How to install a bath yourself: a step-by-step installation guide

Rationally located and trouble-free plumbing in the bathroom is an important component of the comfort of the owners. Its perfect connection is a guarantee of good relations with the neighbors from the apartment below. To achieve the ideal, you need a professional installation, with the price for which not everyone agrees.

But there is an opportunity to significantly reduce the cost of replacing old plumbing. If you are installing the bath with your own hands, then the home foreman will have to pay only for supplies. However, an excellent result can only be achieved by observing the technological rules, which we are ready to share with you.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the detailed description of the installation and connection of plumbing, made of cast iron, acrylic, steel. We thoroughly state the nuances of connecting to the sewer. The information presented by us is supplemented by photo selections, schemes, videos.

Benchmarks for choosing a suitable bath

Modern industry offers us bathtubs of various shapes and colors, made from various materials. Due to the variety of models, the homeowner is always faced with the problem of choice.

If the shape of the container and its coloring excite us more from an aesthetic point of view, then the important operational characteristics of the product depend on the material of manufacture: its practicality, appearance and durability.

In addition to the material, dimensions and configuration of the bowl, the choice of the bath is also influenced by the size of the hygienic room, the height of the sides convenient for all family members, the presence of additional devices and functions

In the manufacture of bath bowls are used:

• Steel. Steel plumbing attracts an affordable price, an abundant assortment. Thanks to its lightness, installation can be handled without the help of assistants. The disadvantages include high heat dissipation, the ability to deform, bend under the weight of large people, “noise” when collecting water in the bowl.
• Cast iron. It is expensive, reliable, durable. No noise when filling with water, perfectly maintains the temperature in the tank. Due to its impressive weight, the installation of a cast-iron bath cannot be carried out alone. Plumbing is quite fragile, if handled carelessly, you can crack the bowl or damage the enamel.
• Acrylic. An easy and inexpensive option that is easier and more logical to replace than to repair. It does not sound during water intake, it retains heat, but does not last long enough and does not please with stability. With the installation without difficulty, you can handle it yourself.

If there are people with an impressive weight in the family, it is advisable to install plumbing containers made of steel and acrylic on brick pedestals or additional supports constructed from it.

These measures will ensure stability and stabilize the bottom. For owners with a less solid set, instead of capital brick fixtures, an additional frame from a bar or a steel profile is enough.

The frame of a wooden bar or metal profile will provide an opportunity to revet a peculiar wall of the bathtub with tiles or arrange niches under the sanitary ware for storing hygiene items (+)

The shapes of the baths are also pleasing in variety. In addition to the rectangular structures familiar to our eyes, there are oval and square ones. For small bathrooms, corner models are increasingly being used. And in addition to products in which it is more convenient to take a bath while lying down, those that are specifically designed for procedures in the "sitting" position are in demand.

The subtleties of choosing a bath suitable for you personally are detailed in another popular article our site.

Preparing the room for the upcoming installation

If you have already made a choice in favor of a certain model, a number of preparatory work should be performed before installation. In addition, you should pre-select a place, decide how you will install the bath: do you plan to do the work yourself, invite workers or call friends.

After drawing up a peculiar plan of upcoming actions, it is necessary to assess the condition of the room, if it is found that there is a need for repair, conduct it.

When do I need to clad walls?

It is best to install a bath before wall cladding during the period of major repairs of the room. This sequence of work will achieve the best practical and aesthetic results.

Installation of tiles after installing the bath allows you to most effectively seal all the gaps and gaps so that moisture does not accumulate in them, due to which an ideal environment for the development of bacteria and mold occurs.

If you were not going to do the bathroom repair, but only wanted to replace the bath itself, you need to choose a model that will be slightly higher than the previous one. At least 1.5 cm.

Note that the tile under the edge of the old bathroom differs in color from the general canvas: it did not burn out. In addition, it may have a contaminated surface that can no longer be washed. Therefore, it is better to hide it.

To fix all the seams in the tile adjacent to the side of the bathtub, you need to spend a lot of effort, but the result is worth it: your bathroom should be a place of concentration of strength, not infections

How to properly prepare the floor?

The floor in the bathroom should be not only perfectly flat, but also durable. This is especially important if we have to work with a cast-iron product that has a fair weight even without water.

If we do ourselves floor tiles under the bath, then it should be laid by the method of pressing to prevent the formation of voids under it. Otherwise, the tile may crack during the operation of the bath.

