wet area (bathroom) outlets

18 years ago

We're adding a universal access bathroom. One suggestion for the disabled/elderly was the inclusion of an electrical outlet and a phone jack in the toilet area. This bathroom will have a tiled "wet area" that includes a walk-in (roll-in) shower and the toilet.

Can the ordinary exterior, covered outlets be used in this humid environment? Are there other types of outlets that should be considered?

What about phone jacks?

We're not doing this ourselves, but want to be knowledgeable. I know about GFCI outlets, but should there be multiple circuits for outlets? For example, one circuit for this wet area and another for the outlets around the vanity/sink?

If this question has already been asked, I apologize. My search may have requested the wrong terms.

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (3)

petey_racer
18 years ago
You CANNOT have receptacles in the shower area. Period.

The other areas are NOT wet locations and would use standard devices/plates. This is unless the area will/can be washed down.
canishel
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for the quick reply. Just goes to show that published info may be incomplete, or just wrong.
Back to the drawing board...
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perel
18 years ago
What's better is to make the whole room waterproof, no curb on the shower, and slope the rest of the floor towards the shower drain. The "toilet in the shower" is really annoying to live with. A curbless shower, on the other hand, is still just a shower - all the ones I've seen still had the regular outlet at the sink even though the sink was in the waterproofed area.

Of course, it ultimately comes down to how your AHJ defines "shower area".. if there's a shower curtain and the toilet/sink area is out of the "spray zone" you ought to be OK. I'd check with your local inspector first though.