New bath - Steel, Acrylic or "Carronite"?
Discussion
Hopefully I'll soon have the time to replace the crappy bath that came with my house - (I presume) it's some sort of horrible, eco-friendly water saving jobby, as even when full to the waste it is incredibly shallow. Anyway, it turns out that buying a bath is not a straightforward thing...
First and foremost, the existing bath is 1650mm long and fits in an aperture exactly this size, which sits between 2 walls. Seemingly this is a size in which hardly anyone manufactures! More or less the only bath I've found in this length is made of "Carronite" - http://www.eastbrookbathrooms.co.uk/products/Carro... which I've never heard of. Does anyone have experience of these baths?
Second, if I decide to go for the (much more common) 1600mm length bath, what do I do with the extra 50mm? Put up some battening and tile it?
Finally, material - if I don't go for Carronite, is acrylic or steel "best"?
All advice here would be appreciated!
First and foremost, the existing bath is 1650mm long and fits in an aperture exactly this size, which sits between 2 walls. Seemingly this is a size in which hardly anyone manufactures! More or less the only bath I've found in this length is made of "Carronite" - http://www.eastbrookbathrooms.co.uk/products/Carro... which I've never heard of. Does anyone have experience of these baths?
Second, if I decide to go for the (much more common) 1600mm length bath, what do I do with the extra 50mm? Put up some battening and tile it?
Finally, material - if I don't go for Carronite, is acrylic or steel "best"?
All advice here would be appreciated!
Steal can be cold to the touch e.g.when using the bath as a shower, the water won't have warmed it all up and your bafre feet will know it. But with it being steal, it doesn't flex as much as plastic, so if standing up and showering, this is an advantage.
Plastic. You can get good plastic and s
te thin flexy plastic. Warm to the touch but can flex about if using for a shower. I believe that if you spend a bit of money and put it in well, you'll be fine.
Carronite...I've no experience of it, but by the looks of it, it's a beefed up strong plastic aimed at being a warm steal. So in theory, best of both worlds.
As it happens, I've just ordered a bath from Eastbrook bathrooms. I've gone for the standard plastic as opposed to carronite. Mines a pain of a size - 1500. Pay more of the smaller non standard size (compared to 1700) and get a smaller bath!
I'd also try and get a 1650 bath if that would fit snug. 50mm isn't much of a tile to lay and it's not a usable shelf space. So I think you'd be loosing bath space and not gaining anything apart from a tiling problem?
Plastic. You can get good plastic and s
te thin flexy plastic. Warm to the touch but can flex about if using for a shower. I believe that if you spend a bit of money and put it in well, you'll be fine.Carronite...I've no experience of it, but by the looks of it, it's a beefed up strong plastic aimed at being a warm steal. So in theory, best of both worlds.
As it happens, I've just ordered a bath from Eastbrook bathrooms. I've gone for the standard plastic as opposed to carronite. Mines a pain of a size - 1500. Pay more of the smaller non standard size (compared to 1700) and get a smaller bath!
I'd also try and get a 1650 bath if that would fit snug. 50mm isn't much of a tile to lay and it's not a usable shelf space. So I think you'd be loosing bath space and not gaining anything apart from a tiling problem?
Just had an acrylic bath installed to replace the one that we had installed 24 years ago 
. I don't think they still make the flimsy ones (which I carefully looked out for in order to avoid). The acrylic baths have a central support in addition to the usual four feet and if properly installed won't flex. Always an idea to actually hop into the showroom bath and try it out for comfort - length, width, back support. Too late moaning when it's installed.
. I don't think they still make the flimsy ones (which I carefully looked out for in order to avoid). The acrylic baths have a central support in addition to the usual four feet and if properly installed won't flex. Always an idea to actually hop into the showroom bath and try it out for comfort - length, width, back support. Too late moaning when it's installed.I work in a bathroom showroom, so I hope that I can offer some help here.
