The Bath: How to reinstall one

Well as last weeks theme seemed to be how to redecorate walls, or sizing walls to redecorate them, this week we will begin on the Bathroom and first off how to reinstall a bath. It’s almost as easy as reinstalling an application on a computer (I wish).

The first thing you want to do is turn the main water supply off, you don’t want to fill your house with water like a giant paddling pool now do you! Now you can disconnect the drainage pipe from the bath using a wrench, it may take a bit of work to get it free. You will also need to loosen the slip nut that connects the overflow pipe. Now you can remove both of the taps and work back towards the supply line. Once this is done, remove the wall covering from around the tub, if there is tiling around the closure you will need to remove a row to complete the removal of the wall covering. Now you will have access to the clips that surround the tub. Now comes a little bit more work, as you have to pry away the tub from the wall using a pry bar, or any other likewise tool of your choice. If you meet any resistance then you possibly didn’t remove the whole of the water system far enough. You will need a helper, once you have rechecked all this, to actually remove the bath from the wall. Now you have removed the previous bath from the wall you probably would like to install your new one. Well it is pretty much the same as removal, but backwards.

First off, check the backboard of the unit to see if any of the cement back boarder needs to be replaced, normal drywall will not be able to stand the amount of moisture in this area and will degrade at a great rate. You can now align the new unit into position using the adjustment bolts to neutralise any rocking motion caused by uneven surfaces. Once you have fixed levelling issues simply connect the drain and water supply units make sure you can adjusts the draining plug to seal when the stopper is activated so that water will be held in the bath. Now reposition the taps.

Now you must recheck all of the plumbing you refitted and turn back on the main water supply to check for leaks or anything loose and that sort. If you do find leaks, repair them and recheck.

The job will be complete when you finish the wall around the bath. You will have to paint or re-tile, or paper to complete the surrounding area. Don’t forget to seal with a running bead of silicon all around the edges to enclose the bath.

I hope this information has be useful and we will continue with the theme of Bathrooms here next time at Mr. Fixing It, your bathroom building buddies!