Wet room vs walk in shower: which is right for your bathroom?

Check the floor before you fall in love with a look

A level access wet room needs somewhere for the fall to go. On a timber floor that generally means cutting into or building up over the joists, and on a ground floor slab it means forming a recess. Neither is impossible, but both are proper building work rather than a fitting job.

An enclosure with a low profile tray achieves a similar clean look with far less disruption, because the tray creates the fall and the waterproofing for you.

What each option actually involves

The honest way to compare is by the number of stages, not the brochure photograph.

• Wet room: floor formers or recess, full tanking, tiled fall, linear or centre drain
• Enclosure: tray bedded level, tanked walls, screen fitted and sealed
• Wet room: tiling continues across the floor with no threshold
• Enclosure: tray edge gives a defined line and a simpler seal

Living with each one

A wet room is easier to clean and much easier to walk into, which matters if mobility is a consideration now or later. It also means the whole room gets damp, so the extractor has to be up to the job and the rest of the floor needs to be genuinely waterproof.

An enclosure keeps water in one place, dries faster and is cheaper to repair if a seal fails. The trade-off is the tray lip and the glass to clean.

The decision in one paragraph

If level access is important, or the room is small enough that a screen would feel cramped, a wet room is worth the extra work. If the priority is a good looking shower at sensible cost with minimal disturbance to the floor, fit an enclosure and spend the difference on a better valve and better tiling.

If a level floor suits your room, the wet rooms page explains how one is built and tanked.

For what drives the price, see the wet room cost guide.

Wet room vs walk in shower: the real difference

A walk in shower is a shower area with no door, usually a long tray with a single fixed glass panel. A wet room has no tray at all: the floor itself is waterproofed and tiled with a fall to a drain. From the doorway they can look almost the same. The difference is underneath, in how the water is contained and how much of the floor has to be built for it.

Shower tray vs wet room floor

A shower tray is a factory made, waterproof base with the fall built in. Fitted well, it is reliable and quick to install, and if it ever fails, the tray can be replaced on its own. A wet room floor relies on a tanking membrane across the whole floor and up the walls, with the tiles laid to a fall. It can look seamless and is fully level, but it depends on careful preparation and every joint being sealed. When people compare a wet room vs a shower tray, it comes down to whether a level floor is worth the extra building work.

Low profile trays now sit only a few centimetres high and can even be set flush into the floor, which narrows the gap between the two options.

Wet room vs bathroom

Some people ask whether to make the whole room a wet room or keep a conventional bathroom with a shower area. A full wet room suits a small shower room or an accessible bathroom where the whole floor being level is the point. In a family bathroom with a bath, toilet and basin, a walk in shower area usually makes more sense, because the rest of the room stays dry and easier to live with.

Where to go next

Wet room installation is explained on the wet rooms page, and tray based showers on walk in shower installation. Doors and screens are covered by shower enclosure installation, and the wet room cost guide explains what drives a wet room's price. Send photos of your bathroom through the contact page for a quote.

Frequently asked questions

Bathroom RenovationsGeneral Building