Wet room vs traditional bathroom: do you actually need one?
Not every bathroom needs to become a wet room. Here's how to tell whether the conversion earns its cost, or whether a standard refit does the same job for less.
Is a wet room better than a standard bathroom?
A wet room is better than a standard bathroom when step-free access, a small footprint, or a completely seamless floor matter. A standard bathroom with a shower tray is usually the better choice when budget is the main constraint and none of those needs apply.
What a standard bathroom refit involves
A standard refit replaces the bath, WC, basin and a shower tray and enclosure within the existing floor structure, without the tanking, falls and drainage a wet room needs across the whole room. It costs less and takes less time because the floor build-up barely changes.
When the extra cost of a wet room is worth it
The extra £2,000 to £5,000 a wet room typically costs over a like-for-like refit buys step-free access, a room that's easier to keep clean because there's no tray edge to trap water and grime, and a layout that reads as larger because there's no enclosure breaking up the floor.
It is worth it where mobility is a current or likely future need, where the room is small enough that a tray and enclosure would dominate it, or where the property will be marketed to a wider range of buyers including those needing level access.
When a standard refit is the better call
A standard refit makes more sense where budget is fixed and tight, where the floor structure would need significant extra work to take a wet room drain, or where the household has no accessibility need now or reasonably foreseeable.
The middle option: a level-access shower tray
A low-profile shower tray recessed flush into the floor gives most of the step-free feel of a wet room without tanking the entire room, at a cost between a standard tray installation and a full wet room. It's a reasonable compromise where a full wet room isn't justified but a raised tray edge still matters.