Fibreglass bath repair

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Piff

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I have been preparing a flat for re-letting & handover is scheduled for next Monday. In cleaning the bathroom I have noticed that there is a fine crack in the bottom of the bath, approx 30mm long.
The crack is in the "ribbed" non-slip area, so a repair isn't going to stand out.

I had planned a bathroom re-fit in a couple of years time so don't want the hassle of changing the bath this week.

Is it possible to seal the crack with a clear gel coat (bath is a lovely avacado colour), if so, what product should I be buying?
 
buy a new bath, if the crack opens when full of water or water+person it'll cost you a lot in repairs.....
 
I agree not worth the risk .New bath is your only option .
 
Buy a white bath and you'll only need the toilet and basin when you do your refit
 
Buy a pressed steel bath too , then it will never happen again.

Got mine from bathstore.com , about a hundred quid a few years ago. Nice deep one too.
 
Piff

Stop storing coal in the existing bath. That will help with the load. There may be some Northern folks on here who will lend you their tin bath ;^)
 
I was unaware of fibre glass baths but as others the bath must be changed.......far cheaper than the risk of substantial consequential water damage.
For tenanted property a steel bath is safest and probably cheapest......for yourself......top end Carronite.

Mic
 
Get a Bette or Kaldewei steel bath in there!
 
New bath bought
Had to get another fibreglass as couldn't get steel today.
Now the task of replacing without damaging tiling
 
New bath bought
Had to get another fibreglass as couldn't get steel today.
Now the task of replacing without damaging tiling

Could be tricky.

If the fitter followed the manufacturers instructions there will be 2 off L shaped brackets from the wooden frame of the bath to under the tiles, 1 at either end of the 1700mm side.

I never fit these upwards - preferring to fix a frame to the wall and fix the brackets downwards, for this very reason.

Good luck :thumb:.
 
Could be tricky.

If the fitter followed the manufacturers instructions there will be 2 off L shaped brackets from the wooden frame of the bath to under the tiles, 1 at either end of the 1700mm side.

I never fit these upwards - preferring to fix a frame to the wall and fix the brackets downwards, for this very reason.

Good luck :thumb:.

It has the brackets pointing upwards behind the tiles.
I'm currently looking at taking a jigsaw all the way round the top of the bath to remove the bulk of it, then attacking the brackets from underneath.
Then there is the issue of the tiled boxing at the end of the bath - new bath is 10mm longer than old bath.
Then there is the basin in the way.
Then the new bath is 30mm taller than the old bath. I haven't fitted the legs yet but I'm guessing they will have 30mm of adjustment. Then cut the new panel down. Or increase the height of the boxing and grind 30mm off the tiles on the other 2 sides.
Just hope if the legs will drop, that the waste will work.
 
I was unaware of fibre glass baths but as others the bath must be changed.......far cheaper than the risk of substantial consequential water damage.

After a few days in this house I noticed a water mark appearing in the kitchen ceiling..shower tray leaking.
As we were officially very skint I said, use the bath while the sealant dries.

After a few days I noticed a water mark in the utility room ceiling...that was when I found the bath was cracked.

I put a pan under it... ;)
 
I have a steel bath in my guest bathroom, stops them from lingering.
 
I bought a place with a serviceable white suite - only had to change the naff "shell" toilet seat. Great stuff.


Right upto the point where the electrician dropped his screwdriver while wiring the extractor fan.............



New bath please :devil:.
 
You are meant to insulate round steel baths and can get polystyrene supports for that.

We had a cast iron, roll top and would run another bath of hot water after a while. Big enough to share though... ;)
 
I bought a place with a serviceable white suite - only had to change the naff "shell" toilet seat. Great stuff.


Right upto the point where the electrician dropped his screwdriver while wiring the extractor fan.............



New bath please :devil:.

I was putting a shelf up above a friends bath for his towels , wasn't using a ladder , but standing on the edge of the bath.

Drilled the holes in the wall , tapped the rawlplugs in with my hammer , and stepped backwards off the edge of the bath , the hammer swang backwards ....

I'll just go and pick up a new basin mate :rolleyes:
 
Steel baths are a nightmare until they have been used a few times.
The enamel finish needs too cure to become hard. This can take weeks.
Until then the finish is as brittle as a poppadom.
If you store them stood up the ends usually suffer.

I bet it was only the acrylic that was cracked rather than the fibre glass reinforcement.
This can even happen to Carronite baths as they still use the same 5mm sheet vacuum formed paper thin till the extra reinforcement is added.

As the property is let have you made sure the bath water is thermostatically controlled?
 

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