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DIY Forum >> Plumbing Questions >> Bath sizes https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1083959024 Message started by Slug on May 7th, 2004, 8:43pm |
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Title: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 7th, 2004, 8:43pm Howdy Peeps I'm doing a Rabbit Rabbit and am about to install a new bathroom suite in exchange for a one in a million chance of getting me leg over, (being a shallow stereotypical bloke is one of my strong points). The installation is going to be a breeze, BUT !!, the bathroom is 1685mm wide ! 1700 mm (or thereabouts) is the standard bath length. There is an existing bath there, so where on earth did the previous house owners get it ?!! I've tried all the major DIY stores, Plumb Center and a couple of independants and no-one seems to do a 'slightly smaller' bath unless you get a square jobby or pay billions for it. Any ideas of any national companies/ South Essex independents anyone ? Ta very muchly. p.s - did I just say the installation is going to be a breeze ? Oh myyyyy God. I ought to know better, thats the kiss of death straight away. Cue 18" of water throughout the house and a dose of diptheria when I change the loo over. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Dewy on May 7th, 2004, 10:01pm My bathroom is 1.676mm (5'6") & took a standard bath when it was built. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Windy Miller on May 7th, 2004, 10:11pm Hi Slug - I have a similar problem, but the bath I need is very small. I tried a local plumber's shop and they tell me that there are various sizes available (at reasonable prices too). Off the top of my head I don't remember the sizes, but it didn't seem to be a problem. If you want I will have a measure up next time I go to the site (tomorrow perhaps?), and let you know the number of the plumber's shop - it's in the Medway Towns in Kent. Trouble is I had already bought the new bath before I realised the difference in sizes! Should have measured up first I know, but it was 10% day at Homebase so I bought it on impulse! Windy PS Anyone want to buy a brand new steel bath? :-[ |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by ColG on May 7th, 2004, 10:14pm Slug, you can either get a 1700mm bath and chase the wall out so it fits or you can get a 1500mm bath (much more comfy for that post coital bathing). :D Col |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 7th, 2004, 10:17pm Cheers Dewy / Windy. How big is the bath you have 'lying' around Windy ?! I see you were enticed to be a Homebase 10% groupie as well ;D Kent is accessable despite being ''sarf of the river'' ! I have noticed that the 'standard' 1700 mm quoted for baths is industry gibberish as they all seem to be between 1680 mm and 1700 mm, you'd have thought that some bright spark somewhere would realise that measurements are actually quite important .... or am I just being boring and old fashioned ?!! |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 7th, 2004, 10:20pm wrote on May 7th, 2004, 10:14pm:
;D No-ones mentioned 1500 mm size baths to me, I've just had the Dixons style blank, 'you from Mars mate ?'' look when i've asked if theres anything smaller ! |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by ColG on May 7th, 2004, 10:35pm Ideal Standard do one slug |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 7th, 2004, 10:39pm thank you Colg. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Windy Miller on May 7th, 2004, 10:55pm wrote on May 7th, 2004, 10:17pm:
I'll measure it tomorrow Sluggy! Yeah fraid to say that I was well and trult 'enticed' at Homebase! Not one of my better moves though if I'm honest. Mrs Windy had some vouchers, so we ended up with a too big bath, and a folding table that was better and cheaper in Argos. She got a nice plastic storage box thingy for the wardrobe though! Windy |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 7th, 2004, 11:08pm As long as Mrs.Windy is happy, thats the main thing !! Life wouldn't be worth living otherwise, but maybe thats just my viewpoint of marriage ;D Yeah, if you could measure the bath, theres a possibility that my Bathroom Bird may not have found anything yet. Thank you. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by HandyMac on May 7th, 2004, 11:26pm I fitted a bathroom before Xmas and had exactly this problem - the bath was 25mm longer than the space between the walls. Fixed it by carving a niche out of the plasterboard wall at one end so that the end of the bath poked thru. Bit heath robinson but that's what the client wanted me to do. Who am I to argue? Cutting that hole in the plasterboard was a cinch with my Rotozip. Andrew |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 7th, 2004, 11:48pm The 1680mm is the old standard 6'6" baths, someone still made them but will have to get the brain cell working. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Windy Miller on May 7th, 2004, 11:51pm Evidently the 'proper' way to fit a bath is to channel out the walls to enable you to recess the top lip of the bath slightly. The wall tiles and silicon then sit a little proud of the lip edge so the water spalshes are able to run down and across the sealer onto the angled portion of the lip and then back down into the bath. The idea is that this is a more effective/reliable way to prevent damp penetrating the mastic seal. I doubt that many people nowadays would go to these lengths (unless there was a space issue), and indeed it may no longer be necessary with the advances in silicone sealer technology... Windy |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Dewy on May 8th, 2004, 2:14am wrote on May 7th, 2004, 11:48pm:
1680 is 5'6" not 6'6" ;) |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 8th, 2004, 9:48am Well spotted Dewy, I told the finger to push a 5; Really. :-[ Hope it didn't take 2.26 hours to work it out ;D scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Dewy on May 8th, 2004, 7:45pm wrote on May 8th, 2004, 9:48am:
