Picture Credit: ErikaWittlieb
The bathroom is usually one of the most favorite rooms in the house. This is not only a “room for washing”: here a person becomes purer, better, more beautiful not only externally, but also internally, as, left alone, resting, relaxing, concentrating on his thoughts. But, alas, this wonderful room is not so safe: according to statistics, about 75% of all “home” accidents happen in the bathroom. Therefore, it is worth to be vigilant and to find ways to improve its security. Moreover, today it can be done easily, with minimal costs, without disturbing the beauty of the interior.
Eternal struggle of water and electricity
Electricity and water are ardent antagonists. This is known to everyone, but in the bathroom, not without one, without the other can not do. Therefore, they have to “reconcile”. The basic rules for the peaceful coexistence of sources of possible problems are only three. First: the separation of them as far as possible. Second: all sockets, electrical appliances and lighting require mandatory grounding (in the houses, a ground loop is created, the grounding for the apartments comes from the electric switchboard on the floor). Third: the wiring in the bathroom can only be hidden, and the sockets, in order to avoid water ingress, are protected by curtains or shields.
The safety of the bathroom significantly increases the protective shutdown unit, which can be installed in the switch cabinet directly in the apartment. Although there is another option: for example, installation in the bathroom of a special outlet, which already has a protective shutdown unit. In the event of an extreme situation (insulation damage, short circuit, voltage surge, etc.), the unit turns off the power. And the shutdown occurs for a fraction of milliseconds, and even if a person touches the wiring, it will not bring him any harm. As an additional prize, the technique will not be affected either.
In general, buying household appliances, it is not superfluous to ask about the degree of its protection: many manufacturers produce a technique with a protective shutdown built into the plug. Pay attention also to the marking on the level of protection from water of all electrical appliances that you plan to use in the bathroom. The highest level of protection – the 5th – guarantees complete safety of the device even in case of hit on it by a strong directional water jet.
Non-slip floor
The best flooring than ceramic tiles, for the bathroom has not yet come up. In terms of resistance to moisture, ease of maintenance and environmental friendliness, it has no equal.
You can lay on the floor of the bathroom not glazed, but rough or embossed tiles. However, tiles without glazed coatings have much lower waterproof values than required for the bathroom, and the glazed “relief” is still slippery.
But there is a way out. Firstly, today it is easy to find an anti-slip product on the market, designed specifically to cover the floors of bathrooms, saunas, shower cabins, swimming pools, etc. Nothing supernatural: a transparent liquid is periodically applied to the floor, dries, and slipping on the floor is already problematic – even if the feet are wet. The treated coating from the untreated is not visually distinct, but does not slip.
Carpet for comfort
Picture Credit: jeanvdmeulen
After a hot bath or shower, getting barefoot on the cold floor is certainly not very pleasant. A mat is needed that will smooth out the temperature difference, and also will not “ride” over the surface. Types of anti-slip mats for bathrooms today have been developed many. Moreover, their characteristics improve constantly. So, there are rugs, the main task of which is to prevent slipping. On the lower surfaces of such mats are imprinted plain rubber or rough coatings. The “advanced” products of this plan are equipped with suckers. Water draining from the body of a person, freely passes through the parts of the rug – then it will only have to wipe the floor. By the way, such anti-slip mats can be attached not only to the floors, but also directly to the bathroom or on the shower floor: the suckers firmly hold the product even in water. The design of such rugs is varied, but more often than not they are light and delicate. Their upper surface consists of their soft bulges, as a result of which bathing is combined with a pleasant massage.
Also popular are anti-slip mats, which are based on foamed materials. They do not get wet and do not slip. No special devices, the reverse side of such rugs is not equipped, but they seem to be glued to the floor or bathroom surface – this is facilitated by the many small holes that pierce the whole product.
But the most comfortable mats for the bathroom are made of special microfiber. Soft and fluffy, they quickly absorb water, but at the same time they seem dry! And sliding is excluded due to rubber bulges on the bottom surface. Of course, you can not put such a rug in the bathroom itself – only on the floor. But, in addition to anti-slip properties and comfort, this mat has very valuable qualities: impregnated with a bactericide that excludes the spread of fungal diseases, as well as perfume.
A secure bathroom is determined by the thoughtfulness of each of its elements. This is especially important if the house has children or elderly people. Of course, it is better to install handrails in a shower cubicle or near a bathtub than to constantly worry about that someone may fall. It is better to equip the faucets in the bathroom and shower with a valve that controls the temperature than to fear that someone can scald or get a shock from a sudden ice stream. Better to buy a shower stall is more expensive, but with tempered glass or curtains from heat-resistant plastic, than to listen, whether the broken glass is ringing behind a wall. It is better to buy lockers for household chemicals with lockable doors, furniture – with rounded corners, and hangers for towels and linens – in the form of bars, rather than hooks. Just decide that there can not be another in your bathroom. After all, you want to be able to relax in it and get rid of problems, and not vice versa.