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Discuss Bath renewal thoughts ? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

JTplumbingservices

Gas Engineer
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234
having a light hearted debate with a mate about a job he’s on.
Renew a bath.
Existing bath is tiled down on to and it’s about 30mm lower than the panel for the new bath.
Customer doesn’t want any tiles removed.
So would you fit new bath up to the tiles and cut the panel..
Or
Fit bath at the height of the new panel against the tiles ?
 
having a light hearted debate with a mate about a job he’s on.
Renew a bath.
Existing bath is tiled down on to and it’s about 30mm lower than the panel for the new bath.
Customer doesn’t want any tiles removed.
So would you fit new bath up to the tiles and cut the panel..
Or
Fit bath at the height of the new panel against the tiles ?
I wouldn’t do either and instruct the customer that when they employed me to do the work. It would be to the best of my ability and neither option is.
 
Saw through middle of old bath to remove.

You may get the new one in but will struggle to batten.

Ideally drop out a row of tiles, install properly and infill thebgap.
 
Saw through middle of old bath to remove.

You may get the new one in but will struggle to batten.

Ideally drop out a row of tiles, install properly and infill thebgap.
Yip, remove bottom row and retile after fitting bath at correct height but the customer doesn’t want this
 
Sometimes you have to put your foot Down As the contractor as it becomes a tossup between what Cust wants compared to a cut corners slap dash job. It boils down to communication again
 
Ha.. customer is alway rite apparently

And when the result they insisted on looks rubbish, or leaks, or whatever a year later they blame you and put photographs of *your* poor workmanship on Facebook and it's your reputation down the drain.

Don't do work that you wouldn't be happy for future customers to see because, these days, they probably will.
 
Sometimes you have to put your foot Down As the contractor as it becomes a tossup between what Cust wants compared to a cut corners slap dash job. It boils down to communication again
It’s not as if the options won’t work, the customer has been told how it should be done
Sometimes you have to put your foot Down As the contractor as it becomes a tossup between what Cust wants compared to a cut corners slap dash job. It boils down to communication again
its not really cutting corners if he wants to do it the correct way and is being told not to.
I know neither of the options are ideal but if he could get it battoned and a nice fit between the batton and tiles it should be fine.. that would be my choice out of the two options anyway
 
And when the result they insisted on looks rubbish, or leaks, or whatever a year later they blame you and put photographs of *your* poor workmanship on Facebook and it's your reputation down the drain.

Don't do work that you wouldn't be happy for future customers to see because, these days, they probably will.
I agree mate, I wouldn’t do the job either if I didn’t think I could make it decent.
I’m sure this could be made ok it’s just not ideal obviously.
 
I do not think you will get the answer you are looking for here mate. We have said our thoughts. Your mate will do what he needs to.
 
It’s not as if the options won’t work, the customer has been told how it should be done

its not really cutting corners if he wants to do it the correct way and is being told not to.
I know neither of the options are ideal but if he could get it battoned and a nice fit between the batton and tiles it should be fine.. that would be my choice out of the two options anyway
Fine you’ve had our opinion and ignored it good luck with it
 
Fine you’ve had our opinion and ignored it good luck with it
I haven’t ignored anything
I agree with you on how it should be done.
The question was just if you had no other choice out of the 2 what would it be.
It wasn’t supposed to get all serious or argumentative mate.
 
I haven’t ignored anything
I agree with you on how it should be done.
The question was just if you had no other choice out of the 2 what would it be.
It wasn’t supposed to get all serious or argumentative mate.
I know mate. But we have all said the same thing. We wouldn’t do either option. Please do not get cross. It isn’t worth it.
 
I have done it but had to put a imperial size bath back in and infill the head end tricky and theres always a risk of damage , bump up to original height and adjust the panel to suit . Kop
 
I have done this kind of thing. It isn't exactly fun.

In my case, I had to butt up to the sides of the existing tiles. This didn't stop me battening however. I wouldn't have done it that way out of choice, but it was how the old bath had been installed - the tiles were not cut to a level and so I had to replace like with like. This was for a friend who accepted it was a like-for-like replacement and who was due to give birth a week or so later so just needed it done quickly and isn't the type to then complain about how it looks so long as it works.

If the original bath had been tiled onto, as it should be, then I would have cut down the panel and fitted the bath to finish 2-3mm under the existing tiles. So my vote is for option 2, but bear in mind cutting a panel is not an easy job.

