Hi,
I have an old nasty cast iron bath which I'd like to change, just wondering if this is a simple DIY or best left to a pro ?
More than happy to have a go, and get my hands dirty. I've done a lot of DIY over the years but never plumbing to be honest.
Advice and warnings away welcome :)
U using a plastic replacement ?...Plenty of folk have done it incl myself and it's fairly straightforward altho' I have done it before and done some plumbing ....not sure if I'd say it was simple but reasonably easy if you take care ..U got anything else to do at same time ..tiling for example ?
You'll need to break it into a few pieces to move it (wear defenders - these things are like church bells when you take a lump hammer to them, also goggles as the enamel flies in all directions)
Yeah I thought I'd buy one of those acrylic ones from B&Q , nice and light and easy to wiggle around for fitting :) .. those cast iron ones are going to be mighty heavy I reckon ... but I guess they are built to last.
I thought if I get the bath in first then I'd do the tiling afterwards ? (already removed the old tiles)
Blimey Phil that sounds like a ball ache. I was hoping to just cut the surrounding mastic, turn off water, drain remaining water in taps, remove taps and grab the bath and wiggle it out if its not attached to anything else ...
you've no idea how heavy they are.
If you do get it out in one piece its worth a bit.
And then what? - it'll have to be moved out of the house to make way for the new one, and it weighs about 250lbs If you've got 2 or 3 mates to give you a hand, then try and carry it out in one piece, but expect gouges in walls and door frames etc, and if it's gotta go down a flight of stairs, expect ripped carpets, nope, it's a 7lb lump hammer, and don't let anyone try to talk you into using an angle grinder.
Also, you're better leaving the taps attached, just cut the pipes underneath. (they make decent handles)
It's not that difficult. Chances are the existing hot and cold pipes, and waste pipe won't quite be in the right places - so you have to cut them back, and join the new pipework into them. Provided the existing supply pipes are copper and the waste pipe plastic you shouldn't have too much trouble - although you may well need imperial to metric adapters for some pipes. However, if any of them are lead pipes, I'd call in a plumber!
It's best to use full-bore flexible pipes - preferably with built-in isolation valves - as the final tap connections.
You'll need to consider how best to seal between the new bath and the wall(s). If you're tiling, it's best to fit the bath first[1], then tile down to it. Half fill the bath with water before tiling so that it sits at the same level as when it is in use.
[1] You can, of course, happily fit all but the lowest row of tiles *before* fitting the bath if that makes things easier to get at
Are you an olympic weightlifter then?
You can do that, but you will probably need two people to shift it.
Point made :) having read the posts on how heavy they are, as per usual I've underestimated the job. But will still have a go with help.
Stephen wibbled on Sunday 06 December 2009 22:21
I've just fitted an acrylic bath. It's easy enough as the bath can be lowered and diddled about with by one person and easily moved by two people.
I did as many suggested when I asked:
Ran 2x4" batten all round the walls, set dead level and fixed to teh brick with 3" screws. 3x3" batten was used where there was an inch gap between the bath and a wall at one end.
The lip of the bath will sit on this and it really makes the installation substantial... I made a tight fitting 2x2" frame (chamfered down to 1" at the top) for the open side. This braces the remaining lip to the floor and gives you something solid to screw a bath panel too.
Check the bath lip depth before committing to my batten sizes - mine are overkill but they worked and I keep a lot of 2x4" around, being a useful size.
Sit bath in place and tweak up the feet until they are taking some (but not quite all) of the load. Fill with water to check, after connecting drain(!)
I did put a large blob of silicone under each wooden lip pad (there were I think 8 in all, round my bath. You are supposed to fix these to metal brackets to the wall, but I quickly discounted that as a crap idea.). What I would say, is if you do this, make sure that the bath is squished all the way down before this sets. The idea was to prevent pad to batten rubbing resulting in squealing noises and to give the bath some lateral restraint.
Mine didn't bed down perfectly one end is 2mm high. Can't see this at all with normal observation, but it did slightly mess up my attempts to ensure a clean runoff from some horizontal tiles filling the 1" gap. So I have to wipe the water off with a cloth now...
Mine was an awkward install into a 2' deep recess in the wall which made life more difficult.
