How to get rid of old bath

MarcusMaximus · 01-07-2025 12:54AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594591#Comment_123594591

?? Tis all done dude! See post number 68 above. Followed pretty much the same procedure you describe here, with a few minor differences. Just lil ole me and my partner as well. 😏

Mellor · 01-07-2025 01:01AM

This was some mountain out of a mole hill. 500kg of cast iron?? More like 100kg of steel.
No need for grinders, trolleys, hammers. Two people should be able to pick it up the way it came in.

MarcusMaximus · 01-07-2025 01:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594599#Comment_123594599

You reckon? I’ve put it up as ‘free to collect’ but maybe I should charge for it. How much would you say it’s worth, if you don’t mind me asking?

MarcusMaximus · 01-07-2025 01:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594606#Comment_123594606

I already said that when I moved it away from the wall I realised it was lighter than I had thought.

It may be a mole hill to you but to someone who’s never done it before and working alone, plus being of senior age and light of frame it was a pretty intimidating prospect. The dolly I used was a godsend as there was no way that myself and my partner were going to be able to just ‘pick it up’; whether it was 500 or 100 it was a ton weight to us.

Have to say I find this notion that some people have asserted that all the thinking and planning was ridiculous and that one should simply ‘take the damn thing out and be done with it’ to be pretty ludicrous. And that’s having experienced it at this stage. Unless your two people are well built and well practiced. There’s no way it is going to be that easy for the average Joe and the potential for serious injury or damage to floors, walls, bannisters etc. is considerable. But of course, YMMV.

Mellor · 01-07-2025 01:54AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594638#Comment_123594638

I was mainly referring to the suggestion of angle grinders, supermarket cages, sledge hammers etc. They were not helpful imo, and reinforced the idea it was was immoveable juggernaut. In reality it was carried up the stairs by two people, and it left the same way.

As a senior, I wouldn't expect to pick up and put it under you arm and skip down the stairs. But two average Joes should manage a ~100kg bath manually.
"Walking" it step by step is easiest.

con747 · 01-07-2025 02:36AM

A bit late for some posters with their this is how it should be done and you only need a couple of lads what's the big deal? Maybe read the thread in full and the OP did it on their own more or less so maybe leave it there.

Mellor · 01-07-2025 05:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594661#Comment_123594661

Because it's a DIY discussing forum. And probably not the last time somebody will need to DIY a bath removal.
Maybe some in future will benefit from knowing that you don't need to smelt it down or crane it out the window.

listermint · 01-07-2025 06:49AM

Mover our blue cast iron bath from the 70s out by hand before doing reno. It was superbly heavy over 100kg and awkward.

When got it outside had to break it up for disposal. Took me a handful of minutes to smash it with my lump hammer.

IIl never man handle a bath again like that. Lump hammer first. People doing renovations like this as bread and butter know what they're talking about. Far less hassle to smash it up in situ and bucket out the bits. Saves your back, your walls and the potential risk of falling down the stairs.

Oh and OP. You'll get nothing for the bath only scrap value if you want to go to the bother. No one wants old baths including farmers its not the 90s anymore. Reliably and movable troughs are the order of the day.

MarcusMaximus · 01-07-2025 10:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594644#Comment_123594644

A quick search online will show that a lot of people break them up in situ with a sledgehammer and/or angle grinder. It's the done thing! And the two people who carried it up would have been experienced strong labourers, plus it was probably fitted before the dividing wall was built so no awkward angles etc.

Tapping our bath makes a dull sound, the metal is very thick and is rough and 'pebbly' where exposed so my money is on it being cast iron, not steel. Which would make it closer to 250kg I think. The house was built around 1980.

I take your point about the thread hopefully being useful to others facing the same task but I do agree with @con747 that people should read through it before posting to avoid too much repetition.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123594709#Comment_123594709

Good to hear it's not just me finding them heavy and awkward. Don't know how you smashed it up in minutes though. I went at it with a sledgehammer and it just bounced off.

Ok I'll leave it at free to collect so. No bites as yet which possibly confirms what you say. Hopefully someone will want it though because I don't know what I'll do if not. We don't have room to use it for plants and I don't fancy my chances of trying to break it up again..

TheSunIsShining · 01-07-2025 10:49AM

I honestly can't believe that no-one suggested removing your roof, hiring a crane and just taking it out that way. In all fairness, it was the obvious solution.

listermint · 01-07-2025 11:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123595091#Comment_123595091

Yup, have to hit them right spot on the bath and right angle and they literally shatter. Angle grinders a waste of time tbh. Simple brute force and angles.

