Baths - Steel or acrylic - Which is best?

I prefer steel, although fancy shapes are usually only found in plastic. If you go plastic, make sure it is nice and thick, especially if you expect to stand in it.

Christian.

I prefer cast iron.

Mary

Well yes. I prefer to bathe in champagne and have hot chocolate taps, but it ain't gonna happen!

Christian.

This morning, while the ground was solid and the pond and bird baths turned to deep ice, I bathed in free hot water because the sun was shining!

Bathing in champagne is a waste though, it's best for internal use only :-) While bathing is a good idea ...

Our cast iron bath was brought round by the rag and bone many years ago, the price? A glass of whisky in the pub.

Mary

I can't stand drinking the stuff, so I'll probably be sipping on a nice cool Trappist beer instead whilst feeling those refreshing bubbles.

Christian.

If you chose an acrylic bath, especially if from the cheaper end of the range, I recommend fixing it on a wooden frame to support the upper rim (top end, long side and bottom end if necessary) which goes against the walls. If you don't then the bath will probably move as it fills with water, and move even more when someone stands in it. A gap will appear between the edge of the bath and the sealant, which will allow water to penetrate. This isn't an usually an issue with a metal bath as it is a rigid structure.

The glaze on an arcrylic bath tends to wear giving a dull appearence after some time.

Make sure, if you go acrylic, that it is well supported, both underneath the base and round the rim. I bought a reinforced "aqanite coated" acrylic bath, supported it with a 2" x 1" timber frame all round. Cetainly solid enough for a 13 stoner.

Phil

:-)

Mary

"TheScullster" typed

Erm, surely the weight of the bather is hardly the issue, as the water in the tub usually weighs rather more??

I don't know how many litres/gallons normally fill a tub but I suspect it's rather more than 90 litres/20 gallons (which weigh >14 stone)

Yes and no.

The bath I'm looking at holds around 200 litres (so 200kg). But when I get in there is another 120kg on top. Even 90kg adds 50%.

Nigel Molesworth typed

So only an insignificant proportion of your body gets submerged?

I like to soak/wallow in the tub and fill it enough to allow this.

The bath is therefore not full before I get in.

I would imagine you put maybe 150 litres into the bath and submerge about 50 of your kg.

The weight of the filled bath is then 270kg.

True, but the bather's weight tends to be localised... if he's sitting in just a few inches of water (ie not enough to impart significant buoyancy) then his weight will largely be concentrated beneath his buttocks. Then when he stands up (maybe showering?), it's even worse - the whole weight is transmitted downwards through the small area of his feet. And that's when the bath is most likely to crack, not when he's lying down almost floating, with just his nose sticking out of the water.

David

The submerged quantity is only relevant if it causes an overflow, Archimedes and all that. But I agree that 120kg + 150kg = 270kg

......which is when the bath comes through the ceiling.

The message from Matt contains these words:

My great uncle had a sunken bath in rural Kent in the 1920s. He'd seen one at the fleapit in some Amerian film and decided it was his heart's desire.

The effect in the bathroom was by all accounts[1] rather good but somewhat spoiled if you went into the kitchen and saw the claw-feet poking through the ceiling.

The same g-uncle had an inside-outside tap. Apparently the water rates were more for an outdoor tap so he had a hatch in the wall to allow access to the inside tap. A hatch big enough for the watering can.

Hi,

I was out looking for baths today. The only cast iron one I could find was £1300. Ouch. I was hoping to get the hardware for the whole bathroom for that!

Regards,

Glenn.

Best ones are cast iron.

Um.

I might be persuaded to do you a deal, Guv ...

Mary