Tips For A Professional Finish To A Wetroom

Wetrooms (or walk in showers) have grown hugely in popularity over recent years in both domestic properties and commercial properties and have always been a popular choice for homes in mainland Europe. Wetrooms and walk in showers are an essential choice for hospital and care home settings but we are seeing more of these opulent walk in showers in more prestigious hotels and luxury accommodation.  And in domestic homes, more and more of us are looking for the luxury and practicality of a large shower room over, or in addition to,  the traditional bathroom.

Wet rooms can be installed on any floor of the building – not just contained to the ground floor and the great advantage of the wetroom is not having a step-in shower tray to negotiate as the floor is set at one level.

The key is to ensure the wetroom is waterproofed properly so when tiling the wetroom, it is important to remember not to compromise the contoured natural slope of the wet room base, otherwise the water will not drain away quickly enough.

So when it comes to choosing the best grout for your wetroom, an epoxy grout is probably the best option to go for, as epoxy grouts are fully waterproof, hardwearing and great for resisting those powerful jets of water, extreme temperatures and humidity.

To ensure that you get a professional finish to your tiles, make sure the grout lines are clean by using a damp sponge to clean the surface of the tile and the grout lines. Why? Because if the adhesive and the grout come into contact it could discolour the grout.

And it may seem an obvious trick,  but it is absolutely essential the adhesive has completely dried before you move on to removing the spacers and finally applying your grout.  Another consideration is that if you are going to be working in temperatures of over 25 degrees Celsius – just dampen the grout lines with clean water beforehand.

Before applying your grout, it is good practise to check for potential damage or staining, so it is advisable to to select a small ‘trial’ area to test whether there is any discolouration or if it is difficult to remove excess grout from the tiles.

When applying the grout in the wetroom, work in smaller areas completely filling the tile joint with your mixed grout and compact it well ensuring you remove any excess grout from the tile surface as you work.

After the wetroom has completely been grouted and you are ready to clean off all excess grout, use an emulsifying pad or scotchbrite pad with clean water working in a circular motion which should result in uniform grout lines. Then take a clean sponge and remove any further residue by cleaning diagonally to the grout lines.

The key to any professional tiled finish is not to leave any surplus grout or haze on your newly tiled surface for more than 24 hours, so clean the surface down with clean water and an emulsifying pad within this time frame.

Your finished wetroom will then need to be left for at least two weeks before it can be used.