Il never lift one again if I come across one. 😄

MarcusMaximus · 01-07-2025 11:45AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123595119#Comment_123595119

Tongue in cheek no doubt but yes it was already suggested a good while back.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123595187#Comment_123595187

How do you find the magic 'right spot'? I returned the sledgehammer though so all I have is a lump hammer which no doubt will be useless. If I do have to break it up it kinda defeats the purpose of having carried it all the way out in the first place! And no, I'll never lift another one either unless my life depends on it.

listermint · 01-07-2025 11:50AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123595320#Comment_123595320

Flip it over. Its weaker underneath. Every bath is different the casts have different depths along the cast

MarcusMaximus · 16-07-2025 11:40PM

Decided to post an epilogue to this little saga.

I really tried to get someone to take the bath whole - put it in a thread on the Farming forum here, offered it to the farmer who used to store our caravans and put ads in Adverts and Facebook Marketplace. I even took out an ad in The Farmer’s Journal. I got a couple of enquiries but nothing came of them. My final bid was to see if any architectural salvage dealers would buy it but again, no one wanted it.

So I decided to cut it up into manageable pieces and bought a cheapo angle grinder in Lidl and several metal cutting discs in both Woodies and our local hire centre. It took a while and 6 discs but I got through it fine. So now it is in quarters and I’ll be bringing it up to the (very) local recycling centre tomorrow in two trips. I didn’t realise they take scrap metal for free but they do. Good job I checked as otherwise I would’ve had to drive quite far to a scrap yard.

So hopefully that will be the end of it, which will be a relief as it’s been stuck at the end of our drive making a nuisance of itself.

Oh, for anyone reading this don’t bother with the strenuous and messy work involved in smashing it with a sledgehammer. Get a grinder instead. A proper good one will cut through it like butter in no time. Even the little 115 mm (discs) Parkside one I bought managed it fine. Also, the metal on our one was really thick so I can’t see how a sledgehammer would have done anything other than keep bouncing off it. Then again, ymmv.

MarcusMaximus · 17-07-2025 03:35PM

Loaded into the car ready for the dump:

The final goodbye:

And to the guys that said it wasn't as heavy as I thought, I weighed a chunk and each quarter was about 30 kilos so you were right, altogether about 120 kg.

con747 · 17-07-2025 03:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123645210#Comment_123645210

A pity nobody took it to use, it would have made a good pond/water fountain or something but alas…

Boardnashea · 17-07-2025 03:57PM

Sorry I'm late joining the fun here. I did see the offer of a bath on another Boards forum.

I am too late to suggest that it would make a lovely wildlife pond if you could half sink it in the back garden and feed it with the overflow from a water butt. Couple of rows of bricks to create a nice surround and you could have had frogs in your garden next spring.

con747 · 17-07-2025 04:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123645304#Comment_123645304

I suggested that option while it was still being debated the best way to get it out of the bathroom but nobody wanted it it seems, pity.

MarcusMaximus · 17-07-2025 04:25PM

Yes I know. The thing is we have a tiny back garden which is already full and no room out the front. I did suggest to swmbo that we could keep it to the side of the drive and put plants in it but she wasn't having any of that. 😏

Tis a pity but at least the metal will be recycled, even if the form is no more..

Lumen · 19-07-2025 08:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123645210#Comment_123645210

120kg is really heavy!

> this diagram indicates guideline weights for lifting and lowering for an adult male (fit and healthy) in the best working conditions. For a female all weights should be reduced by one third.

MarcusMaximus · 19-07-2025 09:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123649888#Comment_123649888

Well at no stage did I actually lift it, only manoevred it. And I 'listened to' my back each time, a trick I learned from a physio a few years ago. I used a combination of a car Jack, a crowbar, a dolly and some strong rope to move it downstairs and outside. Once in quarters, I used a couple of car ramps to pull each piece up to near the height of the boot and then one lift to balance it on the edge, then used it's own weight to tip it to level and slide it into position with the smooth face down for easier movement. I used my partner's Juke so there was no drop into the boot. Worked fine with no strain.

MarcusMaximus · 19-07-2025 12:34PM

Must be karmic retribution for destroying the bath, or maybe just stupidity.. I cut it up on the driveway without putting down any sort of protective sheet - didn't occur to me. I swept up the fillings as best I could afterwards but it still left a nasty big rust stain on the concrete and cobble lock. I'll have to try vinegar or a commercial remover along with the pressure washer. Anyone got any other ideas how best to remove it? It won't sweep up anymore, gone beyond that.