Eastbrook tend to offer their baths in a choice of two materials - 5mm Acrylic and Carronite. The former is the traditional, somewhat flexible plastic that the majority of baths were made out of in the past - these days enhanced design has gone some way to eliminate the flex you get, but it's still there.
Carronite is basically 5mm acrylic layered with a fibreglass/epoxy concoction, which offers both increased heat retention and structural rigidity similar to that of a shower tray (i.e. none), so we tend to recommend Carronite (/Amanzonite/Aquamaxx - all variations on a theme) for baths which will be regularly used to shower in.
Also, the bath you've linked to is actually made of 5mm acrylic - Carron is the brand name, Carronite being one of their products. The same bath is available in Carronite for £150 more here
Let me know if you need any more help regarding taps, showers and the like!
Ben
Eastbrook tend to offer their baths in a choice of two materials - 5mm Acrylic and Carronite. The former is the traditional, somewhat flexible plastic that the majority of baths were made out of in the past - these days enhanced design has gone some way to eliminate the flex you get, but it's still there.
Carronite is basically 5mm acrylic layered with a fibreglass/epoxy concoction, which offers both increased heat retention and structural rigidity similar to that of a shower tray (i.e. none), so we tend to recommend Carronite (/Amanzonite/Aquamaxx - all variations on a theme) for baths which will be regularly used to shower in.
Also, the bath you've linked to is actually made of 5mm acrylic - Carron is the brand name, Carronite being one of their products. The same bath is available in Carronite for £150 more here
Let me know if you need any more help regarding taps, showers and the like!
Ben
Hi all, thanks for the interesting and useful comments. For info, the bath will be used solely as a bath - at least for the foreseeable future. Carronite sounds like a good material, but I'm not sure if it's worth the premium for the use it'll be getting.
My biggest issue is finding a 1650mm bath! Or rather, one that is a reasonable price and that isn't a free-standing bath. If anyone could point me towards a 1650mm bath at a decent price I'd be most grateful. I'd prefer to spend less than £300 tbh.
What I ideally want is a bath that is nice and deep - I'm not a big chap by any stretch of the imagination but when I lay in the current POS the water doesn't even cover my nipples. It's crap, basically. My previous home had a lovely, deep Ideal Standard bath which was awesome, but they don't appear to make one in the right size for my new place...
Anyway, assuming I can find a bath to fit, the plan is to re-use the old taps, install a new waste (current one is a click-clack type, and I hate it) and replace the tiles around the bath.
My biggest issue is finding a 1650mm bath! Or rather, one that is a reasonable price and that isn't a free-standing bath. If anyone could point me towards a 1650mm bath at a decent price I'd be most grateful. I'd prefer to spend less than £300 tbh.
What I ideally want is a bath that is nice and deep - I'm not a big chap by any stretch of the imagination but when I lay in the current POS the water doesn't even cover my nipples. It's crap, basically. My previous home had a lovely, deep Ideal Standard bath which was awesome, but they don't appear to make one in the right size for my new place...
Anyway, assuming I can find a bath to fit, the plan is to re-use the old taps, install a new waste (current one is a click-clack type, and I hate it) and replace the tiles around the bath.
Laurel Green said:
There's this though the depth is only 410mm?
Ta, I'd spotted that too - is 410mm still pretty shallow? A lot of baths seem to be that depth. Off hand I don't know the depth of my current bath but I suspect it's more like 3xxmm
Laurel Green said:
OK, with the call to duty, having just jumped into the bath (dry), I can say the water would cover my nipples. Mind, mine is a tad longer at 1830mm.
Sooo many potential innuendo's! But seriously, thanks for checking. So 410mm is not too shallow then? I shall have to measure my bath tonight and post back here. (I'm sure the entire forum is on tenterhooks.)
is it 1650 between the finished walls ie tile to tile? You can usually get a 1700 (they normally are about 1695) into a smaller gap, just make sure the tap ledge is large enough to lose a bit without effecting the taps. You dont want to be messing around with a shorter bath and filling in with tiles.
Check out my profile if you want some keen prices on baths.
Check out my profile if you want some keen prices on baths.
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