Yo Dudes, Steel bath thicknesses.One thing I cannot stand is a wobbly old tub.You sit in it and it creaks,flexes and eventually the damn thing yanks its seal off! Am I thinking right...A steel bath cuts some of this sport down? And will there be a noticeable difference between thickness?....Plenty of difference on the price I see!
Bath build quality
- Thread starter pitchroof
- Start date
cast yer need a crane to move them
mind we get posh ones the surround is built in
mind we get posh ones the surround is built in
There are many types of bath available.
Steel
Cast Iron
Composite (Fibreglass etc)
Acrylic
etc.
The quality (and the price) varies for each material and within each material description.
IMO The installation work has more to do with the rigidity of the setup than the bath material.
The bath can be as rigid as you like, but if the flooring holding it up can flex, then it will move.
Adding timbers under the feet to spread the load over several floor joists helps.
Once that is taken care of, the tub needs to be levelled with all the feet taking their share of the weight.
A solid fixing to the wall behind the tub can contribute to the overall rigidity. I fixed a timber to the wall for the edge of the bath to rest on over it's full length. The sealant around the bath is only really supposed to maintain the seal against slight movement caused by thermal expansion etc. It's not really there to glue the bathtub to the wall.
Sometimes some additional framing made up from, say, 2x2s supporting the front behind the bath panel can also be helpful.
Steel
Cast Iron
Composite (Fibreglass etc)
Acrylic
etc.
The quality (and the price) varies for each material and within each material description.
IMO The installation work has more to do with the rigidity of the setup than the bath material.
The bath can be as rigid as you like, but if the flooring holding it up can flex, then it will move.
Adding timbers under the feet to spread the load over several floor joists helps.
Once that is taken care of, the tub needs to be levelled with all the feet taking their share of the weight.
A solid fixing to the wall behind the tub can contribute to the overall rigidity. I fixed a timber to the wall for the edge of the bath to rest on over it's full length. The sealant around the bath is only really supposed to maintain the seal against slight movement caused by thermal expansion etc. It's not really there to glue the bathtub to the wall.
Sometimes some additional framing made up from, say, 2x2s supporting the front behind the bath panel can also be helpful.
Tickly Hi.Yes I'm with the floor thing 100%...1950s joists however (like RSJs!) so I'm not too bothered there,I will beef up a bit ('bit of belt n braces never hurt)...'Got any words of wisdom about the different steel? And some bath undercarriages can be a bit pants I see. Kaldewei look good(?)
I've fitted two baths 
Second time, used loads of timber, vertical supports one-third-span behind the bath panel and at the ends, full support all around the other bath edges, 4x2 if you can get it in. Rock solid (famous last words).
I did help a friend with a kitchen a few years ago, and watched the guy fitting the bathroom upstairs using expanding foam to foam the bath to the wall. He swore by it as being the best, easiest method "..if the window fitters use it..".
It leaks.
As said, carronite, or you can pay a bit extra for some plastic baths to have an extra layer/coating applied - we did, and ours seems ok even with my lardar$e in it, and plastic keeps heat far better than a steel one. Go have a jump in some and see which will flex.
Second time, used loads of timber, vertical supports one-third-span behind the bath panel and at the ends, full support all around the other bath edges, 4x2 if you can get it in. Rock solid (famous last words).
I did help a friend with a kitchen a few years ago, and watched the guy fitting the bathroom upstairs using expanding foam to foam the bath to the wall. He swore by it as being the best, easiest method "..if the window fitters use it..".
It leaks.
As said, carronite, or you can pay a bit extra for some plastic baths to have an extra layer/coating applied - we did, and ours seems ok even with my lardar$e in it, and plastic keeps heat far better than a steel one. Go have a jump in some and see which will flex.
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