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Raising up a freestanding bath


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Unfortunately our bath drain is positioned directly over one of a double posi joist. It has some fancy combined overflow and waste trap which means that we need to raise the bath up by about 50 to 70mm.

 

Floor is granite coloured LVT and the bath is white. Suggestions from the plumber/builder so far are for wood to raise it up but purely around the base and clad in LVT or a thick piece of stone/granite (which I think will be too expensive). We want to hide the raised section as much as possible.

 

Any other suggestions please.

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12 minutes ago, Happy Valley said:

Are you sure you are not over thinking this?  We have a similar bath and they connect with a waste fitting that fits entirely inside the enclosed bottom tub.  I actually changed the way it was connected because I did not like the flexible hose they supplied, but it should not need the trap to descend through the floor.  The actual trap on ours is right above a joist but that does not stop it working with the pipe going down through the floor next to the trap.

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6 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

Set @Onoff loose: release the dogs of the bathroom remodel (war?)

 

Clive: wake up! You're needed

 

Can only angle the bath differently away from the wall about 30 degrees to keep it on the same level as everything else. Don't like the look of that at all having tried it. Can't put it any where else due to ducting underneath and foul water runs.

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4 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Are you sure you are not over thinking this?  We have a similar bath and they connect with a waste fitting that fits entirely inside the enclosed bottom tub.  I actually changed the way it was connected because I did not like the flexible hose they supplied, but it should not need the trap to descend through the floor.  The actual trap on ours is right above a joist but that does not stop it working with the pipe going down through the floor next to the trap.

 

This is the waste kit - not your usual:

 

https://www.ukbathrooms.com/products/victoria-and-albert-intelli-waste-kit.html

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6 minutes ago, Happy Valley said:

Yes that's just as the trap kit for ours, the actual trap does not extend below the bottom of the bath surround so no need for a hole in the floor for that. You then have that flexible hose coming off the trap and that is the bit that goes down through the floor to connect to your waste pipes.  You have lots of flexibility (literally) with where you drill the hole for that to avoid your joists.

 

151343.jpg

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4 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Are you saying that the bath/trap requires a floor void to work? I installed similar years ago but with a flexible pipe  that acted as a trap (how else do you lower the bath into its tub 🤷‍♂️) .

That's my point, these baths should not need a hole in the floor to accommodate the trap, it should all fit in the space inside the base tub.  the only hole needed in the floor is for the flexible hose and you can easily make that miss the joists.

 

I took a dislike to the flexible hose thing, I used a standard low profile trap, attached the required bits of solvent weld pipe and lowered the bath into it's base. Then I connected the waste from below.  I know doing it that way if I ever need to remove the bath I will have to cut a trap in the utility room ceiling to disconnect the solid waste first.

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Yes but looking at the profile of the bath, I would say that is the top of the bath I am seeing on the right of the picture?  So the trap would not be there.  Sorry I am just having a dumb moment.

 

I would be contacting the manufacturer, I have never seen one where you have to cut a hole for the trap.  What do the instructions say? Do they say you need to cut a hole in the floor for the trap to hang down through?  Seems a pretty rubbish design if that is so.

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Just spoken to the manufacturers and there are no alternatives but to raise the bath up off the floor - daft design.

 

We got that bath at such a good price there is no chance of exchanging for one which will work without costing a £1000 or more. So we will raise it up on wood and cover with the flooring material that we have. 

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Of course it is, would be too easy otherwise! :D

 

Just had a look at the tech drawings - it looks like there's probably about 30mm clearance under the bottom of the bath hole? If so, and you use the flattest trap (something like https://www.ukbathrooms.com/products/victoria-and-albert-intelli-waste-kit.html), you only need to find about 40mm clearance, even less if you can route a hole into the floor (5mm LVT + 22mm decking gets you close). So you really only need a small plinth, 20mm?

 

If that's the case, then for it to look nice I think I'd be tempted to get a piece of white quartz/resinstone or white granite/marble cut (in two pieces to save on material) to follow the shape of the bath (+ say 10mm). You can template it yourself by just tracing around the bottom of the bath onto some ply/mdf and take it to a worktop manufacturer. It'll cost a couple hundred quid, but probably less than replacing the bath if you got a good deal on it!. Would also look good and not need any additional finishing.

 

The other, probably cheaper, alternative would be to get some 20mm marble, granite or terrazzo tiles and cut/create a plinth yourself. (as long as they're solid stone/concrete, the edges will be finished, unlike porcelain/ceramic tiles).

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I have a similar bath (two in fact) and while they are lovely, the supplied trap was garbage - just the flexi hose thing.

 

We'd already tiled the bathroom floor at this point of second fix, with a 40mm pipe coming through to take the waste.

 

Didn't know about those flush traps so plumber had to chop a hole in the floor under the bath, (through tile, latex and OSB) and then pop a traditional trap below, flexi hose between that and the bath and finished with a bead of sealant around the perimeter of the hole to keep any water from falling into the hole. Was messy as hell to do but worked out ok.

 

Also, while I was sure the electric UFH mat did not run under bath, I was still very nervous until it was done.

 

To be fair, the real issue in the OP is the location of the double poizi which perhaps could have been mitigated if this requirement was known, however I had loads of similar near misses so it's very hard to anticipate.  I was almost similarly snookered with the waste for my Impey wet room shower tray but that's designed to rotate to avoid similar issues which was a life saver for me.

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2 hours ago, Temp said:

Does the water trap need to be under the bath? Would a U bend a few meters away be allowed? 

 

Yes it needs to be under the bath- it has a clever system to stop the bath overflowing - there are no other overflows cut into the bath. Sounded great at the time as the bath looks great freestanding with nothing attached to it or holes other than the drain. 

Edited by Happy Valley
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