The Plumberparts guide to choosing the right bath

Type “different types of bath” into Google, and you get a mind-blowing 30.5 million results. Spend hours trawling the results; or… read this Plumberparts quick bath guide!

What should I consider when choosing a bath?

I won’t lie, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to baths! In brief: the material, look, size, shape, how to get into it, and where exactly it’s going to go. And that’s before we get to bath installation and maintenance.

What’s the best material for a bath?

There are some incredible fancy looking baths on the market, but they need to suit both your space and your budget. Best to weigh them up (literally!) as heavy material plus water could equal in a bath coming through the floor.

Copper baths can look incredible, but they’re also pretty incredible on your wallet. Look out for 16 gauge rather than 20 gauge copper – a lower number is better for quality and durability.

Cast iron baths can give a home the Grand Designs feel, though bear in mind they can be so heavy you may even need to get your floor reinforced!

Enamel-coated steel, acrylic and fibreglass are more common bathtub materials, with the last two very much at the more realistic end of the budget.

All types of metal – steel, copper or iron – retain heat well, so your bath water will stay warm for longer.

What are the standard bath sizes?

There’s a whole load of bath choice around, but here’s the most common sizes:

• A standard bath is around 170cm long x 70cm wide; which gives you plenty of space to install a shower over it
• Freestanding baths tend to be bigger, typically 180cm x 80cm or more
• The straight sides of corner baths each measure from 120cm up

But how big a bath should you go for? There a loads of websites out there to help you calculate this.

Remember there are baths specially shaped to accommodate an overhead shower. So there’s loads of variations and ways to get the results you need.

How to install a bath

There’s a lot if gubbins that come with a bath: feet, screws, brackets to fix your side panels to … the list goes on. Getting everything level and with the weight evenly distributed is key – a tape measure and spirit level are your friends! Finish up by fixing with a silicon adhesive and plumbing in the waste.

Watch my video to see exactly how to level and fix a bath:

Tips for bath maintenance

Common sense applies to keeping baths in tip-top condition. Scrape out and replace the silicone sealant when it starts to look manky, fix any dripping taps, and generally keep it clean. Happy bath shopping!

For monster sealant guns and more visit the Plumberparts shop:

www.amazon.co.uk/shop/plumberparts