Any bathtub filled with water creates a significant load on the floor surface. For its uniform distribution can be used wooden logs. Practice has shown that larch is best suited for this purpose.

Prepare wood by treatment with antibacterial and antiseptic solutions. Then the lags are impregnated with PVA putty or drying oil.

Logs not only redistribute the load, but also successfully solve the issue of increasing the height of the product. Sometimes we need to raise the bath so that we can install deep knee siphon. Such siphons will not allow sewage to penetrate in the opposite direction. If you lift the bath a little, in a siphon, for example, hair will accumulate less.

Before installing and connecting the bath, the walls and floor in the room must be repaired, if necessary strengthened

Choosing the Right Drain Valve

When choosing a drain valve, it is no wonder confused how wide the range of products offered by the market. But the truth is, what characteristics should you pay close attention to when buying, but what can be ignored?

Reinforcement material

The building materials market offers us two types of materials: PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and polyisopropylene. With PVC, we meet more often, therefore, we choose it.

But relatively expensive polyisopropylene is not only stronger than polyvinyl chloride, but also has a whole list of indisputable advantages, these are:

• Hardness. This material is significantly harder than its rival, which reduces the likelihood of mechanical damage during installation of the bath.
• Durability. Its strength characteristics do not decrease over time.
• Surface quality. The surface of this material is smoother than PVC, which means that dirt sticks to it less.

Efficiency is still extremely important. The efficiency of polyisopropylene is higher than that of PVC, since the friction of water on the walls of smooth pipes made of this material is much less.

The quality of the drain elements

Most of the plums you see on sale are made in China. During their installation, a bolt is used. Regardless of what material it is made of, after some time this bolt will oxidize, become rusty or corrode in some other way.

You can buy a stainless steel bolt separately, but from its contact with the mesh, a weld will certainly form, which will significantly reduce the maintainability of the product.

The industry offers bathroom drain valves in two versions: PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or PP (polypropylene). If you are interested in the long-term and reliability of the device, it is better to prefer polypropylene as a more resistant to household chemicals

When buying a drain valve, do not hesitate to check its configuration and make sure that all the elements stated in the passport are present:

• Mesh drain. The most economical of all available nets is the model, which consists of two intersecting crossbars.It perfectly catches hair, preventing clogging. The most practical option is considered to be with round holes located around the perimeter of the product. The most reliable is called a mesh having profiled oblique holes. However, this is the most expensive model.
• Cork chain. It would seem that a chain is a part that does not have significant significance. But this is not so. Usually we use the chain that comes in our kit. Doing this is undesirable. Buy separately the one that fishermen use. Its surface is covered with a protective paint that does not allow water to spoil its appearance over time.
• Overflow pipe. In older bathtubs, the overflow pipe is made of metal, but modern production offers the best option. Use a corrugated pipe with a large diameter, and, therefore, throughput. High throughput of the pipe significantly reduces the risk of water overflow.

There are some installation nuances that are worth considering. For example, if the outlet valve of the drain valve is wide enough, you can connect without using a cuff. The gap formed in this case is simply poured with a silicone-based sealant or silicone itself.

Compliance with the dimensions of the room and bath

Owners of spacious bathrooms can be calm: they have a wonderful opportunity to choose any bathtub that they like, if only they can fit in it.

Everyone else will have to carefully measure their small spaces to make sure that the selected model will look organically and will not deprive you of the opportunity to place the necessary equipment in the bathroom.

If the area of ​​your bathroom allows, you can install a bath of a non-standard size and unusual shape, equipped with all sorts of additional functions

Remember that the appearance of the product may make a false impression. Some very similar models have completely different sizes. The most common sizes of bathtubs from different materials also differ from each other.

The length of steel products is 150-180 cm, and the height is 65 cm, the width is 70-85 cm.

For cast iron models, three types of sizes are considered standard:

• small-sized with a length of 120-130 cm and a width of 70 cm,
• Euro standard with the same width of 70 cm, but 140-150 cm long,
• bulky with a width of 70-85 cm and a length of 170 to 180 cm.

The choice of models from acrylic is truly huge. Their length varies from 120 to 190 cm, and their width is 70-170 cm.

The compact sitz bath can be literally crammed with all kinds of electronics. The price of such a baby can be several times higher than the cost of a standard model

Small bathrooms are purchased for various reasons. Sometimes due to the fact that the bathroom is not enough space for a large structure. But sometimes the owners of large rooms also opt for compact models.

For example, elderly people and people with disabilities are often advised to take hygiene procedures in a sitting position. They need small-sized "sitting" bathtubs.

