Checking for bath movement

[daveg360]

Hi First post - already looking for help, sorry!

The problem:
My brother-in-law has a problem with the seal around his bath, familiar problem with a million topics. What I'd like to do is check the bath for movement before resealing it for him (why waste my time if it's just going to fail again).

My proposal:
What I would like to do is draw a line with a felt tip on the tiles along the top of the bath. Then fill the bath to the overflow (perhaps get in too) and draw another line and see if it's moved.

Would this work? or would the movement be too subtle?

Thanks
Dave

 

[jctilingservices]

the answer to the question, " does the bath have movement" is YES

all baths have slight movement, how was it sealed originally ?

clean all the old silicon / sealer off, wipe over with nail varnish remover, fill bath anout 3/4 full, then seal around it, leave water in for a good few hours, overnight is better, then pull the plug out and watch as the bath rises slightly the seal will get tighter, job done

By the way mate, welcome to the forum, and dont worry about questions thats what we are here for, to help in any way we can

Jimmy

 

[Richard C]

It rather depends how much “give” there is in the floor/joists which can depend on many things. As JCT says, a bath mounted on a suspended floor will always move vertically to a certain extent, what with the weight of all that water & a person (or two ). You will almost certainly be able to see it but if it’s moving more than around 1mm, a silicone bead is unlikely to cope for that long. The bath should be also be anchored to the wall at each end to ensure it’s not moving away from the wall at the same time. “Sistering” some of the joists can help if the movement is excessive.

Use a good quality silicone of the correct type & make sure the surfaces are thoroughly clean; fill the bath up to overflow & apply the silicone bead, finish off & leave overnight to fully cure before emptying the bath. This ensures the bead is in compression for most of the time & not overstressed when the bath is full.

 

[daveg360]

Thanks Folks

Probably should have said - this is their second bath. The original broke it's seal on a weekly basis and they were advised that it was due to the bath being too thin (cheap). They had a much thicker bath installed but it's already failing.

 

[ajrobb]

I have just refitted a fairly new cheap plastic bath. Let me first say that I am wary of failing bath seals as this is all that was left of joists under the old leaking bath:

Untitled

• ajrobb
• 24 Apr 2010
• 5

I have securely screwed battens to the walls (right into the studs or masonry). The lip of the bath rests on these battens. Also, as the bath has wooden inserts to take panels, I screwed the battens to these wooden inserts. I painted the wall above the battens with a couple of coats of SBR then I filled the gap between the bath and the wall with clear silicone sealant as a second line of defence. I have now tiled the walls and will be finishing with a normal silicone bead.