No. More like 2.26 seconds including the typing. ;D |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by greg on May 8th, 2004, 9:18pm Windy Miller - so long as the tiles come down onto the bath - then you should have no issues I will sometimes cut the bath into plasteboard if its a stud wall out of square |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by HandyMac on May 8th, 2004, 9:43pm wrote on May 8th, 2004, 9:18pm:
You don't want the tiles coming right down onto the bath though - the bath flexes as water and people go in/out, and if there's a solid joint between tile and bath the possibility exists for the tile to be popped off the wall. Incidentally, people do know that when tiling/sealing a bath they should fill the bath with water during the sealing operation? That pulls the bath away from the wall the maximum amount as the sealant cures. Andrew |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Windy Miller on May 8th, 2004, 10:51pm wrote on May 8th, 2004, 9:43pm:
Good tip that one HandyMac - the same theory applies when fitting a shower tray, but to simulate the movement caused by the weight of the person in the shower. A few bags of cement usually does the trick (unless you're built like my Mother in Law of course, then you need to park the van in there! ;)) Windy |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Kesh on May 8th, 2004, 10:59pm Anyone else do double seals? i.e Bath to the wall first then bath to the tiles. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 10th, 2004, 10:35pm Thanks for the feedback peeps. Have decided to use a standard bath and do a chase into the wall. Great info about the filling of the bath and the movement. Much appreciated. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 10th, 2004, 10:42pm Don't forget of you chop them in too much the taps hit the tiles. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 10th, 2004, 11:01pm Fair point, thank you. Luckily, the tap end will be the opposite end to the chase ! |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by guitartrax on May 11th, 2004, 12:17am I had the same problem with a house i was doing up and managed to source one from MKM it was 5ft and quite reasonable at £225 inc both bath, toilet and sink etc. B&Q would order you one but they want an arm and a leg. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Windy Miller on May 11th, 2004, 10:28pm Hi Sluggy - my 'spare' bath is 1770mm. Sorry for the delay Mate - been farting about with too much other stuff! It's too big for my bathroom (by about 600mm!) so it's up for grabs. Let me know if you are interested... Windy |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 12th, 2004, 8:09pm Thanks for looking Windy, much appreciated, but the potential legover was out placing her order today. On a seperate note, i've been trying to find out the best method(s) for cutting a chase in a wall. (Nope, I don't know what the make up of it is :-[) Scoured the college library shelves and done some web surfing but couldn't find anything of note. I'm pretty confident I know a way, but i'm always open to ideas ! Does anyone know of any websites that might cover this sort of thang ? |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 12th, 2004, 8:24pm Sparkies use a twin bladed, diamond, 4" angle grinder for cutting chases about 40mm at a guess, don't see why you couldn't hire one from your local tool hire. Other than that the trusted big hammer and bolster. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 22nd, 2004, 1:55am Just got back in from unsuccesfully trying to get me leg over the bird i'm doing the bathroom for .... DOH !!! :( Still, I got an SDS big f**k off manly 'big drill, small willy' drill, a set of nice Rothenburg pipe benders and a cert for a garden tap jobby out of it ;) Great news, no chase needed after all the panic, the Plumb Center bath fits with 3mm to spare (noted about the tiles etc !) BUT !!! This has thrown me out a bit, the bath has no tap holes ! Is this common ? Surely not ?! ;D Not seen this on any of the baths in college ;D. (Yeah, I know, I KNOW !!!! .... but if no bugger in essex is prepared to give me a plumbers mate job, i'm gonna take yer work and yer women and yer housing etc etc) It's acrylic and obviously I have but one chance to make sure I do the holes right. What kind of drill bit shall I use ? Wood ? Its only glass fibre'ry type stuff after all ..... |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 22nd, 2004, 10:59am Baths with no holes are much the norm now, with all the wall fixing taps etc on the market. Also a lot of posh stuff that can be fitted on the corners or sides. Use ONLY a holesaw of the type sparkies/plumbers use, them baths will split if you try to bodge it. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by HandyMac on May 22nd, 2004, 12:44pm I would've thought a Q Punch of the appropriate size would have been the way to go with a fibreglass bath: http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=7684 These work by drilling a small hole (about 1/4in or so) first, passing thru a bolt, then tightening the cutter with the bolt. Nice clean holes result. Haven't tried this on fibreglass though! Andrew |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 22nd, 2004, 1:43pm I would've thought a Q Punch of the appropriate size would have been the way to go with a fibreglass bath: Your having a laugh HM? No way would I use one on them on a fibreglass bath. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by HandyMac on May 22nd, 2004, 3:13pm I wasn't having a laugh as it happens - I wondered whether it might work. Obviously from your response it appears not. These Q Punches are very good for sheet material (like aluminium plate). Probably not so good for something fibrous like glass fibre. Andrew |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 22nd, 2004, 3:31pm you could try one on an old one, and let us know what happened. