I am looking at buying a new bath. I see most of them are acrylic these days. Some of them do not come with tap holes, which surprises me. I would be nervous of drilling them wrong and ruining an expensive bath. How easy are they to drill and what type of drill bit do you use? Presumably you measure twice, drill once, and use pilot holes?
I used a hole saw, but I made a template out of plywood first to ensure the drill could not slip, and to help keep it vertical. Of course, you then ha ve to get the template in the correct place. And make sure you allow for ti le overlap so there is space for your chosen taps to turn without fouling t he wall.
he drill could not slip, and to help keep it vertical. Of course, you then have to get the template in the correct place. And make sure you allow for tile overlap so there is space for your chosen taps to turn without fouling the wall.
Oh, and also do not put the holes too close to the bath - make sure there i s space underneath for the tap washer / bolt on the flat section. This is t rickier if it is a reinforced acrylic (Carronite or whatever) which is thic ker. In short, the tap positioning was fairly well constrained.
Acrylic is one of the easiest things to drill. Start with a small drill and work up gradually - or use a hole saw. But do make sure not to let things get hot as it can melt. If using a hole saw, keep the speed slow and use water to lubricate/cool things. The water will boil before the acrylic melts.
Draw out an accurate template on your computer in real size and print out. Then glue to the bath with Pritt stick or other water soluble glue.
OK - first. Good hole saw. I used the Bosch Progressor:
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(You can but singly, don't forget the arbor)
Next - tape spacings. Read the dimensions of half a dozen mixer tap aseemblies. I forget the spacings between hole centres but IIRC it was pretty standard. Use these dimensions EVEN IF USING pillar taps. You may want to change them one day.
Last - cover the area with masking tape - then mark and drill through that from the top. Go gentle and it should not chip at all. The tape will help stop pilot drill wander and should help reduce any splintering.
With PPP (proper planning and prep) it actually all went quite well when I did it - clean holes in the right place.
Oh - and when placing the taps - THINK and THINK again.
Can you get the nut on the bottom? Will the taps/pipes clear any batten you will have around the edge to support the bath? Usually , along a lone halfway between back edge and bath edge is about right.
Some people might want to use a mixer with just one hole, some might not want bath mounted taps at all. This way they only need to provide one version of the bath.
Enamelled steel baths come with holes already in of course
Try the plumbers apprentice the other day at a new build.
He marked off the center point of the taps with a nice pencil cross, and then he used that cross to mark out the positions of the two holes needed for the taps.
The daft sod then drilled three holes in the bath. Two for the tap and one on the center cross he made to mark out the tap position.
Nice clean holes and all done with a bog standard hole cutter.
Not all taps mount on the bath - some may project from a wall, some bath fillers fill from the overflow position, others may hang over an end on long floor mounted stalks. Hence the trend for non drilled baths.
They are easy to drill. The ideal drill is a hole saw. Mark the centres of the taps, use a pilot bit in the hole saw, and cut a hole slightly oversize (but smaller than the flange on the taps).
(although I would not recommend it, I have even drilled an acrylic bath with a spade bit once!)
The baths I have seen for wall taps or floor mounted taps, do not have a flat area on the rim of the bath. Some baths have a flat area intended for taps. I can't see you would buy one of these to use with wall or floor taps, unless you use the flat area as a shelf. I just thought that the ones with this flat area would be pre-drilled. Oh well, the advice here is encouraging me that it won't be as bad as I thought.
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