I have cut down plastic panels to fit under an existing bath. Then the panel had no structure and I have to build an elaborate wooden frame, curve the edges in, use velcro to make the panel removeable etc to support the panel, faff around with a block plane etc and cut carefully around surface pipework... and it took me over a day. The finished result looked excellent, but I made very little money on that at all. As I said to the customer, at least it was interesting to do, even if it did take a whole day just to do the panels, support the bath feet properly etc etc.

This was a part of the cut-down panel job in progress. Today, I would not really be happy with this, as the bath edge is still not supported by the wooden frame, but I was happy at the time.

upload_2019-1-27_12-33-45.jpeg
 
Really the only issue I see with this is the bath won’t suit panel height.
I would be happy to fit the bath up against the tiles - and I am fussy to do trays and baths to be well supported and sealed. Had to do this plenty of times when replacing damaged old baths.
If you could get a batten screwed to wall for support, then excellent. You could also use silicone and tighten the bath up to the tiles, leaving a 3mm joint to seal later.
The panel might be a good idea to pass the buck and tell the customer to get a joiner to trim and support it, that way saving you the wasted time.
 
I have done this kind of thing. It isn't exactly fun.

In my case, I had to butt up to the sides of the existing tiles. This didn't stop me battening however. I wouldn't have done it that way out of choice, but it was how the old bath had been installed - the tiles were not cut to a level and so I had to replace like with like. This was for a friend who accepted it was a like-for-like replacement and who was due to give birth a week or so later so just needed it done quickly and isn't the type to then complain about how it looks so long as it works.

If the original bath had been tiled onto, as it should be, then I would have cut down the panel and fitted the bath to finish 2-3mm under the existing tiles. So my vote is for option 2, but bear in mind cutting a panel is not an easy job.

I have cut down plastic panels to fit under an existing bath. Then the panel had no structure and I have to build an elaborate wooden frame, curve the edges in, use velcro to make the panel removeable etc to support the panel, faff around with a block plane etc and cut carefully around surface pipework... and it took me over a day. The finished result looked excellent, but I made very little money on that at all. As I said to the customer, at least it was interesting to do, even if it did take a whole day just to do the panels, support the bath feet properly etc etc.

This was a part of the cut-down panel job in progress. Today, I would not really be happy with this, as the bath edge is still not supported by the wooden frame, but I was happy at the time.

View attachment 36613
Great reply mate.
We can’t always do a job exactly how we’d like to do it.
On this job he has battoned it and got a nice fit between the batton and tiles and made a timber frame to secure the panel.
Bit of a pain but it will end up fine I’m sure.
 
If it won’t let water past it and well supported, then just call it a bespoke install. :)
 
Sometimes you have to put your foot Down As the contractor as it becomes a tossup between what Cust wants compared to a cut corners slap dash job. It boils down to communication again

The reality here is that a 'professional' is being told what and how to do the job by a know nothing. Feels like a no win. With an attitude like that the very first thing that goes even slightly awry will see the customer over you like a rash.

If it were mine I would simply walk away as it wasn't going to be done correctly. But it's not mine ....:eek:
 
The reality here is that a 'professional' is being told what and how to do the job by a know nothing. Feels like a no win. With an attitude like that the very first thing that goes even slightly awry will see the customer over you like a rash.

If it were mine I would simply walk away as it wasn't going to be done correctly. But it's not mine ..:eek:

Not sure Dave that it is something extreme for a customer to ask that you just leave the tiles as they are and fit the bath to below them.
If it can be done a proper job, except for the bath panel height, then I would do it.
A quote for the job explaining customers request and bath panel issue should cover any chance of criticism later
 
The reality here is that a 'professional' is being told what and how to do the job by a know nothing. Feels like a no win. With an attitude like that the very first thing that goes even slightly awry will see the customer over you like a rash.

If it were mine I would simply walk away as it wasn't going to be done correctly. But it's not mine ..:eek:
The customer usually tells you what they want done in their property from my experience.
I can only advise them of the correct way.
In my opinion although the job will not be done the best possible way it will still be done well, bath will be secure and sealed nicely will look no different than if it had been tiled down onto.
The only way I would refuse to do a job the way the customer asked was if it was unsafe to do so, it wouldnt work, or it would look bad.
In this case neither apply.
Thanks for the comment though, I appreciate everyone’s input.
 

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