Moving a Cast Iron Bath

[Andrew May]

I have just replaced a cast iron bath. Nothing worth salvaging, it is

1970s with poor enamelling. No lions feet or such. It is not sitting on the landing and needs to be disposed of.

Because of the geometry of the stairs the bath will have to be upended at the top of the stairs and then tipped to the horizontal over the edge. I don't fancy being under it when I do that - it's bloody heavy.

So looking for any useful suggestions as to how to get it downstairs in one piece without standing under it at any point.

Failing all else I can break it up in situ but I am aware that this option can be rather loud and messy.

Andrew

[The Natural Philosopher]

Loud, but not that messy. But watch oput for shrapnel

Rope through the tap holes, and a lot of padding taped to the walls is a possible.

Abseil it down..

[Andrew May]

I had thought about a rope through the tap holes and it would work since it is a straight flight of stairs. However the problem is getting it into that position in the first place. Upend it then tilt forward over the top of the stairs. I am NOT standing underneath it to pull it down.

A hammer it is then.

[harryagain]

Set it on it's feet and put a blanket round it. Big (lump/sledge) hammer. It will smash easy hitting on the inside. (Cast iron doesn't like tension.) It's only thin metal. Wear goggles/earplugs, no audience. Fragments of enamel make shrapnel. (It is actually glass.)

[Nightjar]

I used an angle grinder to cut mine into three bits, each of which could be carried down stairs between two people.

Colin Bignell

[GB]

You have to take your hat off to the guys who got it up there in one piece in the first place.

[ARWadsworth]

One of the few jobs I wear both goggles and ear defenders for.

[Nightjar]

I'm not sure they didn't build the house around it. That has to be the way the iron water tank got into the loft.

Colin Bignell

[john]

I remember one of my first jobs as a school leaver, helping a local builder renovate a house. His hired gorilla decided to break up the cast iron bath with a sledgehammer. I had seen my dear old grandad do this several times and remember him doing it from the inside with a regular hammer, couple of blows and hey presto. Tried telling said gorilla, but he dismissed my advice, turned the bath over and swung the sledgehammer with all his might. Now you know on the cartoons when the character hits something unbreakable, hammer rebounds and reverberates up their body.............................

[Andrew May]

Although since it has been in the house since it was built I suspect that it was probably got up there before a lot of the things like banister rails and even walls.

[Another Dave]

Also thick gloves or hand padding. When I did this job my hands tingled for several days.

Another Dave

[The Natural Philosopher]

+2

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Nightjar saying something like:

I'm utterly sure many were, when new estates were going up in the

30s/40s/50s. I've seen several where it just wouldn't have been possible to get a CI bath up the stairs.

[The Medway Handyman]

Now that is 'real' DIY!

[Phil L]

I've smashed dozens of 'em, they're easy to break into 4 manageable pieces, not that loud but there will be shards of glass pinging in all directions, so tip it over so that the enamelled side is down (preferably on a sheet) before you give it a good hiding, and don't be tempted to break it into lots of small pieces, they're a pain in the arse to move afterwards

[Mr Pounder]

You poor thing, my heart bleeds for you. When I was an apprentice I smashed up many a bath with a hammer. I was 16. My heart bleeds for you.