From all the years of doing these types of bathroom renovation especially in Perth, it’s important to note that everyone has a different tolerance for excess water. A few drips to some may be a deal-breaker for others. The name of this type of bathroom comes from the action of being able to walk straight as opposed to having to open a door.

Functionality for everyone from grandkids to grandparents – With multiple generations living under the same roof for many Australian families, it is more important now than ever before to have a bathroom that will work for all members of the family. The walk-in shower is a skilful renovation that takes real knowledge on how to renovate and make work as you have to get the floor plumbing correct with the right tiling falls. Below we will break down the Pros and Cons of this style.

One Size Fits Most

One of the biggest benefits of a walk-in shower is the accessibility it gives people of all sizes and handicaps. Being open and relativity flat it allows for a wheelchair to be rolled straight under the showerhead with no struggle whatsoever. Having no door also allows for anyone with difficulty grabbing small door handles a lot more enjoyable experience.

The Hate of Cleaning

This one is simple, the less shower screen you have the less you need to scrub down!. Cleaning a small corner or alcove shower enclosure can be a difficult elbow-bruising experience. After eliminating this from the shower space completely and only having a piece of glass you will cut your shower cleaning time in half. To take it one step further below is a bathroom renovation we completed in Darch that also used Enduro Shield to seal the porous nature of glass.

Affordable

In comparison to many other configurations of shower screens, the fixed panel walk-in shower screen is the most affordable on the mart. Being frameless as well gives a feeling of luxury combined with that is the ability to change the bracket finishes to match into your tapware.

So Much Bigger

Walk-In Shower screens allow for a much larger feeling bathroom. Often like in the renovation below we move the shower to the external wall in the room removing the corridor feel and making it have a sense of space. This also as an added bonus usually allows us to install a hand niche.

Disadvantages of a Frameless Walk-in Shower

Too little privacy – Since a frameless shower is open it does not offer as much privacy as a shower enclosure. It is possible to minimize this problem by using obscure glass, glass blocks or curtains.

Water can get out – A challenge with this type of shower set-up is there is no curb to hold the water into the wet area. The way we minimise this procedure is by using what we call a sloping wet floor like in the image below. It’s a gradual slope but effective you must always remember this type of shower water can escape through the air off your body and can go past the shower drain to the external drain depending on how you shower.

This problem can be lessened by finding the right product to make an open shower work. It is important to realise that wet room walk-in showers are wet wet wet. There are different degrees of how wet but always keep this in mind when getting a walk-in open shower.

One tip to help with the water getting out is using a Rain head– The rain head keeps the water in a more concentrated spot vs. sliding shower rail which shoots out the shower if pointed in the wrong direction.

Heat will escape the shower making it colder – This is certainly a drawback since there is an opening in a shower without a door. This is not to say you will be freezing but you can’t keep the hot water on and steam up the shower like I may do time to time!

It’s important to note that all our advice is general in nature and all bathrooms are unique so always speak to your local qualified tradesman for the best advice. At on the ball bathrooms we love feedback so let us know what you think with a comment below or if you are looking for a bathroom renovation quote and live in Perth, Western Australia contact us on 0419964678 or email us at info@ontheballbathrooms.com.au

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