I can remember going back 25 years ago when I first started in the building industry and there were only two choices of floor grates for a bathroom and laundry. You either went normal run of the mill plastic or high-end round chrome floor grates in the bathroom. There were two options, and it wasn’t really thought of much more than one or the other
Fast forward 25 years and that landscape has changed significantly! Today there are a handful of options to choose from and each with their pros and cons. In this blog post I’m going to go through some of these options and what I have found to be positives and negatives through my experience from renovating hundreds of bathrooms in Adelaide, Fleurieu Peninsula and the Adelaide Hills.
Selecting a floor grate for your bathroom renovation
- As I previously touched on earlier in this blog post there is still the easy and cheap option of selecting a plain chrome square or round floor grate to go into the shower and the middle of the bathroom. These grates are timeless, relatively cheap at around $15 each and offer easy maintenance when needing to un block a drain or clean out the riser shaft from built up soap scum etc.
- Moving up the price schedule is the smart grate. The smart grate is square stainless-steel grate that has a piece of the tile from the floor inserted into it to blend in with the floor and not to stand out. These grates are becoming more common due to their discreet nature and ease of maintenance when the need arises. As the per the previous grates noted above when the square version is selected it can be installed either horizontally or diagonally there are two options.
- Now to the most popular of them all is the channel grate. Many of our bathroom renovations today the customer opts to use the stainless-steel channel grate in the shower. When using the channel grate many of our clients opt for hand basins and bath tubs with internal over flows eliminating the need for a floor grate in the middle of the bathroom. We have recently renovated a house Toorak Gardens where the customer had a double shower and we used two of these channel grates (one at each end of the shower). These grates are certainly at the higher end of the price scale starting at around $250 and heading upwards towards $500 this will vary depending on the colour of the finish and size of the channel grate being used.
From a maintenance point of view these channel grates do require a bit regular cleaning to reduce odors as the flat surface below the tiled lid does get a build-up of mould and soap scum, but with regular cleaning these grates will be a great addition to any bathroom renovation.
Scheduling the installation of a floor grate
It is important to let your plumber and tiler know which style of floor grate you are intending to use prior to the commencement of your bathroom or ensuite being renovated. During the installation of the concrete slab the plumber will need to ensure there is enough space left around the floor trap riser and shower riser pipe for a puddle flange to be installed. Another key point is also that the tiler will need to allow for the grate in there set out of the room ensuring that the correct number of tiles are installed to make the grates look even with the pattern on tiles used in the renovation.
Do all tile sizes suit every floor grate?
When we start select tiles for our bathroom floors it’s important to understand a couple of factors. Is there going to be a grate in the middle of the bathroom? and where is the grate going to be in the shower?
If there is only one channel grate in the shower then a larger tile can be used as the grade on the floor will only be heading in one direction, but when the tiler needs to direct water in multiple directs across the floor a smaller tile is must more suitable as less cuts will need to be made in the tiles and it will give a better finish to the look of the floor. Larger tiles are harder to manipulate and therefore require cutting and more grout lines which can deter from the initial concept of using the larger floor tiles.
In a huge bathroom we recently completed in Netherby the customer opted for 600mm x 600mm marble floor tiles. These tiles looked amazing but very careful planning of the set out was required. Between us, the plumber and tiler it took nearly a whole day to ensure the grain running through the tiles could be kept consistent and that the correct grade on the floor could be met enabling consistent run offs to the channel grate no matter where you were in the bathroom.
Making the right choices
At Mayfair Building Group we spend time with all our clients ensuring that they get the correct fittings and fixtures to suit their bathrooms. The time spent at the start of a project carefully walking through the process and timeframes etc is what gives that extra special finish at the end. Thinking of renovating a bathroom or ensuite? Contact us today on info@mayfairbuildinggroup.com.au or 0429361819 and ask for Aaron.