Damp room

Wet room and wet room and wet room are criteria in the construction industry. Standards and technical regulations place special demands on materials and construction methods that are intended for use in damp rooms.

Depending on the subject area, a wet room is defined differently:

• Room with increased moisture load
• Room with constantly high humidity
• Room in which the relative humidity is consistently higher than 70%.
• Room in which the resulting humidity cannot be removed through free ventilation (e.g. open window).
• Room in which increased humidity occurs not only periodically.
• Room in which, due to usage, a permanently increased air humidity can be expected.

Public baths, indoor swimming pools and (communal) showers are always viewed as damp rooms , while saunas , commercial kitchens and domestic bathrooms depend on the respective definition of the term.

In DIN 18195 Part 1, Point 3.33, a wet room is defined as an interior space in which, depending on the type of use, water accumulates in such an amount that floor drainage is required to drain it off. Bathrooms in residential buildings without a floor drain do not count as wet rooms. The shower cubicle itself should be viewed as a wet room.

In DIN VDE 0100-200: 2008: 2006-06, Section NC.3.5 defines a “wet room” as an area whose floors, walls and / or facilities are sprayed with water for operational, hygienic or other reasons. In Section NC.3.5, kitchens and bathrooms in apartments and hotels are defined as dry rooms , since moisture occurs in them only intermittently and with normal use, heating and ventilation, the mean, relative humidity is not significantly higher here than usual in living rooms. In contrast, in older publications, these rooms are often classified as damp rooms.

Nevertheless, certain rules must be followed when planning and equipping bathrooms in the home and in hotels:

• For areas exposed to water, DIN 18151-5 requires building waterproofing if moisture-sensitive building materials have been used in the floor or wall.
• For rooms with a built-in bathtub or shower tray, DIN VDE 0100-701 specifies the areas in which electrical equipment may be installed and which precautionary measures must be taken.

Examples of the higher demands on material and construction in a damp room

If a lightweight wall is being built for a bathroom, the wall panels - usually plasterboard - must be suitable for the effects of water. These are colored light green for better differentiation and have the type designation "H" in accordance with DIN EN 520. In Germany, wallboards with the designation "H2" are generally used, which according to the standard test may absorb a maximum of 10% water after two hours of storage in water .

The professional sealing of wet areas depends on the type of load and is divided into class 0, A0 2 and A0 2. The sealing material (e.g. polymer dispersion, reaction resins) must be selected depending on the class and the substrate for the covering (see "Moisture in the building", Table 5.1, p. 41.)

For electrical systems in rooms with a bathtub and shower, defined areas 0, 1 and 2 and their limits in accordance with DIN VDE 0100-701: 2008-10 must be taken into account. This requires extensive precautions for electrical safety in such rooms.

See also

• bathroom

Web links

• Guideline "Moisture in Buildings" (German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DIN 4108-3: 2001-07, since edition 1981
2. ↑ DIN 18151-5; In the case of domestic bathrooms without a floor drain with moisture-sensitive surrounding components (e.g. timber construction, drywall, steel construction), special attention must be paid to protection against moisture during planning . An architect who, for example, does not plan a waterproofing in residential bathrooms, accepts an increased risk of damage.
3. ↑ DIN VDE 0100-701: 2008-10: In rooms with a bathtub or shower there is a higher risk for people - due to the at least temporarily damp ambient conditions - of being endangered by electrical systems and equipment than in the otherwise usual dry environment.
4. ↑ DIN EN 520. Brochure from Rigips.
5. ↑ Moisture in the building. (PDF) A guide to avoiding harm. (No longer available online.) Competence center “Cost-effective, quality-conscious building” in the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, December 2007, p. 41 , formerly in the original ; Retrieved August 13, 2013 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.