Double Ended Bath

[securespark]

Hi guys.

Wanted a little advice please. Mrs Secure & I are redoing the bathroom.

We want a 1700 x 800 double ended bath, but don't want to fit the taps on the wall side of the bath (as they are tricky to get to if need be) or on the front side (as they will be in the way!).

I guess fixing them to the wall will make them just as tricky to get to.

Are the bath waste fillers reliable? I was thinking of using them with a stand-alone set of taps fixed onto the front R/H corner of the bath as they are (relatively) easy to get to.

The bath we are looking at is a Nabis Stratus 1700x 800: http://www.mytub.co.uk/product_information.php?product=305838

The taps something like: http://www.bathrooms365.com/acatalog/Vado_Zoo_Single_Lever_Bath_Shower_Mixer_without_Spout.html

Or have you any suggestions?


Thanks.

 

[Symptoms]

secure - Fit the taps to the back of the bath but drop the pipe tails down and under the tub towards the front. At this position (which will be behind the bath panel) connect the tails via a couple of gate valves to the supply pipes. The taps & tails are fitted before bath positioning and supply pipes laid ready to receive connection. Use copper tube (not flexy) for the tails ... a simple L shape to drop down and under the bath.

For servicing taps just whip off the bath panel and shut off the gate valves which are readily accessible below and to the front of the space below the tub. I used this method when installing a whirlpool tub in a tiled platform 30 years ago ... the tub 'dropped' into a hole and I also had to keep at the tails 'within' the tub's footprint (otherwise it wouldn't drop down the hole).

 

[securespark]

Thanks. Does this allow easy changing of the taps if they go wrong?

My plumber is nervous of doing it this way.

 

[Charnwood]

The bath we are looking at is a Nabis Stratus 1700x 800

You say you are looking at that bath, but it says in your link:

Obsolete BEST REPLACEMENT IS CODE E096301

 

[cantaloup63]

There are alternatives to taps - one is a fixing inside the bath which acts as the spout (about the same size as he pup-up overflow knobs) and which can be fitted on the "nearside" thus not getting in your way and which has easy access for maintenance. I'll try and source one somewhere

 

[dcawkwell]

DONT

Look for low profile taps that can fit on the open side of
the bath that won't be in the way.
My sister made the mistake of fitting taps wall side and there
was a leak at the tap fitting when she went to mains pressure.
Luckily we could get to it going through the wall behind. Otherwise
all the bath has to come out.

Fit wall side and forget ever being able to change the taps unless
you want to take it all out. I did warn her. They won't listen though.

 

[Symptoms]

blimey ... new bath, new taps, removable bath panel, tiled down to bath rim then siliconed in!!!

In the unlikely even of the new tap tackle failing a refurbishment (probably dropping in a new cartridge) is going to mean shutting the h&c supply off with the gate valves and then effecting the swop from above ... no need to remove taps. In the unlikely event of Mrs Secure or tackle failure demanding a change that can be done (maybe as a once in a lifetime job) by slitting the silicone, dropping the tub an inch and pulling it out to gain access to the back.

Why make life too difficult ... so Secure consider my earlier advice.

Not sure why your plumber is nervous of doing this?

 

[Hufty]

If your bath doesn't have pre drilled tap holes, how about an overflow bath filler (that's just the first one I found on google, others are available, the one I fitted was Hansgrohe or Grohe).

As mentioned in a previous post, you shouldn't need to get behind the bath for servicing the taps, only for replacement, or if they haven't been tightened properly and start to flop around in their holes. From experience, it's not that difficult to get at the taps on a double bath as there are two sloping ends so quite a bit of room, but I always have an assistant on call to pull me out by the feet if necessary.

If you go for taps:
1) mixer taps are less likely to work lose in the holes than separate hot and colds
2) pushfit tap connectors mean a loose tap is an annoyance not a crisis
3) taps that take ordinary washers are easy to service compared with quarter turn taps which can be a pain to get spares for a few years down the line, meaning replacement (although it's not as bad as it used to be, thanks to the internet)

Having said all that, get what you want and get a good plumber to fit it and you should be okay.

 

[cantaloup63]

Thanks Hufty for sourcing that - I knew I hadn't imagined that overflow-filler thing

 

[shedbang]

Hi

I've just fitted a bath in exactly the configuration you're talking about. Waste at the front, taps on the back wall.

Getting the bath out fast for maintenance is just a question of good planning on installation.

Run the copper / plastic around the front or side of the bath behind the shorter panel and put the isolation valves where you can easily get to them by just removing one panel in a crisis. Mount the mixer taps on a piece of wood under the acrylic which makes them MUCH more stable and then arc up the bolts a little tighter than you would against acrylic alone. Use 500mm flexis to connect the taps, which allow you to pull the bath out with them attached. (If you can find full bore flexis so much the better. I couldn't but we've got good flow. DO use full bore isolation valves if you can).

We're not tiling, but if I were I would tile before I pushed the bath home to a level just below the rim.

If the bath has wall brackets (mind did) put them in the wall before you tile (you may need to recess) and then access by undoing from underneath where they screw into the bath (i.e. unscrew the bath from the bracket, not the bracket from the wall). Mount the bath on 4x2 lengths diagonally screwed into the floor boards.

Fit wooden panels (Wickes do a good T&G one) and spend some time working the carpentry so that if possible you don't need to silicone it (not the end of the world if you do).

Use pushfit or compression on the waste, not solvent.

If you need to remove the bath, remove panels, slit the silicone, undo the wall brackets beneath the bath, unscrew the 4x2, uncouple waste and slide the bath out as a unit. On 500mm tails it gives you enough access behind to do whatever you want with the taps.

It's not as easy as accessing the taps through the panel, obviously, but as others have said, how often do you actually do this?! I reckon I can get the thing out and back in in under 90 minutes.

Alternatively, if you can actually control your wife (I can't) you could mount the taps on the corner. I think ours is a Titan bath (thicker plastic) and was about £250.

 

[securespark]

Thanks for all your help, guys. I'm still planning this confounded bathroom, so am still weighing up the options. Seems there's a split on opinion whether to deck-mount the taps wallside or not.

I'm rethinking the tap position:

Are the bath waste fillers reliable? I was thinking of using them with a stand-alone set of taps fixed onto the front R/H corner of the bath as they are (relatively) easy to get to.

Is there any reason not to?

Or, How about a wall mounted tap/spout thingy?

The wall is hollow and the taps would be accessible from behind, or obviously accessible from the bath side too, by disassembling the unit. Would that be OK?

Want to get this right!!

Mrs Secure may be amenable to the idea if you guys think it makes for easy maintenance in the future...

 

[securespark]

Just had a nasty thought...would they get in the way of someone at that end of the bath?