How to fit a bath in a BEDroom

scarletjim

Can anyone here give any tips about fitting a freestanding bath in my bedroom? Both in terms of keeping cost down, and also practicality and safety. Mainly:

What parts do I need?
How much is fitting likely to cost? (I won't do any of it myself)
Any ideas or concerns?

Just to give some more detail... My en suite is like a little corridor, with shower one end, basin in the middle, and toilet at other end, nowhere near enough room for a bath. However my bedroom is huge, maybe 17x18ft or something like that, and it is mostly empty. So I'm thinking of getting a freestanding bath in my bedroom, with a freestanding tap, near to the wall backing on to the en suite. So a few questions:

• Has anyone here done this, and if so can you give me any tips?

• What parts are needed? The bath comes with a 'bath waste' which is presumably the pipe coming from the bottom of the bath. But in 'extras' the relevant website also mentions 'shallow one piece trap' and 'universal flexi waste pipe' - how can I know what I need before I book a plumber? Or should I get a plumber to look at my room and existing system and tell me what I need before buying any of it?

• How much will fitting cost? I assume I need a plumber, and I assume they will need to either a). take up my wooden floor panels to access the piping, or b). perhaps cut a hole in my wooden floor panels for this. Then would it easily just fit onto the shower or basin water supply / waste?

• Is it safe in terms of electricity? The bath will be maybe 4 or 5 feet away from plug sockets. Normally I'd think that was dangerous, but I've seen houses with baths in bedrooms before so it must be possible...

• How do freestanding taps even work? Presumably they are also plumbed into the pipes through the floor, therefore I need to be careful where I position it, as it would be a nightmare to move by a few centimetres without making a mess if I got that bit wrong?

By the way, apologies if I sound totally ignorant of plumbing, that's because I am! But happy to learn from all the wise MSEs on here so many thanks for any suggestions / help that you can give me!

Dan-Dan

If it were me , i would get a couple of local plumbers round to talk through with , people would have to see the space you are thinking about , to give detailed answers

scarletjim

Yes, I was hoping for some 'typical' tips / answers / numbers, but I guess with something like this there will be so many variations for each individual situation that it may be impossible to get that. Hmmm I think I will get someone to look, I'm sure the good deals on baths will be available again sooner or later if I miss them.

Dan-Dan

One thing i would query is the bath being so close to plug sockets.....

Ebe_Scrooge

As well as the issue of water / steam being close to electrical applicances & sockets, I'd also be a bit worried about the amount of steam floating around the place and being absorbed by carpets, curtains, bedding etc. Sounds like a damp problem waiting to happen. I agree with what others have said, I think you really need to get a professional in who knows what they're talking about, and knows the relevant legal regulations.

scarletjim

Hmmm hadn't really thought of steam. I've just seen lots of houses online and on TV with freestanding baths in bedrooms. But maybe they've got additional ventilation etc, maybe it's more complicated than I thought. I'll try to find a local plumber who's done it - that might not be that easy though...

Johnandabby

Good article on exactly this here http://www.ratedpeople.com/blog/baths-in-bedrooms/

googler

You need to figure out where the soil stack is from your en-suite, and how the waste from the bath will reach it. The waste pipe, once it leaves the trap (U-bend) under the bath, has to slope at a set angle downward toward the soil stack so that water doesn't lie in it.

Will this run above or below your existing floorboards? If above, will you box it in? If below, you or your plumber may need to make a number of cuts in joists, depending on which way they run. If setting the bath on the floor doesn't yield the required slope, you may need to put the bath on a pedestal to achieve it.

You're likely to have to lift the floor in the en-suite in order to plumb into the soil stack (which is most likely to be close to the WC - look for a boxed-in corner of the ES). The soil stack is also likely to be on an external wall, and the wall between your bedroom and ES will likely be internal - which means crossing the ES with the waste from the bath.....

A diagram would help.

Mojisola

scarletjim wrote: »

However my bedroom is huge, maybe 17x18ft or something like that, and it is mostly empty. So I'm thinking of getting a freestanding bath in my bedroom, with a freestanding tap, near to the wall backing on to the en suite.

