Replacing a Bath

[Deleted User]

Our bathroom is in pretty good shape, but the bath itself is damaged. I looked into getting it resurfaced and was told this was not possible as the damage was due to too much movement in the bath causing the gel surface to crack. The bath did indeed move a lot from the time we moved in (brand new house). After some years my husband solved the problem by tightening up the cradle underneath the bath.

I got a quote for a replacement and it was well over £1000 pounds due to the fact that all tiling would need to be replaced. We really don't want the tiles replaced.

I've taken a look under the bath and as far as I can tell there is nothing fixing it to the wall. There are a couple of small metal brackets - one is attached to the wall but not the bath and the other is lying on the floor attached to nothing.

Surely it should just be a simple job of sliding the old bath out and the new on in? Why would any of the tiles need replacing?

The tiles are plain white but measure 19.5 x 31.5cm and I haven't been able to find similar tiles on-line.

Also, if anyone knows of a plumber in the Glasgow Southside area that would do the job without insisting on ripping off all the tiles then please let me know!

wallbash

replacement and it was well over £1000 pounds

:eek:


Sliding bath out , replacing must be the way to go , and £1000 is a joke.
But the worry is the tiles , keep searching

But if no success would you settle for different tiles ( border tiles) to save money ??
I would but then I am tight with my cash

[Deleted User]

I think the £1000 was labour only!

Most of the tiles are plain white but there's a row of patterned tiles going around about half way up. I think because of this it would look very out of place having a border at the bottom.

The really annoying thing about this is that we're putting the house up for sale in the new year. I don't want to go to the expense of a very posh new bathroom as these things tend to be a matter of personal taste. The bathroom is in good shape and if we could just fix the bath it would be in perfect condition to sell. Chances are the new owners would replace the whole bathroom in the not too distant future but EA recommend that we replace the bath anyway rather than reduce the selling price accordingly as we limit potential buyers otherwise.

This is the bath we need if we're to do a direct replacement (and our bathroom really does need this particular bath I think):

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9294660&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=20&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB&fh_search=barcelona&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&ts=1257345055257&isSearch=true

If you read the review it would seem that the panels don't really fit. Our current bath seems to be 50cm high whereas according to the review they recommend that you fit it at 65cm high. The panels are 55cm.

I'm almost tempted to get the old one out and the new one in place ourselves then bring a plumber in to hook everything up. But it's starting to look as if we could run into problems.

Surely there's a more sensible way to fit bathrooms so that people don't run into these problems if they need to replace just one item??????

wallbash

quote but EA recommend :rolleyes:

So the bath does NOT leak ?
You are selling in the new year

You dont want to spend a £1000, on a problem that might not happen.

Cheeky question , is your house really that wonderful /fantastic that a marked bath
( which they might well rip out ) will stop the sale .

[Deleted User]

It's a good point.

No, our house is not that wonderful. We moved into it 10 years ago as a new build. We've done nothing to it from the point of view of decoration/cosmetics. Although it has been cared for structurally with regular maintenance. It started to look as if it needed decoration about 4 years ago but we had sick parents and didn't have time. Then we got dogs 2 years ago and they made a few bumps and scratches and it wasn't worth doing anything until they were out of the puppy stage.

So, we'd planned to decorate throughout, do up the bathroom etc. We spoke to one EA on the phone who said this was the best approach. And EVERYTHING that I've read says always do up the kitchen and bathroom to get a better price.

I've now made an appointment for a surveyor from another EA to come out and advise on this. We don't want to throw money away for the sake of a bit of work, but in this climate property is being sold cheap anyway. Maybe we could knock an extra £5k off the price and save ourselves a big headache!!

They're coming Tuesday - I'll let you know the outcome.

Meanwhile, any further thoughts on the bathroom problem will be welcome (just in case).

wallbash

And EVERYTHING that I've read says always do up the kitchen and bathroom to get a better price.

And everyone always rips out the kitchen /bathroom first ( funny world )

Just a personal thought , I would want to see a really clean kitchen/bathroom
far more important than spanking new one. That was not to my taste.

Why !! because I could always justify updating a K/B but not if its brand new.

So , forget the problem ... it might not come up
If it does worry then
Do NOT waste £1000

Chippy_Minton_2

Baths in new builds often move, due to the fact they are never set right in the first place (often it's the middle leg not fixed). The don't pay the subs enought to pay attention to detail.

[Deleted User]

I have to say that I agree with you wallbash. We've just bought a new house and I simply couldn't care less about the kids crayon marks on the wall, the chip out of the kitchen worktop, the missing doorbars etc. The house was lovely, it was clean and I expect to do a bit of work on a new house. I'm toying with the idea of replacing both kitchen and bathroom but both are fine to live with for now. Chances are I'll be living with them in 10 years time know me!!!

Unless the two EA's coming out later in the week have some convincing arguments to the contrary I think I'll go with your advice.

One thing I'll add is that all the houses on the market around us have very posh, expensive looking kitchens and bathrooms. None have the orginals that came with the new houses. That's the kind of people that live in this area so I doubt someone would keep our basic white suite no matter how new and shiny. And quite frankly I don't have good enough taste to select a posh new bathroom!!!

C_Mababejive

Fixing kits supplied with new baths are generally rubbish.

I usually fit some lengths of wood to the wall to support the back and side edges of the bath so that it doesnt dip or give way.

wallbash

Nine posts all mention D.I.G Building Services, must be a wonderful firm,:spam: