How to choose a wet room installer in Glasgow
Wet room quotes vary by thousands of pounds for what looks like the same job on paper. The difference is almost always in what you can't see once the tiles are down.
What should I check before hiring a wet room installer?
Check that the installer names a specific tanking system in writing, tanks the whole floor rather than just the shower zone, flood-tests before tiling, and provides an itemised quote rather than a single lump-sum figure.
Ask what tanking system they use — by name
A specialist names the manufacturer and product range of the tanking system on the quote — for example a specific liquid membrane or sheet system — rather than describing the work generically as 'fully waterproofed'. If an installer can't or won't name the system, that's a sign the specification isn't fixed yet, which usually means it's decided on site rather than planned.
Ask whether the primer, tape, membrane and adhesive all come from the same manufacturer. Mixed-brand tanking is the single biggest cause of voided warranties, because manufacturers only guarantee their own system used as designed.
Ask whether the whole floor is tanked
Partial tanking — sealing the shower corner and leaving the rest of the floor as bare substrate — is the most common shortcut in a cheap quote. Ask directly: is the entire floor tanked, wall to wall, or just the shower zone? The answer should be immediate and specific, not vague.
Ask if the floor is flood-tested before tiling
A flood test — blocking the drain, holding water on the membrane, and checking the level over time — is how a defect gets caught while it costs an hour to fix rather than after the tiles, and possibly a neighbour's ceiling, are involved. Ask when in the process this happens and ask for it to be written into the quote.
Compare written, itemised quotes
A single total figure with no breakdown makes it impossible to compare two quotes properly. An itemised quote separates strip-out, drainage, tanking, tiling and fittings, so you can see where the money goes and where two quotes actually differ.
Be suspicious of a quote that is dramatically lower than others for the same brief — the saving is coming from somewhere, and it's rarely visible until the room is finished.
Ask about experience with your specific floor type
A tenement flat on suspended timber joists and a villa on a solid concrete slab need different techniques. Ask whether the installer has worked on your property type before, and ask what specifically changes in their approach for it — a vague answer here often means limited experience with anything other than a standard solid-floor bathroom.