Baths - Steel or acrylic - Which is best?

[Guy King]

The message from Helen Deborah Vecht contains these words:

Yeah, well, I didn't want to give away /all/ your secrets!

[David WE Roberts]

[I was reading all the other posts to see if this was covered, but eventually I lost the will to live]

For price, cheap pressed steel and cheap acrylic baths are much of a muchness.

If you are bathing (filling and sitting in) again, much of a muchness.

When I did my second bathroom, I went for acrylic for the following reason:

We shower mostly, so we were looking for a bath to shower in. Pressed steel is shaped in curves, and so the standing area at the bottom of the bath is quite small. Acrylic baths are moulded and so the bases are flatter.

If you are paying a bit more money, then you can get acrylic baths with wide strong bases ideal for a combination bath and shower tray.

Don't worry too much about the flexibility of cheap acrylic baths. I had a major panic attack about out cheapo Homebase unit (and was reassured by this NG). With battens along the walls to support the rim, the cradle adjusted nicely. the brackets from the wooden bits in the bath rim fixed to the wall it all settled in nice and firmly.

My personal vote is for acrylic but that assumes you will be showering a lot (or mostly). You did mention a shower bath :-)

HTH

Dave R

[David Smithz]

Thanks for this Dave. Yes definitely showing (at least three every morning) much more then bathing (only the odd bath to be honest). I did like the look of the bath that give the extra width in the shower bit.

B&Q for example have this shower bath with an extended bit that is flat (as opposed to rounded like most) Not sure of the link will work but see

(be careful of the word wrap but if you search for 5060045950284 you will see it). They do have a rounded one not listed on the wbesite, but it is more money (about £100 more) and also means I have to buy a curved shower screen (about £300 opposed to £100).

It is hard to tell anything about the quality of this bath so I welcome any opinion of those in the know. Also as I have now fitted a combi boiler I was going to go for a mixer shower (I assume I am correct here). There was a nice looking one in B&Q for about £330 (I think it had a 5 year guarantee too) but I did not really understand why some were so much more then others. They all looked similar function wise.

Is Mira a good one to get (not on website model I'm looking at).

So many decisions to make with my bathroom especially as my budget has seemingly shot up from £1000 which is what my mates told me I could spend to the £2750 I have been quoted for labour and the £1500 I'm looking to spend on parts - boo hoo)

Cheers

[The Medway Handyman]

Personaly I'd go for acrylic, but heed the advice others have given - they do need supporting carefully, especially underneath. The metal legs are OK, but I also built a frame out of 2 x 2 to support the entire base of mine.

[Chippy Roy]

[

With battens along the walls to support the rim, the cradle adjusted nicely. the brackets from the wooden bits in the bath rim fixed to the wall it all settled in nice and firmly.

My personal vote is for acrylic but that assumes you will be showerin a lot (or mostly). You did mention a shower bath :-)

HTH

Dave

-- Chippy Roy

[Owain]

I'm all in favour of hygiene but three times in a morning sounds a little obsessive-compulsive.

Owain

[Chippy Roy]

.

Don't worry too much about the flexibility of cheap acrylic baths. had a major panic attack about out cheapo Homebase unit (and was reassure by this NG). With battens along the walls to support the rim, the cradle adjusted nicely. the brackets from the wooden bits in the bath rim fixed to the wall it all settled in nice and firmly.

My personal vote is for acrylic but that assumes you will be showerin a lot (or mostly). You did mention a shower bath :-)

HTH

Dave R

The plastic/fibreglass bath that I installed has a timber/ply beare running along the underside of the bath and then the support feet ar fixed to this which takes the weight when you step into the bath. Th side and end where the panels are I framed up with 25mmx38mm sawn timbe and along the wall side there are two metal straps that screw to th wall. When ready for tiling you should half fill the bath with wate which will settle it firmly, fix the tiles and leave for the til adhesive and grout to dry. I installed my bath eleven years ago and hav had no touble with it, I have only had to change the sealant which goe around the bath and tile joint. I hope this is helps you Ro

-- Chippy Roy

[Blueyonder]

That's right - and room temperature ain't hot ;-)

-- JJ

[Mary Fisher]

So do I.

Funny, innit.

>

[Mike Halmarack]

I've struggled through many a tight spot and up flights of stairs with cast iron baths to enjoy the aesthetics. It played a large part in making me the wreck I am. Knackered but clean with it. :-)

[Cicero]

> It is hard to tell anything about the quality of this bath so I welcome > any

======================= Don't be deceived by this bath.

The dimensions for width 690mm minimum / 800mm maximum are not very different from those of a standard bath which is usually about 700mm. You might be better off just buying a standard bath unless you really need the extra 100mm / 4" provided by the bath in the picture. And of course it's actually narrower than standard at the normal 'sitting' end .

Cic.

[Liam]

Hello! Having chipped the enamel on our cast iron bath at Christmas (I dropped a hammer on it) my final choice for a replacement was a Kaldewei Enamelled Steel bath Model 627. Lovely solid bath made from

3.5mm steel with a 30 year warranty. Well pleased with it and would buy again but it was heavy to get into place in a small bathroom. The bloke who delivered the bath was staggering under the weight and it did have a label 'Akthung Not too be lifted by single person' on the packing.