Bath/shower advice

keletkezes

Morning all,

Got a tiny bathroom with a shower, toilet and the most inappropriate vanity unit-washbasin combo you've ever seen (maybe ;P). The shower leaks (either cubicle or waste) and now it's time to redo the whole thing (except the loo, that's fine!). I hate cubicles with a vengeance: no space to move, chances of leaking and God-knows-what else. So, it's bath time! The room is effectively 1.6m square, so tiddly, but I've seen Ideal Shower Tubs so I thought one of those might work. Not without moving the loo, it seems. BUT Homebase do a bath called a Nano Short which is PERFECT! Just a standard, offset-corner, tiddly bath in acrylic.

Right, the crux of this post: is this going to be OK for showering in? There's just two of us and the other half showers for 15-20mins every other day and I'm in there for 30-40mins once a week (we use the downstairs mixer-shower-in-steel-bath at the mo). We do have visitors over but not every weekend or anything so regular.

I don't much care about aesthetics: White and Easy-to-Clean are pretty much it!

foxwales

I take it this is not your main bathroom?

Have you considered converting it into a wetroom instead? so you don't have a shower cubicle, the whole space becomes effectively the shower cubicle.

These can add value and appeal to your home.

I personally would be put off by a second washroom having a bath for smurfs in it.

Rip it all out, Aquapanel it, put wash facilities back in, tile it, job done.

cyclonebri1

I agree totally with the above, BUT, OP can you clarify the other option you have? ie, other bathroom.

rustyboy21

If you are looking for a bath that you can stand in for a shower too, I would suggest going for one that is properly made. That means one that the base is reinforced by lots of layers and has marine board attached to it too.

A lot of the budget end baths are no good, they will split and make a crack which will leak if you buy on the cheap. The thickest base possible I would suggest

cyclonebri1

rustyboy21 wrote: »

If you are looking for a bath that you can stand in for a shower too, I would suggest going for one that is properly made. That means one that the base is reinforced by lots of layers and has marine board attached to it too.

A lot of the budget end baths are no good, they will split and make a crack which will leak if you buy on the cheap. The thickest base possible I would suggest

Never seen one with "marine board" attached to it yet, all seem to be chip board??

Melaniep101

We went for a 10mm thick acrylic shower bath from eBay. Most of the sheds do 4mm thick ones which we thought wouldn't really be strong enough.

cyclonebri1

Melaniep101 wrote: »

We went for a 10mm thick acrylic shower bath from eBay. Most of the sheds do 4mm thick ones which we thought wouldn't really be strong enough.

You were right to go for the thickest available, but most folks still prefer resin stone as it feels more solid albeit colder;);)

Thin acrylic virtually guarantees future leakage, (not referring to yours)

keletkezes

Thanks all Good advice.

It IS our main UPSTAIRS 'bath'room, so the one we would usually use mornings and evening. I imagine if I actually want a bath I can go downstairs (that's like once every 6m or so!). I don't like wetrooms: toilet roll gets all wet, they need cleaning too often (you can't just wop the shower round after you're done and soak the curtain in bleach every 6m) and, well, I'm not sure the room's suitable :S I also don't think we've got the kind of money a decent wetroom needs...

For clarity, downstairs bathroom has a toilet in a corner, a tiny washbasin (still big enough to wash in) and a normal-size enameled steel bath with mixer tap/shower assembly. Also it's chilly: concrete floor with laminate over, 2 external walls, uninsulated (for now) flat roof, tiny radiator (usually covered with other half's towel...). Crucially, it's downstairs at the back of the house, about as far as you can get from the bedroom!

Not had a plumber/builder yet who said B&WickesBase (to quote buildingsheriff.com) baths weren't suitable for shower-over. But I do have 'bath cracking' experience from our previous rented house: that was the cheapest of the cheap baths, and we did the same amount of showering in that. It was installed 2-3 weeks after we moved in (the 'handyman' had put his stepladder in the old 1970s plastic bath to change the light...) and had some lovely surface cracks in it 5 years later when we left. It never leaked though, even though one long crack was there from about Year 2, so I presume it was just like 'glazing' cracks in porcelain crockery!

Also notice that Homebase has a 10-year Guarantee on it (not that that might mean anything!). I'm going to go and talk to them tonight before I make any firm decisions, as they don't specify acrylic thickness, which is left or right hand or a number of other things I want to know on their website.

Also, foxwales: I'm only 5' so I'd consider myself a not-blue smurf ;P