground.
This page covers what a real wet-room build looks like, when it's the right choice (and when it isn't), honest costs, and the questions you must ask any fitter before you sign.
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What's actually involved in building a wet room?
Every wet room needs three things done right: falls in the floor toward the drain (1:60 minimum), a fully bonded tanking membrane over floor and lower walls, and the right drain in the right place with a proper trap. Skimp on any of those and it's not a wet room — it's a waiting-to-leak room.
- Structural check — timber floors need joist doubling or a wet-room tray insert
- Build falls into floor toward drain (linear or point) at 1:60 or better
- Fully bonded tanking membrane (Schluter Kerdi, Mapei Mapelastic, Wedi)
- Point or linear drain with removable trap for cleaning
- Underfloor heating recommended (dries the floor between uses)
- Anti-slip R10 or R11 rated floor tiles
- Thermostatic mixer + fixed head + handheld combined valve
- Glass screen (frameless, 10mm toughened) or full open plan
Timber floors vs concrete slabs
On a concrete ground floor, we chase the drain and falls straight into the slab — the strongest, longest-lasting build. On a timber upstairs floor we use a pre-formed wet-room tray insert (Impey, Wedi, Marmox) that sits between joists and gives a guaranteed fall and drain position. Both work, but timber-floor conversions cost more and take longer because we sometimes have to double up joists to stop bounce.
Wet room vs walk-in shower — which do you actually want?
A walk-in shower has a low tray, glass screen and normal bathroom floor around it. Cheaper (£2,500–£5,000), faster to fit, and still very good. A wet room has no tray, the whole floor drains, and the whole space is tanked. Better for accessibility, more premium looking, but 2–3× the cost. About 70% of the people who ask us for a 'wet room' actually want a walk-in shower once we've talked them through both.
Before you commit — questions to ask any wet-room fitter
Wet rooms are where cowboy jobs cost the most to fix, because a leak means pulling up the floor and often replastering the room below. Every one of these questions has a right answer — if a fitter fudges any of them, get another quote.
- What tanking membrane will you use, and can you send me the datasheet?
- How are you building the fall — screed, pre-formed tray insert, or a formed timber deck?
- What's the drainage rate of the drain you're fitting (litres per minute)?
- Are the tiles R10 or R11 anti-slip rated? (Some polished tiles are lethal wet.)
- How will the wall / floor junction be waterproofed — with tanking corners or just silicone?
- Will you install underfloor heating? (Strongly recommended in a wet room.)
- Who does the electrics — is it a Part P registered electrician?
- What's the guarantee against water ingress, in writing, and for how long?
- Can I see photos and speak to two customers whose wet rooms are 3+ years old?
Typical prices
Real-world ranges from recent Northwest jobs. Your final price is confirmed in writing before any work starts.
| Item | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wet room — small en-suite (up to 3 sqm) | 5,500 – 8,500 | 10–12 working days |
| Wet room — standard bathroom (4–6 sqm) | 8,000 – 12,000 | 12–15 working days |
| Wet room — large / accessible / knock-through | 12,000 – 18,000 | 15–20 working days |
| Walk-in shower alternative (with tray) | 2,800 – 5,200 | 5–7 working days |
| Timber-floor conversion (extra work) | +800 – 1,600 | Joist strengthening, tray insert |
| Underfloor heating (electric mat) | 450 – 750 | Strongly recommended in wet rooms |
| Frameless glass screen (10mm) | 380 – 620 | Optional — full open plan works too |
| Anti-slip R11 porcelain floor tiles (per sqm) | 45 – 90 | Supplied and laid |
Kit & brands we use
We build wet rooms on Schluter Kerdi or Mapei Mapelastic membranes with Impey or Wedi trays on timber floors, and Aqualisa Quartz or Grohe SmartControl thermostatic valves. All industry-standard, well-proven, and easy to service in 10 years' time.
Warning signs on a wet-room quote
- 'Full wet room' priced under £5,000 — almost certainly means no proper tank
- Silicone-only sealing at floor/wall junction (needs tanking membrane and corners)
- Fitting a shower tray and calling it a wet room
- No mention of the drain flow rate or tile slip rating
- Cash only or full payment demanded before tanking is inspected
- No named tanking product on the quote (Mapei, Schluter, Wedi, BAL, Ardex)
Our promise on this job
Flat £50 diagnostic — deducted in full from any work booked. Fair, transparent quote before we start. If we can't fix the fault we diagnosed, we refund the diagnostic. All gas work is signed off by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Talk to KJ about wet room installation
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