Splash out on a new wetroom

Rob Tate – design director at Fired Earth – looks at the unique appeal of the wet room, where you can simply “walk in, jet your cares away and walk out”…

At Fired Earth we believe that today's bathroom is more about relaxation than just keeping clean. It's about feeling good. It’s about the simple pleasure of your own space and the sheer unashamed enjoyment of quality. Everything we do from baths, showers, wet rooms, basins, taps and towel rails is designed and made to be intrinsically satisfying.

The bathroom collections from Fired Earth are superbly finished, engineered and built to last. The choice ranges from contemporary to classic with a gallery of fittings (and, of course, tiles) with which to create your own unique look. And, as you would expect from Fired Earth, we can install it too.

From the humble tin bath in front of the fire, keeping clean has now progressed to the ultimate in bathing – the modern wet room. The appeal is obvious – you can simply walk in, jet your cares away and walk out again – nothing simpler!

Most modern showers are built in a cubicle, with one to three walls tiled and shower curtains or glass screens completing the cubicle and retaining the water, which exits via a waste outlet. With a wet room the shower tray is concealed beneath the floor tiles, so there’s no awkward step up into the showering zone. This is usually either partially or completely glass screened, which means excessive splashing is contained. Wet rooms not only offer a sense of luxury, they’re also very safe so brilliant for children, the elderly or the infirm.

Wet rooms are often seen as only suitable for large rooms but with careful planning, offer an ideal solution for small and awkward spaces. Careful, indeed meticulous, planning is the key to making it work.

Fired Earth can offer all of the equipment and advice required to realise a perfect wet room and of course, has a range of wall and floor tiles that are both beautiful and practical, to complete the picture.

The wet room – the newest concept in bathroom design – is centred round the drain allowing water on to the floor outside the shower area. Wet rooms have other significant advantages over the more traditional approach. They can work in both small and large spaces, as well as bathrooms with unusual configurations or dimensions. They are easy to maintain, simple to clean and supremely hygienic. The use of larger-format tiles means less grouting is necessary and wet rooms are particularly suitable for homes in hard-water areas.

They also offer enormous scope for your design flair to shine through, with stone, porcelain, glass and mosaic tiles all perfect for a beautifully individual wet room, and Fired Earth offering an expansive collection of taps and mixers, many in quality brass.