Wet Room Cost: UK Installation Prices per Room and m²

Wet room prices

Checkatrade’s wet room installation cost guide prices a wet room per room, per m² and per day of labour only, with separate figures for a disabled wet room and a replacement floor.

Wet room job	Unit	Low	High	Average
Installing a wet room	Per room	£5,000	£13,000	£9,000
Installing a wet room, labour only	Per day	£240	£320	£280
Wet room installation	Per m²	Not given	Not given	£1,800
Replacing a wet room floor	Per project	Not given	Not given	£1,200
A disabled wet room	Per project	£5,000	£15,000	£10,000

An en suite wet room costs £5,000 to £10,000, around £7,500 on average, in Checkatrade’s en suite bathroom installation cost guide.

Wet room cost per m²

Wet room installation averages around £1,800 per m² on Checkatrade’s figures, and a small wet room can start from around £5,000. A smaller room can reduce the materials, though not always the complexity.

Wet room or walk-in shower

A wet room has no shower tray and no full shower enclosure, and the room is tanked beneath the tiles to stop water escaping into the structure, Checkatrade explains. Wet rooms are popular for a more open feel, for compact spaces and for accessibility.

A walk-in shower contains the water with a tray and a glass screen, while a wet room waterproofs the whole floor with level drainage, Checkatrade’s walk-in shower guide says. A wet room is usually not cheaper than a walk-in shower, according to Checkatrade’s wet room guide, because the whole room needs tanking and drainage preparation.

Disabled wet room cost

A disabled wet room costs £5,000 to £15,000, around £10,000 on average, on Checkatrade’s figures. Its features might include level-access flooring, a wider layout, grab rails, fold-down seating, slip-resistant flooring and easier wheelchair access.

If you are disabled, you could get a Disabled Facilities Grant from your council for changes such as a level access shower, GOV.UK says. It pays up to £30,000 in England, subject to a means test, and you might not get any grant if work starts before the council approves your application, according to GOV.UK. You do not pay VAT on a new bathroom, or on extending or adapting an existing one, when the work is done to help you because of your disability, according to GOV.UK’s guidance on VAT relief for building work.

What changes the price of a wet room

The room size, the condition of the existing floor, the drainage, the waterproofing system, the tiles and finishes, and whether structural floor work is needed all change the price, Checkatrade says. Upstairs bathrooms and older timber floors often add complexity and cost, and so do access and the age of the property.

Drainage and floor preparation cover the correct fall for drainage and any strengthening, lowering or rebuilding of the floor, and the tanking has to seal the corners, drains, joints and floor transitions, according to Checkatrade. Large-format tiles, natural stone and premium finishes cost more, small mosaics take longer, and extractor fans, lighting and underfloor heating bring in ventilation and electrical work.

Where a room’s use changes and the load on the floor could change significantly, strengthening may be necessary, the Planning Portal says, and a structural engineer or surveyor can assess the floor and produce the paperwork a building control body will require before the work starts.

On top of the installation, Checkatrade lists floor strengthening or preparation, drainage or plumbing alterations, tiling and grout removal, waste removal, electrical work, ventilation upgrades, underfloor heating, and decorating and finishing as additional costs.

A good installer should assess whether the floor structure is suitable, how the drainage will work, whether the floor needs strengthening, how the room will be waterproofed and what preparation it needs before tiling, Checkatrade advises. Quotes only compare when each one prices the same job.

What a wet room quote should include

A wet room quote should cover the labour, waterproof tanking, drainage work, floor preparation, tiling and grouting, plumbing, waste disposal, electrical work, ventilation and VAT if it applies, Checkatrade says, and you should always check that the tanking is in it. Ask as well whether the installer expects any structural or remedial work once the old flooring is up.

How long a wet room installation takes

Most wet room installations take 4 to 7 days, Checkatrade says, depending on the existing bathroom, drainage alterations, floor strengthening, how complex the tiling is, waterproofing cure times and the room size.

Can you fit a wet room yourself?

A wet room is generally not a DIY job, according to Checkatrade, because the risks are incorrect drainage falls, failed waterproofing, leaks beneath the tiles, poor ventilation and long-term damp.

Replacing a wet room floor

Replacing a wet room floor costs around £1,200 on average, Checkatrade says, and more if the subfloor has water damage, the joists need repairing, the drainage falls need correcting, the tanking has failed or the tiles and flooring have to come up completely.

Wet room fitters in Nottingham

Among the Nottingham bathroom fitters we compare, SB Interiors Design & Installation in Attenborough designs, supplies, fits and finishes each bathroom or wet room with its in-house team, gives bespoke 3D drawings and a fixed quote with a detailed labour and product breakdown, and offers a 1 year labour guarantee on full bathroom installations.

Matt Wregg Plumbing & Bathrooms in Carlton specialises in wet rooms, and Goldswan Bathrooms in Arnold designs accessible and mobility bathrooms with level access, grab rails, shower seating and lever-action taps.