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 22nd, 2004, 10:51pm Fortunately, this morning when I woke up, I had the idea of a holesaw, no idea why the thought never occured to me before ! Senility creeping in already i guess ;D Havn't had a chance to try it yet because of the nightmare of all nightmares ! If you are a home DIY'er or a college chimp like me, you may find this tale of interest ! First off, the hot and cold taps on both the basin and the bath were on the wrong sides, so, I kinda (rightly i feel) assumed whoever had done the original install was a bit of a plonker, so when I saw what appeared to be 22mm going into the bath tap connectors I just thought it was another plonkerism. HA !!! How wrong can a man be ... bloody 3/4" imperial piping ! it goes without saying that I had cut the pipe and discovered this gem when I tried to put a 22mm cap on it to stop some dribbling (the stop valves are naff as well !!). To cut a drama short I spent half the day mucking about with PTFE and flying around to find 3/4" > 15mm ........ Not an easy task on Cup Final day !! Ended up having to solder a converter and a reducer. Not that it worked of course on the dribbly pipe ! Out again tomorrow to try and find a compression converter, but somehow I don't feel the Sunday fodder of B&Q and Homebase will be of much help ! What gets me is that the house was built in 1980 apparantly and it looks like the whole blooming gaff is in Imperial. With my limited knowledge, should I have forseen this ? I thought the metric stuff had come in during the 70's ? There is however a morale to all this, what I have learnt today and whilst doing a couple of other jobbies for friends has been invaluable ! There's nothing on earth to drum a point home when youre working on your own ! Doubtless some will, with some justification, raise their eyes to the ceiling at the incompetence of a rookie plumber, but these are lessons which cannot be learnt in a college workshop and will most certainly never be forgotten !! |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by HandyMac on May 22nd, 2004, 10:59pm wrote on May 22nd, 2004, 10:51pm:
FWIW there's hardly a day goes by where I don't learn something new job-wise. It's not that I haven't done the work before, but that each installation tends to have its own little quirks to come to terms with. I'm becoming a bit of a dab hand at fitting loft ladders these days, but the first couple caused me a few problems! It's that sort of experience that can't be read in a book. Andrew |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 22nd, 2004, 11:10pm wrote on May 22nd, 2004, 10:59pm:
Aaargh !! I've obviously got some stuff to look forward to !! ;D |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by thescruff on May 23rd, 2004, 12:34am You should be able to get a compression socket to tighten down on imperial pipes. If your really lucky you may be able to find a couple of 3/4" olives. A tip for removing water from a pipe before soldering is to use a length of 6mm ish plastic tube and syphon it out. scruff |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 23rd, 2004, 12:49am Thank you thescruff for those suggestions. I did indeed, (eventually !), manage to cap the offending pipe with a 22mm cap and PTFE and it was as dry as a bone Perhaps its a mix of paranoia, wanting to learn and pride ! Paranoia in that if it isnt made for the job, it must be wrong ;D, wanting to learn is self explanatory and as for pride. As a novice I have been taken aback at some of the things i've seen from 'professionals' (such as the taps today) and wouldnt want someone down the line to be thinking the same about my work. Bit sad and a bit arrogant, but hey ! Can't quite get my head around the siphoning bit at the moment, i'll have a ponder about that tomorrow. |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by supersparky on May 23rd, 2004, 1:10am wrote on May 23rd, 2004, 12:34am:
blodey hell.......i had to figure that one out the hard way about a year ago.....did LOADS of em in a flat...all near floor....nightmare....i only go near pipes now to stick bonding straps on em ss |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by HandyMac on May 23rd, 2004, 7:17am Hell, I found the easiest way to get water out of a pipe was to connect my aquavac hose to one end and give it a good suck (the pipe I mean, not the aquavac...). Then when the majority of the water has been sucked out put the aquavac on blow. In just a couple of minutes you've got a dry pipe. Well dry enough so that application of a blowtorch will take care of any moisture residue. Andrew |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by greg on May 25th, 2004, 4:12pm so why do you say that 22mm to bath taps is wrong? are you on an unvented DHW system? |
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Title: Re: Bath sizes Post by Slug on May 25th, 2004, 8:25pm wrote on May 25th, 2004, 4:12pm:
Hi Greg. Having re-read my ramblings I didnt really make it clear that it was actually 3/4" leading into the tap connectors and they were tee'd off the 1/2" leading from the loft cistern and the DHW vessel which does is vented. Concerning the Imperial / metric conversion thing, after not a little mucking about, the 15mm compression fittings worked a treat for me on the 1/2" but I just couldnt get a tight fir with 22mm on 3/4". Fortunately I have found a place locally who sells them. I've had a bit of a mare connecting copper 32mm waste pipe to the bath trap. I guess its an ultimate plumbing sin but I ended up having to wack some LSX in which seems to have done the trick. :-[ Please correct me if I'm wrong, I always thought a bath waste should be 40mm ? I was going to change the whole pipe upto the stack but the stack connection was hidden in the most awkard manner possible entailing the possible demolition of the entire side of the house. Some fella was in today tiling the floor and walls and gave me some great tips about locating the WC pan and drilling tiles. I've r4eally enjoyed this jobby, depite not getting any money for it, I've learnt shed loads from it. Thanks to you peeps for giving me some advice as well. |
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