I noticed that in switzerland, most bathrooms don't have a drain hole on the floor. When children spill water during shower or bathing or using faucets etc, there's no easy way to clean the water on floor.

What is your solution to this problem? If I want to make a drain hole on my bathroom, what technician should I talk to? Any recommendation? Is it worth it?

Thanks!

Mop it up?

Don't let the kids spill large quantities of water on the floor, use a large bath math and secure your shower curtain to the wall with clips.

Isn't that annoying that you have to do that regularly?

No, not when you do what swisstree recommends. Welcome to the part of the world that has drain holes in showers and bath tubs only (Europe I mean)

Apart from that, it keep your bathroom floor clean :-)

Kids always say: OK, I'll avoid spilling waters while I'm in bathtub. However they can't really control it and the results look inevitable to me...

So? What do you do when you have a drain hole? Do not use the bath room until it all has dried?

@pkb
If you live in a rented property, you are not allowed to make such alterations without written prrmission from the landlord. And I can't imagine one giving permission for such a major change.

Yes, frequently having to mop up a lot of splashed water would certainly be annoying. The sooner you teach all the children (and adults!) how to use the bathroom without splashing a lot, the better. Good suggestions made by Swisstree.

Here's another tip: if the children are old enough to have that conversation, then make the job of mopping up the floor their work. They might not get it completely right, but being held responsible for the greater part of the consequences of one's actions.... that can be a quick way to learn to modify one's behaviour!

Actually I have another use case. My mom couldn't use stairs as her legs are not as good as before. I would like to setup living space for her in my ground floor, but the only question is the toilet in that floor is a guest toilet and she can't take a shower there.

I'm thinking to remodel that guest toilet to allow her to take a shower when she visits us (not frequently, but when she does it lasts a few weeks). I assume I'll need a drain hole in that case too.

Is drain hole really a bad idea?

Depends on whether you rent the place or own it. We had a shower made next to the guest toilet for the exact same reason

I suspect there's some cultural differences here. I did have pleasant experience with drain hole in bathroom before I moved to Switzerland. It's really not that bad...

Anyway, I just wanna know where I can find a technician to do that. It's not a rented property so don't worry about the permission part.

They're pretty uncommon in residential settings.

If you're going to remodel the guest bathroom to include a shower then get the builder to include a quote for chopping the floor out for a drain - my bet is that it will be eye watering.

Our youngsters were 'water rats' and if there was more water still in the bath than on the floor when they had finished it was a sure sign that they were ill!
I suppose I felt that by the time I had mopped it up, I could postpone cleaning the floor for another day.

I wouldn't dream of trying to make any drains in the floor. Any slight leak somewhere is going to cause a lot of expensive damage - and you don't notice it happening for quite a long time.

How old are the kids?

If young kids, I'd supervise and show them how to wash/ dry themselves properly without making a huge mess.

If older, get them to mop it up and clean the bathroom after they're finished, they'll soon learn how to control the water.

Spoilsport!

Totally agree for an existing bathroom. We had a fabulous 'Italian style' bathroom installed for guests last year- and it has not tray but a slightly sloping slope to the long drain in the tiles floor- with a special liner underneath in case of minor leaks - and it is fabulous. No tray. But yes, eye watering cost, as we had to knock walls and rebuild to extend, changed window to triple glazing, and ripped ceiling for proper insualtions, etc. But is is wonderful and guests just love it.

Have to say never visited a European country with drain in the floor.

How else am I going to have time to go on the forum and write my incredibly useful posts?

If the kids miss a bit, they have to start all over again.. mopping up is a serious business in this house. The rubber ducks don't get much water either..

Sounds like it needs a lot more explanation than a traditional beating.

You need to find a plumber and a tile guy. Google "Sanitär" in your area and you'll find a number of plumbers. Google "Platten" in your area and you'll find someone to redo your floor. I would find a tile guy first and let them get the plumber involved. If you want to do it right, you should make the floor slope to the new drain rather than just putting a drain on the floor.

Depending on your subfloor and how close you are to the nearest drainpipe, it could be a relatively simple job (I would guess minimum 2,000 CHFs if you don't DIY) or a major undertaking (5000 +).


It isn't any different than a built-in shower drain; there just isn't a shower head above the new drain.

Denmark. OH's so-called bathroom is basically the loo; in one tiny space the size of a small cupboard you'll find that as well as the toilet and hand basin there's a wall mounted shower head attached to the sink's taps by a hose. The floor of said cupboard is lower than the hall's floor by ~5cms and there's a tiny drainhole in the corner under the sink.
To use said facilities you strip off in the hallway (lucky, lucky neighbours in the flat opposite), step into the 'bathroom', draw a shower curtain across the doorway to protect the wooden door, plus a second curtain to stop the water soaking the loo and its attached paper dispenser, shower, step back out into the hallway where you've had to leave your towel, dry off and then dress, all the while amusing the neighbours by your attempts at getting dry whilst retaining some faint traces of dignity.
OH dashes across starkers from the bedroom to the bathroom, but I've given up doing that as without my glasses on I tend to crash into nasty sharp things such as doorways and trip over chairs. Besides, if I can't see the neighbours, they can't see me. Right???!
Apparently this is considered a perfectly normal set-up here and very few places have a proper bathroom, even very expensive new-builds as they're considered a waste of space.

I can't wait to get back to my lovely, lovely house on Friday and wallow in my nice big bath!!!!