There are many types of baths, and everybathroomis unique. Installing awhirlpoolis a different story from installing and connecting afreestanding bath. Because the most commonly sold baths in the Netherlands are built-in bathtubs, we give some instructions for installing that type of bath.
Bath places, difficulty: medium
Are you going to install your built-in bathtub yourself? In this blog, we will explain how best to go about it.
Supplies
To get started, here is a checklist of the materials needed. Make sure you have everything you need before you start. It's inconvenient to have to get things during the job.
The 'shopping list':
- Bath
- Bath stand, or legs for under the bath
- Siphon for drainage
- Non-mouldy silicone sealant
- Tile shutter
- Wooden beams (50x75 cm)
- Cellular concrete blocks (5cm thick)
- Plywood (18 mm thick) or green (water-resistant) plasterboard for the casing
- Insulation material, e.g. glass wool
Installing the undercarriage
First mount the frame or legs on the bath. Then level the Bath using the leveling feet, turning 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. Cut a piece of 40 mm diameter plastic drain pipe to size. Place the beams against the wall. The 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.
Installing a siphon
A siphon should always be accessible. So do not place the siphon at the back of the bath, but at the front. You hide it behind the casing later, but use a trap door to make sure you can access it later if necessary.
Making the casing
Once everything is in place, mark the outside of the Bath and remove the Bath. Now you can build the bathtub surround. You can do this with plaster blocks, plywood or green plasterboard. Glue the plaster blocks with block glue at the same height as the beams on the wall on which the bath rests. To make a plywood or green plasterboard bathtub surround, use 50x75cm beams to make a frame around the bath, to the same height as the beams on the wall. Then place a plywood board with a thickness of 18 millimetres or green moisture-resistant plasterboard against the pool surround.
Once the bath frame with the hatch is ready, place the bathtub in the frame and connect the bath to the drainage. A bath made of sheet steel should be earthed. Finish the surround by tiling it. First apply primer, fix the tiles with tile adhesive and seal the bath with mould-free silicone sealant. It is recommended to insulate the bathtub with glass wool. The water will then stay warm longer!