Flat power floated wetroom floor?

[Visti]

The one thing holding us up on the foundation is the positioning of the drain for the downstairs shower. Suffice to say, we were not prepared to make a call on bathroom kit at this stage and it's caught us unawares! Us amateurs eh?

 

We don't like tiles, want a walk-in shower... Basically a wet room. No, definatly a wet room.

 

Only problem? Our finished floor is power floated concrete on top of the EPS. So sculpting a slope in the bathroom to drain the water will add tonnes of complexity and cost. Tiles are a cheaper option, but we aren't a fan.

 

So my proposal to the architect and to you: can't we just use the flat power floated floor as the floor for the whole wet room? Is a slope really necessary if we position the drain right? (Can always place a glass screen to direct flow to the drain? I assume we can waterproof the concrete floor it after the pour? And that between the MVHR and UFH it'll dry relatively quickly.

 

There ain't the funds for a designer bathroom, so basics it must be.

[Nickfromwales]

Ok, if not tiles then what ? 

Time for a reality slap, cos pouring hundreds of litres of water, not even clean water, onta a flat concrete floor with no hygienic ( maintainable ) covering is a non-starter. 

Think again my good man . 

Impey do a great product for you here, and leaves very little to go wrong. 

Check this out :).

 

With that you can connect and test the waste before the pour and then just leave that corner shy or get a mix that's workable and trowel it to the former as the lot goes down. 

 

[Russell griffiths]

The problem you may find, imho, 

is your power floated floor , will not be perfectly level

the guys doing it will be working to an acceptable tolerance

this tolerance may be 5mm over a set length 

so in reality you perfectly flat floor may slope the wrong way??

 

without wanting to sound like a total t****r this is new technology to the average Neanderthal concrete gang over here and they are not very good at it. 

The only real way to get the falls you want is to set down the concrete floor. 

So in effect the floor level is lower by a certain amount and then this is then built up using a screed product to obtain the absolute spot on fall you need. 

 

If you you look at @Onoff thread on his bathroom he has just done the exact same job, providing a sloped area that falls straight to his drain. 

 

I spent many months in oz floor screeding, we used to set the concrete slab down by 35/50 mm and then screed up to that, you guys will need to make a former out of timber, although I have seen lads on here using a slab of insulation. 

 

I have been in a in a few places to fix cock ups, and when the shower was on the water ran out the bathroom door?

 

water is a law unto itself it will get everywhere and anywhere. 

 

What are you thinking instead of tiles, one of the stick down vinyls, I have never seen one done that didn’t look like an old people’s home, joins in corners look rough and the amount of colours and styles is limited. 

 

Re think tiles. 

 

With regards layout they must need to know your toilet position so they can get these in place before the beam and block goes in, so that really should narrow down your shower location, when you know that you then need to decide if you want a central drain with all your TILES ?sloping to the centre or the drain in the wall like @Onoff or a linear drain running from side to side of the shower area. 

Easy innit. 

[Visti]

My amateur hopes has been dashed by good sense by you folks and some more thorough research! Thank goodness for this forum.

 

It's clear that what we're proposing is not a good idea. That is also an understatement given the timber frame... We were hoping power-floated would be a significantly better level than by hand, but that too isn't the case.

 

We've gone for a tray in the end due to the cost and because we just couldn't hold up the foundation any longer!

[Mr Punter]

We have very shallow trays and have screwed 18mm ply on the shower room floors, finished with LVT, so they are level with adjacent oak floors and the trays are only about 30mm higher.

 

[vivienz]

24 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

We have very shallow trays and have screwed 18mm ply on the shower room floors, finished with LVT, so they are level with adjacent oak floors and the trays are only about 30mm higher.

 

 

I like the sink and cabinet - may I ask where you bought them?

[Mr Punter]

I think it is Villeroy and Boch

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

We have very shallow trays and have screwed 18mm ply on the shower room floors, finished with LVT, so they are level with adjacent oak floors and the trays are only about 30mm higher.

You took the words right out of my mouth. 

In @Visti's case, I'd have the screed shuttered out a bit and set the tray so it's 15mm proud of the finished floor covering. That creates an almost sunken look to the tray and removes almost all of the lip, so nigh-on level entry. 

A good way to create a sleek look, minimum effort and guaranteed results. 

[lizzie]

Ive got a flat floor wet room, tiles and a linear drain that is tiled. Very sleek. This is on the mbc slab.

[Onoff]

Just throwing it out there, could a concrete floor wet room not be painted with a high performance "swimming pool paint"?

 

http://technicalpaintservices.co.uk/catalogue/Paint-For-Swimming-Pools-Pool-Surrounds-Ponds-and-Paddling-Pools/

[Visti]

4 hours ago, Onoff said:

Just throwing it out there, could a concrete floor wet room not be painted with a high performance "swimming pool paint"?

 

http://technicalpaintservices.co.uk/catalogue/Paint-For-Swimming-Pools-Pool-Surrounds-Ponds-and-Paddling-Pools/

 

We were thinking the same, but what about the interface with the wall? Suppose you could waterproof  the walls down to the floor, but then what?

[Onoff]

28 minutes ago, Visti said:

 

We were thinking the same, but what about the interface with the wall? Suppose you could waterproof  the walls down to the floor, but then what?

 

I think with a single structure such as a concrete "trough" (or pool, pond) it might be a goer. Think of a building plantroom where you have concrete floors meeting concrete walls all tied in together. Both will give/flex the same amount. Take my construct though of a timber stud wall sitting atop a concrete slab and they'll behave differently. Tanking strip at the join is I think the only thing. "Paint" would crack imo.

[divorcingjack]

@lizzie Gorgeous! Where did you get your linear drain? We are going for the same look, hopefully, but I just can't work out what drain I should get. 

 

Cheers

[lizzie]

53 minutes ago, divorcingjack said:

@lizzie Gorgeous! Where did you get your linear drain? We are going for the same look, hopefully, but I just can't work out what drain I should get. 

 

Cheers

Mine is from Porcelanosa.  I’m sure others do them. Love mine its so sleek and easy to clean. The tiled bit lifts out so you can clean underneath.