Bath Installation

Although the bath is a very large item, installing it won’t necessarily be an enormous and time-consuming task for you. With plenty of careful planning, you can minimise the effort involved in putting the bath in, leaving plenty of time to concentrate on your other bathroom fixtures and fittings.

Here are a few common-sense points that are always useful to remember in the pre-installation stages.

Use what’s already there

If you’re replacing an existing bathtub rather than installing a new one from scratch, see if you can reuse the existing waste and supply pipes without changing their position. This will save crucial time and effort in your tight schedule. Use push-fit joints to connect extra lengths of pipe if you do need to change the direction of the waste pipe.

Sometimes, smaller is better

Many clients will want to opt for a more spacious bath – people like their luxury. However, before you commit to a certain model, talk your client through what is best for the particular bathroom you’re working with. Many don’t consider the space of the room and whether their preferred choice will easily fit into the design.

Even if it does fit, you should take the size of the bathroom into account. We’ve all seen small bathroom designs that are completely taken over by large bathtubs, leaving little space for the other features that can make a bathroom feel welcoming.

It may seem obvious, but it’s also worth thinking seriously about how you will get the bathtub into the bathroom to save you a major headache at installation time. Ensure that the bathtub they’ve chosen will fit through all the doors and hallways it will need to pass through.

Find the safe spots

Use a cable, pipe and stud detector to make sure that the chosen spot has plenty of safe areas in the wall and floor that can be used as fixing points.

Make sure the taps match

Order compatible taps if you are working with a bath that already has holes drilled in the rim for the taps.

Lay flooring at the right time

Another simple rule that saves a lot of time: if you are installing a freestanding bath tub, remember to put the bathroom tiles underneath it down first. Once the bathtub is in, it will be impossible to tile neatly around the feet. If your bathtub is closed in, however, the area beneath will be hidden by a panel, so you don’t need to worry about tiling this part of the floor.

Fit the shower first

Don’t forget to carry out key parts of the bathroom plumbing before the bathtub is installed. In particular, if the bathtub is going to have a shower over it, this needs to be plumbed first.

Every bathroom is different, but as a general rule, these are the stages likely to be involved.

Step 1: Assemble the bathtub’s legs

If your client’s bathtub has feet and legs, you will need to attach the leg frames to the bath rim, then screw the feet into the frame. Get out your trusty spirit level to measure the leg height when it’s upside down.

Step 2: Add in the other separate parts

At this stage, you will need to connect the waste system and put the plughole together, using silicone sealant if necessary.

This is also when you should bolt on hand grips, if the bathtub has them. In most cases, holes for these should already be drilled in the bathtub.

Finally, attach the taps using the washers, gaskets and nuts provided. As ever, be careful to ensure the nuts are secure, but not overly tight.

Step 3: Position the bathtub

Place the bath against the wall, check its position with your good old spirit level and draw a line on the wall around the rim to mark where it will be fitted.

Move the bath out of the way and apply silicone along below the line. Drill holes for the brackets that will attach the bath, then screw the bath securely into place.

Step 4: Connect up the plumbing

Join up the waste and connect the taps to the water supply. This will be simple for you, using flexible tap connectors.

With this done, turn the water on so you can make sure there are no leaks.

Step 5: Secure the bath to the floor

Attach the bath to the floor using short screws in the bath feet.

Step 6: Attach the panels

If you’re working with a freestanding bathtub, you can skip this step. If not, however, you’ll need to put in a bath panel. You already know how important this final aesthetic step is; a neat and professional job will ensure your client is happy with their bathroom fixtures and fittings.

Use that spirit level once more to find the right positions to screw in wooden floor battens. These will hold the panel in place, which should fit neatly under the rim of the bathtub.