It will be a lot easier with a typical "bath in the corner" setup.
I also left a 1/8" gap between the bath and the close fitting walls and pumped this full of silicone as others suggested. That certainly worked well. Extra leak proofing and that side is very firmly supported with no tendency to squeak.
Use Fernox LS-X (fancy plumbers' silicone) sparingly on the overflow and waste fittings. Extra leakproofing and it stops them wandering as the holes are often rather oversized.
Consider a smear between the tap and the bath top to reduce the likelihood of "turny tap" syndrome. I skipped this step as I was running copper tails to the taps and these stiffen the tap mountings up anyway. But worth considering if using flexible tails or plastic.
Bosch holesaws make a nice job of cutting the tap holes. I went 2mm oversized relative to the 3/4" BSP thread and that was a nice fit.
Don't forget to peel back the plastic film from any bits you are about to apply silicone to :)
Leave bulk of film in place for as long as possible - it does offer some protection from damage whilst fiddling.
HTH
Tim
Don't get a cheap bath that is thin plastic.
DO wear goggles if breaking the old bath.
Fit isolating calves for the new pipework / tap connectors.
Put hardwood pads under the feet of the new bath to stop the feet sinking into the floor boards.
Surprised no-one has suggested a steel bath as replacement, they do not summer the creak-groan problems - although there is a big difference between a cheap & thin plastic bath and a good solid one.
Lifting out in one piece? Forget it.
You may find the existing bath is on scraps of wood, or adjustable feet. If so drop the height so it comes away from the tiles, then you can get the new one in. The fun can be outlet waste.
Note 1 - If your bathroom is tiny, you may want to verify the replacement bath will fit through the doorway. Not the first time a bath requires a window-out or wall-down. Incredibly my mother's bath, which is a thick cast iron monster was replaced by the builder - only way was to remove the window, no idea how they got it up and in (scaffolding still in place I guess).
Note 2 - If the house is old, beware the upstairs lighting cable running up the bathroom wall. Not something to find out if you do not have RCD on lighting and are sat in an earthed cast iron bath.
In message , Roger Mills writes
Roger, I totally agree with your above comments but may I argue with you about the tiling? I've DiYed a few baths and in each case before fitting the bath worked out where the tiles would make a good pattern with the top of the bath and then tiled one row below the top before fixing the bath. Then when fixing the bath run a thick bead of sealant between the edges of the bath and the tiles 10mm or so in from the edges to a) make a water tight seal and b) to secure the bath to the wall, in addition to all the other fixings. Filling with water as you say as well. Then running the final bead of sealant and finishing off. This is handy if you have kids that to pick at the sealant. They may remove the decorative bit, but the first, lower run keeps the water from running down below the bath.
If you want a perfect sealant finish then invest in a Fugenboy !!
A lot better than a wet finger for giving a pro finish, remember to spray liberally with slightly soapy water and practice somewhere first.
Had two of those, one for here and one for my father, and they've been fine.
Find yourself a 60+ year old, get them to sign up for a B&Q Diamond Card in-store and get yourself 10% off on a Wednesday.
You can also go through TopCashBack to reserve and collect (do the reserving on the Tuesday for the following day) and get £2 for your trouble.
And when they grow up you can get free milk or..if you can't wait for that ..You can get some veal. :-)
John wibbled on Sunday 06 December 2009 23:08
My acrylic bath came from the BathStore(.com). No complaints yet - seems well made and the base panel is bonded inside the layers of fiberglass, not vaguely stuck on the underside like so many cheap ones.
Ow, yes. Or be ready to have someone drive you to A&E to get the bits of metal out of your eye.
js.b1 wibbled on Sunday 06 December 2009 23:09
I would have gone for a pressed steel bath had my site not been so awkward (in fact it would have been impossible for anyone except Arnie to get it in my bathroom).
Agreed though, not much more expensive and the ones I looked at were impressively solid.
Check the waste fitting. Mine was lead with lead pipe, around 15ft of it. There was no way a modern fitting would go on to the lead, so that had to come out too. The waste for the sink was the same, lead! So that was all replaced with plastic and to hook up the pipes I used push-fit connectors and those flexible pipes. It was a bigger job than expected. The old bath had to be broken with a huge hammer and taken out in pieces.
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