Bath/Shower Mixer Taps

[Deleted User]

I need to replace the bath/shower mixer tap on my bath. A plumber I called out said the fixing underneath attaching it to the bath had rusted and could not be removed without damaging the bath and the only option is to have a new bath fitted! Does anyone know if this is likely to be correct? Can't afford that option and any advice would be much appreciated.

cattie

Is it a plastic bath or a cast iron one? If the former, then I guess it could be a possibilty, but if he didn't at least attempt to remove it, perhaps with the use of something like WD40 I'd be inclined to get a 2nd opinion.

[Deleted User]

cattie wrote: »

Is it a plastic bath or a cast iron one? If the former, then I guess it could be a possibilty, but if he didn't at least attempt to remove it, perhaps with the use of something like WD40 I'd be inclined to get a 2nd opinion.

Thanks for that. It's a cast iron bath. He only tried brute force with a spanner. Is there anything I can put on it that might get rid of the rust before calling another plumber out. Had to pay the £75 call out fee plus VAT 'cos he'd spent 25 mins trying to unscrew it!

pruney

My plumber is here now and he had the same problem with my bath taps. I asked him what he used and he said it was WD40. He says you could spray that on, leave it for a bit and then warm the knut (he said you can use a blowtorch but you really need to know what you're doing as you can set it on fire!). He also said you could try breaking the knut with a chisel if you don't need it and are putting new taps on. He says some plumbers are just lazy - it took him 2.5 hours to remove the taps and waste from my bath - I didn't go up to check on progress until the noise had stopped but he got there in the end (and slept well that night so he told me!).

cattie

Deleted_User wrote: »

Had to pay the £75 call out fee plus VAT 'cos he'd spent 25 mins trying to unscrew it!

That's a high call out charge I have to say. I live in a London suburb & have always paid the corgi plumber I've used a £50 call out fee, which includes up to an hours labour.

Get your self a can of WD40, it's a handy item to keep in the house as it has many uses & costs less than £3 a can. Available from Woolworths, Wilkinson's & most diy & hardware shops.

Canucklehead

Hi

Presented with the same problem I would take out the tap headworks and drill down into the seating where the washer would seal off the water with a hole saw (about 25mm diameter).
Before that I would have advised you to get a tap that has the same 'footprint' as the original taps.

HTH.

Corgi Guy.

[Deleted User]

Thanks to all for the advice. Will use WD40 on it before calling out another plumber, not the same one! Your posts have given me hope that it is not a lost cause.

SmartRRRR

I'm struggling to grasp the basic concept on this 'rust' issue. I have never, ever, seen a tap and/or nut made of steel or any other material that could rust.

The tap could corrode, possibly if any of the brasswork or backnut has been in contact with some stray cleaning chemicals.

Is it more likely that the boss white or whatever sealing compound the original installer used might have set all down the thread, in which case it would be difficult to remove. I recently struggled with a wire brush and removed as much as I could from the visible thread before being able to undo the nut, helped with a careful warming from a blowtorch.

The bath itself is unlikely to have rusted, cast iron doesn't rust like steel. (I'm not saying it doesn't rust at all, just that it rusts in a different way to steel)