CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskThe key decisions, structural considerations and contractor requirements for a care home wet room conversion.
Wet room conversions are one of the most common building projects in the care sector. A level-access shower with no step or lip is essential for safe wheelchair transfer, hoist use and personal care for residents with limited mobility. Building Regulations Part M and the relevant care sector guidance -- including HTM 64 and CQC environmental expectations -- all point toward wet rooms as the standard for new-build and refurbished care bedrooms. Budget a minimum of 4,000-8,000 per room for a properly specified conversion, including structural work, tanking, drainage and floor finish.
Before any work is specified, commission a structural check of the existing floor. Wet room drainage requires a fall in the floor, typically 1:60 to 1:80 toward the drain. In timber-joisted floors this may mean replacing sections of joisting or using a purpose-made wet room former. Concrete floors can usually be scabbled to create the fall. The floor must also carry the weight of wet room formers, screed, tile or vinyl, and any hoist track above -- your structural engineer should confirm the loading. If a hoist track is required, plan this at the same time as the wet room: the track anchorage needs to go into the structure, not into a wet room ceiling installed afterward.
The tanking system is the single most critical element of a wet room conversion. Two approaches are used in care homes: liquid-applied tanking membranes (brushed or rolled onto screed or existing substrate before tiling) and sheet membrane systems bonded to the substrate. Both must comply with BS 8000-0:2014 workmanship standards and the manufacturer's own installation requirements. The waterproof layer must extend to at least 300mm above finished floor level on all walls in the wet zone, and ideally to full wall height behind any tile or panelling. All penetrations -- pipes, drainage outlets, light fittings -- must be sealed to the membrane using the manufacturer's specified collar or sealant. Any gap is a future leak.
The drain must be sized for the shower flow rate (typically 12-18 l/min for a thermostatic mixer) and for any cleaning volumes. Linear channel drains are increasingly specified in care home wet rooms because they simplify the floor fall (one direction only) and are easier for domestic-style cleaning regimes. Point drains require a four-way fall, which is harder to achieve accurately in narrow rooms. Specify a trap with a minimum 50mm water seal to prevent drainage smells entering the room -- essential in a care environment. Choose a grating with openings no wider than 8mm to prevent casters on wheelchairs and commodes from catching.
Building Regulations Part F requires extract ventilation in rooms with showers. For a care home wet room, the minimum extract rate is 15 l/s continuous or 30 l/s intermittent for a bathroom. In practice, specify continuous low-rate extract (typically 8-10 l/s background, boosting to 30+ l/s on occupancy) to control moisture and reduce mould risk. This matters more in care homes than in domestic settings because rooms may have residents who produce significant moisture through breathing and care activities. Specify a humidity-controlled fan to avoid over-riding by staff. Duct to external air; avoid re-circulation units in wet rooms.
Before handing a wet room back to operational use, commission: a water test (fill to sill level and leave 24 hours), a thermostatic valve temperature check (must deliver maximum 41C at the outlet per HTM 04-01 Part B requirements), drain flow rate confirmation, and an extraction rate measurement. Obtain the contractor's waterproofing warranty documentation -- most proprietary systems carry a 10 or 25 year product warranty, but only if installed by a trained applicator. File this alongside the room completion certificate.
CareHomeDesk gives you compliance checklists, maintenance logs, and contractor management tools built around exactly this kind of knowledge.