Bath drops when full

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I've recently moved home into a 10year old house and one of the things i've noticed is that the bath drops a few mm when full which leaves a gap between the tiles and bath for water to get past when the kids are splashing about.

The floorboards are the chipboard type and look to be 22m thick and the legs are then sat on wooden strip so my assumption is that these should be suitable to support the weight of a full bath considering the house got through building regs?

Is it possible that the issue lays with the bath and supporting legs that are not up to it?
 
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plastic bath?

Also carefully look at (or photograph), full and empty, the feet and timber bearers and chipboard to see if they are deflecting. Chipboard is an awful material, even worse when it has been wet. The bearers should be offcuts of 38x63mm or similar, positioned so they span at least two joists. If they are just standing on chipboard and it gets wet they may fall through.
 
hack out the old silicone, ensure the foot/floor is OK, when re-sealing, it, fill the bath with water and fat people so it is fully loaded, put in the sealant, leave it to fully dry before letting out the ballast.

The idea is that the silicone will fit when the bath is full, instead of being stretched and pulling off.
 
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Believe it or not but there isn't currently any silicone sealant but just a flexible seal strip which is attached to the wall/tiles so doesn't move with the bath.

My thinking is to replace the bath with a more sturdy version once I've definitely ruled out any flex in the floor.
Is an acrylic bath going to be more sturdy?
 
Baths come in a few thicknesses. If the maker is proud of it, they will mention the thickness in the brochure or label. 4mm seems common. Steel baths are also rigid, I have not had one recently but they need not be expensive. I wouldn't have iron, because it sucks the heat out of the water.

Carron make some good baths, and they have some made of "Carronite" which is a sort of thickening layer. They are available in more sizes than most. I heard about it on here and am saving up....
 
Tomorrows job is to identify if there's any movement in the floor as well as material thickness of the bath
I've yet to work out where the joists are exactly and which way they run but the bath feet are supported on some bearing strips that are about 25 x 100 and across the width of the bath.

Needless to say the chipboard floor is a concern when it comes to being near water so will be tiling the floor but reluctant to do so until the bath is secure
 
10 year old house... Who built it?
Standards ain't what they used to be I'm sorry to say!
Contract bath for a contract bathroom for a contract house - everything decided on a feckin spreadsheet by economists :cautious:
 
I would agree that the build quality isn't good. If I'd have bought it new then I'm sure I'd have had a long snag list for the builders!
 
From what I can see there's a wooden batten frame on the underside of the bath but not fixed to the walls
 
I expect that the wooden battens under the bath, just run from side to side, in which case they aren't spreading the load very much. I use 3x2s that go across the joist, and that spreads the load further. But when you fill the bath and silicone the gap, it's actually best to fill it about half to 3/4 full, then the sealant will expand and compress equally. If you do it with the bath full, then even adding a person into the bath, the sealant will only ever compress as you empty the water out.
 
I've finally checked floor movement with water and a person in the bath and looks like less thanks 1mm movement compared to 2-3mm around the top of the bath so satisfied it's the bath that's the issue.

The plot thickens though as looks like the builders installed a1700 bath despite the gap being1670.
They had to cut holes in the walls at each end to get it to fit so next job is to remove the tiles and swap the bath out.
Most likely hunt for a 1670 bath and repair the walls though.
 
try Carron. They have quite a range of sizes.

I had a similar problem, though from memory my bath is 1650mm
 

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