Bath won't fit - help!

Manuel

Hi,
We're at second fixing stage in our new two-storey.
We went and bought a bath - a bit longer than standard, in fact
it was exactly as long as the bathroom width (on the plans).
In hindsight, I realise now this was a bit foolish, as it turns out the
wall is actually 20mm shorter than the bath.

I'm looking for reassurance (or otherwise) that this is not a huge
deal. We have external block wall at one end and studded partition
at the other (landing wall).

I'm told that we should be able to chase the block wall the required
20mm to "slot" the bath in, and badda-bing badda-boom problem solved.
I'm not sure yet whether this is something the plumber will do or the
builder. The wall will have to be chased for more than the width of the
bath I guess in order to be able to get the damn thing into the room,
but this will all be tiled over in the end I guess ...

Did anybody ever have a similar experience?

Thanks.

FrankGrimes

What material is the bath? If its heavy I can see it being a lot of hassle to manoeuvre into place as it will have to come in the door lengthways and then be turned sideways which will require it to be put at steep angle corner to corner will be more than 20mm wider than the room.

And then you've got the problem of chasing the wall and getting the bath into that trench. Unless you get the soundest builder or plumber in the world they will defo kick up a load of fuss on this as it will be a pain in the ass for them and will require at least two men to spend time getting the bath into position. I wouldn't be surprised if they hit you for €500 extra for this job which translates to 'I don't want to do it, get another bath'.

If the trench needs to be further along the wall than the bath it will need to be bonded up afterwards, which adds to the hassle.

Where did you get the bath and could you return and swap for a standard size? If you wouldn't be happy with the standard size than you'll just have to push for the above, though I would offer to do at least some of it myself, as you are the one in the wrong here and I would want to keep as much of the goodwill with builder and plumber as possible - you want to have that in reserve to use on problems they cause and not you.

Manuel

Thanks Frank,
On the positive side, the bath won't need to be turned. It will go through the door lengthways and then be "slid" to the left on to the left-hand wall. So I guess the trench will have to be chased from the far corner all the way over to opposite the RHS of the door, if u can picture it. Probably 1.5/2 m in all.
Pain in the arse all round I agree. I've at least raised it with plumber, builder and supplier already. It's a fair suggestion that replacing the bath might be the easiest solution. This of course means replacing the bathroom suite, and the missus really wanted this one. I had considered at the time that we might have trouble with a few mm, but I hadn't banked on 20!

We haven't given the builder much grief up to now, if anything we've rolled over whenever he's made a suggestion, or more often when he's argued against any or our suggestions .... (e.g. "Mmm, yeah, you could do that. But some people find that ... blah blah blah ...." ... until we eventually say right, forget it ...)

So we definitely have a bit of good-will credit built up, though I still feel like a gob****e for us bringing this particular problem on ourselves.

Anyway I've been trying to gauge the extent of the hassle, so thanks for the feedback.

/M.

pipers

Get a different bath.

My gut feeling is that the taps will be too close to the wall when the tiling is complete.

towbar

Agree with Pipers on this - I'm thinking taps are on external wall and tile is 10mm. If anything would it not be easier to get 20mm off the stud well - take away the plaster that should be 12.5mm?

Manuel

Forgot to say the taps are in the middle so at least I don't have that problem.
I would have thought to go after the stud wall too, but I was told that because we're dealing with water here, the block wall would be the one to tackle ... I dunno ....

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I suppose there'll be bigger fish to fry than this along the way ...

rooferPete

Hi,

How about dividing the difference between both walls ? you should be able to chase ten mm out of the block wall, probably won't have to go deeper than the plaster.

Then cut a small section out of the plaster board, that should allow the bath to fit into room and if you have a good tiler he / she should be able to fit a good seal at both ends.

The advantage of dividing the difference is when tiled you should have the same size exposed on both ends and you won't have to explain to everyone who visits the bathroom why the bath is off centre.

.