steveq

Need to refit the bathroom in the house we have. I have a choice of acrylic/fibreglass, enamelled steel, or enamelled cast iron, in order of increasing cost. What does the team think ?

Michael

Unless you are a heavy user of the tub, I'd go with the acrylic/fiberglass tub. If you are doing it yourself, you'll probably need many helpers to install a cast iron tub since a cast iron tub can be anywhere between 200-500 pounds compared to about 50-75 pounds for the acrylic/fiberglass tub.

Pulaski

The water stays warmer in an acrylic/ fiberglass tub. Steel ones can and do rust through - a few years ago I was scrubbing at a stain on a steel tub when my thumb went through the steel because the stain on the enamel was actually the tub rusted through from the back, behind the enamel. I wouldn't want the weight of an iron one sitting on the floor of a timber framed house. It is also much easier to chip the enamel off a metal tub than an acrylic/ fiberglass one.

BTW Don't bother with a whirlpool tub - they are a pain to keep clean (attract mould, algae, and insects, and are not at all relaxing when the pump system sounds like the tub has a diesel engine running underneath the tub.

steveq

What's in now is a fetching steel with an eggshell blue colour, but what worries me is What Lies Beneath. There's persistent damp from leaky joints pretty well everywhere....

Total bill right now for quality bits and solutions to the issues is ~1700 bucks.

Jerseygirl

Fibreglass every time. Didn't enamel baths go out with the ark in the UK? I can't believe they still install them over here.

steveq

IIRC
The main reason we don't have them in the UK is they're a lot more expensive than acrylic ones - they have to be heated to above the melting point of the glass powder they're treated with.

I'm drawn to the shiny surface, and the resilience of the finish of an enamel tub, but "its a rental" and "its a rental we might buy" are conflicting me....

Jerseygirl

I thought it was because they chip and rust easily...are cold and cool the water down quicker.

Pulaski

The funny thing is, that an enameled steel tub is easier to chip than an acrylic one. .... Same as car bumpers made from glass fibre and acrylic v the steel body panels.
All of the above.

steveq

We had one for 25 years that looked like new when we swapped it for something.....not bright yellow.....

steveq

So that said, why are cast iron tubs still so popular ? Tradition ?

Jerseygirl

No idea...sorry. The tubs do not have a separate bath panel...making it difficult to get to the pipes if there is a problem. Unless of course you have a panel cut into the opposite side if the wall.

Pulaski

I'd guess some combination of aesthetics, tradition, and the false perception that they are "better quality". Like JG said many, but not all, acrylic tubs have an integral side panel making accessing the pipes almost impossible.

Jerseygirl

I meant enamel tubs and panels are integral. Apart from the Jacuzzi...all our baths were enamel.

Married2abrit

We had to get a new tub/shower in 2005; it's an acrylic one. The one they had to remove was a enameled cast iron one the was original to the house ( built in the 1950s). The cast iron one always held the heat nicely compared to this new one. That old one was practically indestructible and I miss it.

SanDiegogirl

I've just re-done my bathroom.

As you say, bathtubs can be ridiculously expensive - we saw them from just over 1K to 10K

In the end, because we never bath (we only shower) - and for re sell purposes (you have to have at least one bath we were told) we went with a standalone acrylic/fibreglass one. It looks super with separate faucet etc.

Cost just over 1.5K Took two guys to lift and fit it.