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Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
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Hello,

I've bought a cheap and cheerful bath suite from Screwfix. It doesn't
come with any instructions. I'm a bit unsure about the bath. It is an
enamelled bath made by Kaldewei. Plumbing the taps and wastes is easy
enough but what about fixing it?

Kaldewei is quite a respectable make of bath. One really important
point in the instructions is to never use kettle or other powerful
descalers or acids on the enamel surface -- they destroy the glaze.
Always check that bath cleaners state they are safe on enamel baths,
and never leave taps dripping such that you'll get scale build up
as it's difficult to remove without damaging the glaze.

It comes with four legs. Are these enough? It seems pretty stable on
them but if you sit on the rim to dry your feet, it does seem to lift.
I know the obvious answer is don't sit on the edge! But should I
somehow fix it to the wall? It does have some tabs on the one (wrong)
side but I thought these might just have been used in its manufacture?

No, legs alone are not enough. You need to fix it to the wall.
I've seen elaborate clips which you screw to the wall, and offer
the bath rim up to them and close a clamp down on it, but they
cost rather a lot. I siliconed mine to the wall, which also
prevents any chance of water running down behind (I was particularly
concerned about this as dry rot had started underneath the previous
bath due to this). I also made some clamps by taking a small right
angle bracket, bending one limb right back on itself to form the
bracket into the shape of a question mark, and then screwing the
bracket to the wall such that the top of the question mark clamped
the rim against the wall. On reflection, the brackets were probably
unnecessary given the silicone, although it may have helped hold it
in place whilst the silicone set. OTOH, the silicone would make the
bath very difficult to remove, without destroying the bath and some
of the wall finish.

There is also a tiny tab on the bottom. I wondered whether this was to
earth it but it looks so delicate, I worry it might snap! Shouldn't
the earth tab be a bit sturdier? I presume it needs bonding to the
cold water supply since it is metal under the enamel?

It is. I would suggest crimping an eyelet onto the end of the
bonding wire, and then screwing this to the eyelet with a nut,
bolt, and shakeproof washer. Beware that when you move the eyelet,
shards of tiny enamel splinters will shoot off it -- mind your
eyes and fingers. Don't bend it right on the spot weld.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

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