Supporting acrylic bath

[david_uk]

Hi,

Our new bath was delivered yesterday - a big P shaped shower bath. It's supported by 2 thin metal struts with adjustable legs.

What I was wondering is that due to the fact the water alone will be quite heavy, plus as it's a shower bath that will have people standing up in it, would it be an idea to put additonal support along the length of the bath in the form of wood?

I've had an acrylic bath crack before (OK - it was a cheap one) so I was thinking it might be an idea to give this extra support. Or is there any reason this might be a dumb idea?

Supplementary question:-
The new bath comes with holes for the waste and overflow only. Any tips for drilling holes in it to mount the taps?

Thanks

 

[Redhotferrari]

Using the brackets supplied to fix the bath to the wall, with the struts and legs should be sufficient, they are normally pretty strong legs. Screx the feet of the legs and supports into the floor.

Regarding tap holes, masking tape the area you require, use a drill with a hole saw slightly bigger than the tap threads (obviously) mark the centers on th masking tape (normally 180mm) and drill through taking it easy.
Its pretty straight forward, just measure three times and drill once!!!

 

[muggles]

I always screw battens to the walls when I'm installing baths, apart from anything else I find that it helps to level them up properly, and it will of course give you some extra support. When you're drilling the holes, don't try to do it all in one go - drill with the pilot first, then attach the holesaw and drill with that. Trying to pilot and holesaw in one go risks you dropping the spinning holesaw down onto the bath when the pilot goes through and pulling a nice big chunk out of the side of the bath.