How will you heat your bedroom when you have a bath? Unless you keep the bedroom very warm, your baths will be short and chilly.

It depends on the layout of the rooms but is there some way of extending the bathroom or making a separate en-suite as the bedroom is big?

It would put me off viewing a house for sale if it had a bath in the bedroom.

scarletjim

googler wrote: »

You need to figure out where the soil stack is from your en-suite, and how the waste from the bath will reach it. The waste pipe, once it leaves the trap (U-bend) under the bath, has to slope at a set angle downward toward the soil stack so that water doesn't lie in it.

Will this run above or below your existing floorboards? If above, will you box it in? If below, you or your plumber may need to make a number of cuts in joists, depending on which way they run. If setting the bath on the floor doesn't yield the required slope, you may need to put the bath on a pedestal to achieve it.

You're likely to have to lift the floor in the en-suite in order to plumb into the soil stack (which is most likely to be close to the WC - look for a boxed-in corner of the ES). The soil stack is also likely to be on an external wall, and the wall between your bedroom and ES will likely be internal - which means crossing the ES with the waste from the bath.....

A diagram would help.

Aha this is the kind of detail I need to get to grips with, thanks.

Right - if you want a really good laugh, a quick look here will demonstrate that my drawing skills match my DIY knowledge...

https://dumpyourphoto.com/album/photo/Kc7PG3S1So

Does that work, can you see it? I'd like the bath to sit at an angle, not right against the wall. Presumably it would be plumbed into the pipes used by the shower enclosure, but from what you've said, maybe nearer the WC will be better. The blue lines are windows. There are sets of sockets behind the TV to both the left and the right.

I would want the bath sitting flush to the floor, so would need to remove part of the wooden floor panels to achieve that, however I have underfloor heating so that might get in the way, I'm not sure how that works, presumably it depends on the 'formation' of these pipes... Also, if the angle wasn't right, and required the bath lifted a bit, that would spoil the whole look, so I only want to do this if the bath can sit on the floor, not raised. Lots to consider there...

Given what you are saying, i.e. depending where the soil stack is, it might be better to put the bath up the other end, i.e. with the WC on the other side of the wall.

So next I think I'll see where the soil stack is and then perhaps get someone to come and have a look. But given the complications, I already realise that this idea might not be possible...

Just to answer the subsequent questions:

Mojisola wrote: »

How will you heat your bedroom when you have a bath? Unless you keep the bedroom very warm, your baths will be short and chilly.

It depends on the layout of the rooms but is there some way of extending the bathroom or making a separate en-suite as the bedroom is big?

It would put me off viewing a house for sale if it had a bath in the bedroom.

The bedroom has underfloor heating, but to be honest I'm not bothered about having a quick hot bath and stepping out of it into a cold-feeling room, so I'll probably continue to keep my bedroom fairly cool.

I wouldn't want to extend the en suite - I love the look of having a bath in the bedroom, it's a matter of taste of course, but the examples I've seen on line look amazing to me. Personally it would hugely attract me to a house. But I realise it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, either in taste or practicality - but I've thought that through and still want to do it if I can.

phoebe1989seb

Just wanted to say I think they look great too OP

We don't have a bath in our master bedroom currently, but in both this house and our last one we designed the master bedroom space to incorporate an open plan en suite bathroom with roll top bath (and stand-pipe taps) that is visible from the bedroom - in both cases the loo was/is tucked away round the corner so it's not visible from anyone in bed, lol!

Here we have sited the bath under a window that overlooks fields across the road, so on occasion you can lay back in the bath and watch cows grazing.......

In fact in this house we do technically have a bath in the bedroom as our en suite was formerly a bedroom

Edited to add - ours was quite complex, being a former bedroom and also a 200+ year old house with no cavity between ceiling and floor.....in fact the floor in what was to become our en suite bathroom was the ceiling of the room below. Our plumber not only had to create a false floor to hide the pipework, but we had to instal a dreaded saniflow - not popular with many MSE-ers, but no issues here - as we were nowhere near a soil stack.

GL with it OP - hope you can make it work.......