By the way, the fact that the model takes up little space does not make it cheaper. On the contrary, compact products are often quite expensive. They are created in order to satisfy the needs of a number of people. And since they are in demand, it means they will have to pay.

However, usually in spacious rooms completely different models reign. They are made of acrylic or cast iron. Cast iron look monumental and reliable, but without claims to originality, but the variety of acrylic can be envied. Here, both angular and rectangular models, there are even polygons or ovals. The abundance of decorative finishes is also impressive.

Sometimes buyers, falling under the influence of unscrupulous sellers, instead of acrylic products buy cheap plastic fakes. As a rule, this is a Chinese low-quality consumer goods, which you later suffer from installing. We will return to the nuances of installing plastic bathtubs.

Modern models of bathtubs are becoming more complex and multifunctional: progress allows us to meet the growing needs of customers, if there was money

Preparing for your own installation

Bathtubs, regardless of type or size, are not installed in one go. The same actions are performed when connected. sedentary patterns and full-sized bowls. The number of operations increases significantly only when installing a jacuzzi.

In the process of their installation, some special tools will definitely be needed, which would be better prepared in advance so that they are at hand, such as:

• The rule. Exactly so, with an emphasis on the letter “and”, an even long bar is called. Its length should be equal to the diagonal of the bath that we have to install. If your farm does not have a rule, and you don’t want to buy it specifically for a single operation, you can use any flat and long bar with a level set for it for this purpose.
• Fork key. This tool is used to mount the drain mechanisms, which are usually made of plastic.
• Rubber mallet. It is necessary if you need to seat the legs of the bath. Rubber, unlike metal, will not damage the bath enamel and will not cause deformation of the product itself.

As an additional material, silicone sealant is needed. If you have to install an acrylic bath, do not forget to stock up with a "rag" tape.

Alignment and connection of plumbing

We will level the bath using the level. At the same time, one should adhere to the following principle: we raise the lowered part, and not lower the raised part. Do not forget that height of the installed product it matters to us.

First you need to finish leveling the bath, and only then connect it to the sewer. Otherwise, you can accidentally ruin the siphon.

In order to smoothly align the bath and check its installation, you need to use the rule by repeating the check procedure several times

You can align the bath yourself in two ways:

• on the sides;
• diagonally.

When aligned diagonally, the rule is laid on opposite corners of the container. The rule is set on top of the rule.We align the bath by twisting its legs, until the level shows that our goal has been achieved.

After that, we shift the rule with the level to other angles, also located diagonally relative to each other. The procedure should be repeated twice to verify the result.

When aligning on the sides, the rule is established first on one side of the bathroom, and then on the other. First, one side of the tank is adjusted, and then the other. This procedure should also be repeated several times, because when adjusting one of the sides, the second one may lose the setting. This method is much more laborious than diagonally. If the floor itself has an uneven surface, then you have to sweat.

How to prepare a sewer?

Water will have to be turned off. You may have to cut off the water supply to the whole house, but most likely, you can get by with only apartments, powered by a riser on the same floor with your living space.

In any case, people should be warned in advance so that this event does not become an unpleasant surprise for those who wash dishes, wash or take a shower or bath at this time.

The purpose of this event is to achieve a complete absence of moisture not only in the pipe of the sewer pipe, but also in the pipe itself. By ensuring dryness, we will achieve better sealing during the connection process. You can use a regular home hair dryer to dry the inside and outside of the pipe.

Detailed installation guide

All. The workplace is ready. Proceed to installation. Since the installation of bathtubs of different types has its own characteristics, we will talk separately about this procedure for each type of bathtub. Let's start with the acrylic model.

In general, the connection diagram of any bath is similar to this. There are some features of working with a particular model, caused by the properties of the materials from which it is made

Installation of acrylic plumbing

When will you choose an acrylic bath in the store, pay attention to the fact that the kit includes special guides for attaching the legs of the bathroom. They are called lodgements. They are installed across the tank. It is in them that the legs should be screwed.

The lodgements are attached to the surface of the bath using self-tapping screws included in the package. Self-tapping screws must go into the holes specially designed for them.

Otherwise, they may simply perforate the bath. When drilling, a drill equipped with a stop should be used. Deeper holes than three quarters of the length of the self-tapping screw cannot be made.

The lodges are installed. Now the bath should be carefully laid on the side surface and connected to the drain valves. Before installing the drain valves, do not forget to carefully treat all gaskets that will be used with silicone.

