What Are Weatherproof Switches? | Apartment Therapy

I’ve written about the ups and downs of living in a vintage building before — the joys of crown molding, the ick of having a built-in soap dish that doesn’t fit with my bathroom decor. However, there’s yet another bathroom feature in my 1940s building that stands out from most apartments, old and new, and it’s also in the bathroom — specifically, it’s the light switch.

My bathroom light switch plate doesn’t resemble any I’ve ever seen before — it’s a gray, coated piece that flips up and down on a switch angled sideways. It definitely has a manufactured, almost industrial feel, which immediately makes you wonder why it was added to an otherwise regular old apartment. It didn’t quite fit into my blue-and-white vintage bathroom, though everyone else who entered it was fascinated.

You wouldn’t think a light switch would be a conversation piece, but every single person who ever entered my apartment always asked me about it. All I knew from the property manager was that it was a waterproof switch cover installed for safety reasons, since the shower was right next to the light switch. To get more details, I turned to Bo Knoblauch, director of design at Rejuvenation, who confirmed this for me.

“The switch plate in the image looks like it’s made from steel with a powder-coated finish for durability,” he explains. He adds that the switch plates for rotary switches, which were one of the earliest forms of electric switches, were “made from raw cast iron and porcelain. As manufacturing techniques progressed with technology, steel plates became widely available in the early 20th century.”

But are weatherproof or waterproof switch plates commonly seen indoors? Yes, according to Knoblauch. “These historical switch plates are commonly found in utilitarian spaces, such as basements, entryways, mudrooms, and more. They are a nod to the past and the history of homes built in the early 20th century,” he says. So while bathrooms might not be a common place to see them, they are definitely found indoors.

If your style tends toward industrial, these would make a great addition in almost any room. They would even make a great addition to a rustic style farmhouse kitchen, where they give an added safety benefit since you’re likely to have wet hands in that space. Bathrooms are another great place to use them, though it might be harder to fit them in as most bathrooms tend to be heavy on tile that doesn’t fit either of these aesthetics. If you choose a rougher stone look, however, you might be able to add these switch plates there as well.

You might also, like me, already have a weatherproof switch in a room where it doesn’t quite fit. In that case, you might consider painting it a different color, to suit your color scheme better, or consider a custom switch plate cover that you can size up to go around your weatherproof one, especially if you rent. If you own your property, you might consider replacing them with a new switch plate and cover — just make sure the cover has the same weatherproof functionality.