Wet rooms · Wicklow

Wet rooms in Wicklow

The floor is the shower tray. Here's what that takes, what it costs and what can go wrong.

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€5,000 to €10,000a standard wet room
€16,500 to €33,000a large, high-spec wet room
Up to €40,000Housing Adaptation Grant, where it's for a disability
No stepa level floor from door to drain

Real bathrooms

Before and after

Real bathrooms, before and after the work.

Before: A narrow bathroom with a bath under the window, and the same room with a glass walk-in shower — Bath out, walk-in shower in. A narrow bathroom: the bath under the window replaced by a walk-in shower, with a heated towel rail and a vanity unit.

After: A narrow bathroom with a bath under the window, and the same room with a glass walk-in shower — Bath out, walk-in shower in. A narrow bathroom: the bath under the window replaced by a walk-in shower, with a heated towel rail and a vanity unit.

Before: The bathroom stripped to bare brick, and the same room with the shower tray in and the walls tiled — The same room, mid-job. Stripped back to the brick, then a low shower tray, tanking and the walls tiled before the glass goes in.

After: The bathroom stripped to bare brick, and the same room with the shower tray in and the walls tiled — The same room, mid-job. Stripped back to the brick, then a low shower tray, tanking and the walls tiled before the glass goes in.

Before: An old corner basin with cracked tiles, and a new vanity basin with a lit mirror — Basin and vanity. The old corner basin out, a vanity unit with storage and a lit mirror in. The walls are still in primer here.

After: An old corner basin with cracked tiles, and a new vanity basin with a lit mirror — Basin and vanity. The old corner basin out, a vanity unit with storage and a lit mirror in. The walls are still in primer here.

The short answer

Wet rooms in Wicklow: the short answer

A wet room in Wicklow costs €5,000 to €10,000, or €16,500 to €33,000 for a large one with premium tiles and underfloor heating. It takes 10 to 14 working days. The whole floor is tanked and laid to fall to a drain, so the shower has no tray and no step.

How it works

The floor is the shower tray

The fall: the floor slopes gently to the drain, so water never reaches the door.
Tanking: a waterproof membrane over the whole floor and up the walls.
The drain: a linear channel along a wall or a square gully in the floor.
The floor: on a concrete ground floor the screed is laid to the fall; upstairs, the timber joists are strengthened and overlaid.

What drives it

What puts a wet room at the top of the range

Moving the drain or the toilet: €1,200 to €2,500 in pipework.
Large porcelain tiles, which take longer to lay to a fall.
Underfloor heating, €500 to €1,200, which also dries the floor faster.
A timber floor upstairs that needs strengthening.

Price guide

Wet room prices in Wicklow

Typical prices for bathroom work in Wicklow, from what jobs here cost. Your own price comes in writing, after the company has seen the room.

By bathroom

Bathroom	Typical cost	What moves the price
Bath out, walk-in shower in	€9,000 to €20,400	The waste where the bath was keeps it low; moving the plumbing takes it to the top.
Wet room	€5,000 to €10,000	Timber or concrete floor, where the drain goes, the tiles.
Accessible bathroom, level-access shower	€5,000 to €10,000	Rails, a seat and the door width. Council grants can pay for most of it.

Labour and materials together. Ask for the VAT to be shown separately: Wicklow's grants don't cover VAT, and on disability work it can be claimed back.

Questions

Questions people ask us

How much is a wet room in Wicklow?

€5,000 to €10,000 for a standard wet room, and €16,500 to €33,000 for a large one with premium tiles and underfloor heating.

Can a wet room go upstairs?

Usually, yes. On a timber floor the joists are strengthened and overlaid to make the fall to the drain, and the whole floor is tanked. The company needs to see the floor first.

How long does a wet room take?

10 to 14 working days. Tanking has to cure before tiling, so there are days with nobody on site.

Do wet rooms leak?

Not when the tanking is done right: a membrane over the whole floor and up the walls, with the joints taped. Ask what system they use and whether it's guaranteed.

Is a wet room grant-aided?

A level-access shower for someone with a disability can be, under the Housing Adaptation Grant, up to €40,000, from Wicklow County Council.

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