Bath situation

Treguard

I'm looking at having my bathroom ripped out and replaced. I've noticed that the current bath is situated on the joists and just wondered what the best practice is. Should the legs of a bath go onto the joists, or the floorboards? Some plumbers say one thing, and some another. It had to be done that way because the bath was so deep, but now I'll have a choice on what to do next.
I'm constantly worried about the bath going through the floor, so would rather go for an over-engineered solution than something which is sufficient.

bris

Joist are fine, a well secured bath will have no problems on solid joists.


Personally I would floor it though when everything is ripped out. Not sure why a deep bath would have to go on joists though, more like it's just because the area wasn't floored in the first place.

phill99

I fit bathrooms and kitchens for a living. I have, to date, fitted 71 bathrooms.


We always put them on the floor. I can guarantee that not one has gone through the floor. Standard house construction is perfectly adequate to take the weight of a bath, water and an occupant or two.

Owain_Moneysaver

Legs should preferably go over the joists if possible.

If you're unsure about the state of the floorboards, a sheet of waterproof plywood, or even a couple of planks under the feet, will spread the load.

Treguard

Thanks for the replies. Its probably me worrying because of the creaking sounds the bath can make (even though one plumber commented on it being very solid when he sort of bunched up and down in it).
I know theres a frame inside it, and some boards under the middle of the bath.
The other thing that bothers me is the light can momentarily flicker in the kitchen downstairs when the missus slides down into the bath.

I've been very tempted to have the bath taken out and a stand up shower put in, but the missus is quite insistent on wanting one. Guess I'm just a worrier:)

Ruski

phill99 wrote: »

I fit bathrooms and kitchens for a living. I have, to date, fitted 71 bathrooms.


We always put them on the floor. I can guarantee that not one has gone through the floor. Standard house construction is perfectly adequate to take the weight of a bath, water and an occupant or two.

Me too

Same opinion.


Worrying over nothing - although it sounds like you need to sort out loose wiring

HTH

Russ

chocolatepennyfarthing

Don't want to hijack thread but have a similar concern. Looking at getting a Bette steel bath, do you need to do anything different to flooring with these because of extra weight?

Ruski

Again, no concern - but IIWY I'd spread the load across joists with extra timber - it's only 40kg

HTH

Russ

Treguard

Thanks for the replies. I'm considering having a new bath put in, and the chap mentioned that if new, hed install the bath up on boards to better spread the load, but mentioned some kind of sheeting that wouldn't let water penetrate if there was a leak. Can't remember what he called it

Just out of interest. What's a good strong bath brand? The one we've had in was meant to be a whirlpool bath, but has been great.

ed110220

Treguard wrote: »

I'm looking at having my bathroom ripped out and replaced. I've noticed that the current bath is situated on the joists and just wondered what the best practice is. Should the legs of a bath go onto the joists, or the floorboards? Some plumbers say one thing, and some another. It had to be done that way because the bath was so deep, but now I'll have a choice on what to do next.
I'm constantly worried about the bath going through the floor, so would rather go for an over-engineered solution than something which is sufficient.

If I'm picturing this right and the floorboards are missing under the bath and it's resting directly on the joists, my main concern would be that a small mistake in installing the new bath could put the bath's legs or your foot through the ceiling below.

googler

Much ado about nothing.

People put pianos in their homes without a second thought to the floor. I/we have a baby grand, sitting on standard chipboard flooring over joists, and there's no sign of it punching a hole in the chipboard yet. There'll be three significant depressions in the carpet if we ever move it, but....

Much heavier than a bath.