In the Netherlands, built-inloungers are the most commonbaths. You buy such a bath as a bare tub made of acrylic and sometimes sheet steel. The bath has a hole for the drain, and sometimes tap holes. But you cannot just put such a bathtub down, you have to build it in. You can have it done by an expert, but if you are a bit handy, you can also do it yourself. This will save you a considerable sum in labour costs.
Built-in bath, possible in almost any bathroom
Built-in baths need to be installed. If you are a handy do-it-yourselfer, installing a bath is guaranteed with our step-by-step plan.
Checklist
Fitting a bath starts with getting all the products you need. Check the list carefully, because nothing is more annoying than finding out halfway through the job that things are missing.
The 'shopping list' looks like this:
- Bath with stand or legs
- Siphon or drain
- Wooden beams (50x75 cm)
- Cellular concrete blocks (5 cm thick)
- Plywood (18 mm thick) or green (water-resistant) plasterboard for the casing
- Insulation material, e.g. glass wool
- Silicone sealant
Base and siphon
Fitting the Bath starts with attaching the frame or legs to the Bath. Then level the Bath using the leveling feet; turn them in or out to raise or lower the Bath. Then measure the distance from the siphon to the drain very accurately and remove the bathtub again. Now place the beams against the wall. The built-in bath will rest on these. If the battens are firmly on the wall, check again that everything is still level, and then put the bathtub in place.
A siphon should always be accessible after installing the bath. So do not place the siphon at the back of the bath, but at the front. You later conceal it behind the casing, but use a hatch to ensure that you can access it later if necessary.
Fitting = creating the casing
If the Bath is standing level, mark the outside of the Bath and remove the Bath. Now you can actually build in the bath by adding a surround to the tub. A surround can consist of plaster blocks, plywood or green plasterboard. Glue the plaster blocks with block glue, at the same height as the support beams on the wall. A pool surround made of plywood or plasterboard consists of a framework of beams finished with plywood or green moisture-resistant plasterboard.
Once the bath frame with the hatch is ready, place the bathtub in the frame and connect the bath to the drainage. Remember to ground a sheet metal bath. It is wise to insulate a bath. Applying an insulating layer of glass wool will keep the bath water warm for longer! Finally, finish the surround by tiling it. First apply primer, fix the tiles with tile adhesive and seal the bath with mould-free silicone sealant.