If you do not want to scandal with neighbors from below and pay them expensive repairs, make sure that the drain gasket is installed externally.

When connecting the drain, special attention should be paid to the tightness of all joints and the quality of the gaskets. Safety when operating the bath is extremely important

Of course, in the design of the bath there are threaded connections of the elements. Do not tighten them tightly, because the installation process is not easy, the joints and individual elements of the bath may be damaged and will have to be replaced.

If we install the bath, it should come close to three of the four walls. Make sure that the outlet of the bath is docked with the sewer pipe. Now you can align the bath using the rule, and treat the connection of the outlet with the pipe with sealant.

When the sealant begins to harden, take a fork wrench and tighten all loose threaded connections.

This is one of the options for connecting the bath to the sewage line, which is made with high quality and extremely simple, as it should be

Everything, the sealant froze completely. Now you need to check all available joints for leaks. All the shortcomings are eliminated, and if they are not, then proceed to the processing of cracks between the walls and the bathroom. To do this, use the same sealant.

Nuances of mounting a steel tank

Special nuances steel bath installations no. It is mounted almost the same as acrylic. The algorithm of work is the same except for the method of fastening the legs. The legs are attached to the steel tank with wedges, studs or bolts. When using bolts for this purpose, be aware that you will have to tighten them alternately and gradually.

No matter how it seems to you that everything is attached correctly, you should not immediately tighten the bolt completely. It is possible that you will need to fine-tune the legs, which will be impossible if the bolts are locked completely.

We have already said that in the process of filling a steel bath, a jet of water, striking the walls of the tank, makes a loud sound. To muffle it, you can lay pieces of automotive rubber in the space between the surface of the bathtub and the legs mount or fill it with foam.

About how to seal the joint between the wall and the bowl, you can read here.

Features of installing a bathtub made of cast iron

Cast iron is heavy material. And the bath from it has a lot of weight. To prevent this massive object from damaging doorways and furniture, you need to properly organize installation work. The bath should be regulated and connected directly in the bathroom, without transferring the tank to other rooms.

Some bathtubs made of cast iron can be equipped with decorative legs. Such models become a real decoration of the interior and a designer find. If in the process of adjusting the level of such a bath, step-up pads are used, you can completely destroy all the efforts of the designer.

Pay attention to the legs of this charming cast-iron model. Of course, it is impossible to unscrew or extend them, laying some materials under them, but they should stand on a perfectly flat surface

You can get around this point by filing the legs at the base, but only a professional is able to perform these works qualitatively.

There are features when connecting the drain to the sewer. Cast iron bath better not to put on your side. You can simply lift the front of the tank. This will create additional space, which will be enough to carry out the work. It is necessary to temporarily fix the structure in the desired state, using wooden blocks.

The general principle of the work is maximum accuracy and in the absence of the ability to move a heavy tank.

Guidance on the installation of a cast iron tank on bricks, if there is a need for the indicated solution, you will find in walkthroughposted on our website.

The nuances of installing a plastic bath

Plastic bathtubs are a cheap analogue of acrylic models, so the installation process for these models is similar to one another. But of course there is a difference. A special pillow should be created for the plastic structure, the task of which is to relieve the load on the bottom of the product.

The pillow can be made of wood (larch) or cement. Plastic bathtubs should be operated very carefully. It is strictly forbidden to look after it with aggressive detergents. If you ignore these nuances, then after 7 years, or even after 5 years, the bath will need to be thrown out.

Bath screen construction

The space between the bathroom and the floor may not be covered if the outer surface of the model has an attractive appearance. But more often we still try to close this gap.

This can be done using, for example, sliding screen. This bathroom accessory is sold in stores, but some people prefer home-made screens. Homemade attracts with its originality and cheapness.

Those who think that the bath screen is used only to cover the side of the bath are mistaken. It can become a place to store all kinds of household chemicals and hygiene products.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Installation of any bath is not as easy as it may seem. This video presents some editing nuances that you should pay attention to. Look and think whether you can master this work yourself:

The theory of how to install different types of bathtubs with your own hands, we have presented to you. It remains only to put the acquired knowledge into practice. We warn that theory is not always easily put into practice.

You will have to skillfully use different tools, as well as show knowledge of the intricacies of the installation process. Particular attention should be paid to cast iron products. Use reasonable caution so as not to damage your arms and legs.

You can ask a question or tell about how you personally installed the bath and connected it to the sewage system in the block located below. Please comment and share useful information. We and visitors to the site are interested in your opinion.