Fitting New Bath Panel

jghal

Hi all,

I will be fitting a new bath panel this weekend and am interested to know if there are any hints or tips that I should be aware of - ie should I fill the bath before fitting or anything clever like that.

The existing (cracked & broken) bath panel is curved and is fitted to a corner bath and the bottom of the bath panel is grouted where it meets the floor tiles.

The new one is identical and I am hoping that removing the old one and fitting the new one will be straitforward.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Thanks

Jghal

jennifernil

Does the present panel sit on top of the floor tiles, or is it grouted in? If the latter you should take this opportunity to alter it to sit on top of the tiles so it is easily removed in future.

jghal

Thanks jenifernil

it's grouted in, but this sounds sensible, I'll try that if there is enough room to fit the panel between the tiles and under the lip of the bath (I think that the tiles might be shaped around the bath panel and the panel goes right down to the floorboards).



jghal

calmgirl

( calmgirls husband here)


You should just be able to pop the old one of and the new one on again they do bend quite a bit so dont worry about braking it you do need to re-seal the bottom or the water will seep under neath the bath ruin the floor boards out of site and the first thing you will know about it is when your bath ends up inthe room under neath it. You dont need to worry about sitting in the bath etc.Thats only any good when you are sealing the bath around the top edge.

knn

It would be better if it was not grouted in just in case you need to get at the pipes in a hurry. Do you have any spare tiles? If so you could take up the cut tiles and run the new ones in under the panel, then trim the height of the panel to fit and once it is in place seal it to the floor with some silicone sealant.
Some bath panels are more flexible than others. How easy it will be to remove the old one will depend on the thickness of your floor tiles. Is the panel screwed on at the bottom? If so , normally you would unscrew and pull out the bottom edge and the top would slip down from behind the bath edge. But if the bottom is behind the floor tiles this could be tricky. Rake out all the old grout before you try. If you get the old panel off without breaking it any further then you might get the new one in. Once in place reseal with silicone rather than grout.
I do wish people would not grout in panels like this, it makes removing/replacing them a real nightmare if the panel is at all rigid.
Been there, got the T-shirt!!!!!!!!!! Twice!!!!

jghal

Thank you very much calmgirl('s husband) and knn. Some good info here. I will give it a go on Saturday - hopefully it should go quite well.

A bit worried about the 'trim the height of the panel to fit' bit but it does make sense.

thanks

jghal

jennifernil

If it had been a straight panel you could have put some timber under the bottom edge to lift it above the tiles, but curved is tricky! Trimming the height can be done with a jig-saw or similar, just make sure you hold the panel down firmly before you cut. Cut the bottom edge.

By the way.....I am knn's wife! The grouting in of stuff he is referring to was at our daughter's flat..........a rigid MDF bath panel and a kitchen plinth!!! There were a good few choice words said about the DIY skills of the previous occupants!!!

When you do get the old panel off check the floor well. We found that water had run down the panel and been sitting in the grout joint and this had tiny cracks in it which allowed it to seep into the floor. This is why you need to make a good seal again with something flexible.

Hubby says, if the shaped bit of the top of the panel is not tight up against the edge of the roll-over bit of the edge of the bath then you may be able to ease it up a bit and this will make getting the bottom edge free a bit easier.
I know what he means, just hope you do too!

jghal

woo hoo

job done. Thanks MSE'rs

I followed the silicone sealant tip and it actually looks better with the white seal around the bottom than with the grout for the floor tiles.

OH is well please, she was getting a tad fed up hiding the cracks in the old one with a large bath towel

Thanks again

jghal