Cast Iron Baths!!!

[GQuigley67]

ripping these out now on average twice a week, they weigh a bloody ton ! smashing them with a hammer to break them in 2 is hard work also haha so I'm here to ask the question for the older guys, I've heard a few guys claiming they used to lift them in as one themselves, I think half of one is heavy, so did any of you guys lift them in as one when installing ? I'd imagine it would have been a nightmare and take at least 2 reasonably strong guys to take it upstairs into the bathroom.

 

[ecowarm]

Easy just put it on your back like a turtle shell

 

[SimonG]

Some of the older guys tell us stories of carrying cast iron baths upstairs on there own!

Sod that, it's 60 seconds with the ear plugs and mash hammer, out it comes in 5 bits, tap end, bottom end, two sides and a bottom.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Installed a few as an apprentice an was always tweo of us , my boss at the time was a lumox of a fella as well and used to give me grief about struggling with them . Cant say ever heard tho of one person carrying them in , to much of a struggle to get them through doors etc.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Some of the older guys tell us stories of carrying cast iron baths upstairs on there own!

Sod that, it's 60 seconds with the ear plugs and mash hammer, out it comes in 5 bits, tap end, bottom end, two sides and a bottom.

5 pieces ??
always had 4
smash plug and chese up the cracks,
2 sides two ends

 

[Destroyer2813]

Only ever fitted 2 one when i was a lad, 1500 slipper up two flights of narrow stairs in a London town house. One in a barn conversion

 

[GQuigley67]

arnold schwarzenegger maybe haha but not your average plumber, think its just a case of guys talking pish trying to act the big man, takes 2 guys to carry half of the bath to the skip !

 

[SimonG]

5 pieces ??
always had 4
smash plug and chese up the cracks,
2 sides two ends

Used to be 4 pieces, but getting older now

 

[Guest123]

Used to be up a winch with block and tackle and in through the window. Big Arnie couldn't lift one by himself mate!
Now I take a heavy hammer and a set of ear muffs and goggles. Wear goggles as a chip off the enamel could take your eye out.

 

[GQuigley67]

we smash it in 2 pieces, slide it down the stairs with someone at bottom taking weight the other at top guiding it, then carry it outside, not got time to smash it into 4 pieces or need a bigger hammer to do it quicker haha

 

[ecowarm]

Arnold started lumping baths up stairs before he hit the big time

 

[mountainman]

Older guys did it solo when we were much younger, stronger and macho,

Same as lifting cast iron wall mounted boilers 7 feet up a wall using a milk crate hopup and kitchen worktop.

Stupid but that was common practice in the good old days before arthritis and tinnitus.

 

[GQuigley67]

I think he could probably lift one himself, seen a big guy in the work lift it up from one end and flip over, hes just your average fat guy, i think arnie would be able to lift it.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Brings back memories tho installing these back breakers

 

[Bernie2]

Yes! Done loads as ecowarm said like a turtle. Had a few slip as well and go down the stairs like a sledge. They were heavy and dangerous and yes you did them by yourself. Incidentally cement came in 1 cwt (50kg) bags then. A length of 3/16" cast weighed about 40kg. A wall mounted cast iron boiler or BBU could weigh near enough 75- 100kg. Health and Safety? What was that?

 

[hammers4spanner]

Older guys did it solo when we were much younger, stronger and macho,

Same as lifting cast iron wall mounted boilers 7 feet up a wall using a milk crate hopup and kitchen worktop.

Stupid but that was common practice in the good old days before arthritis and tinnitus.

old vaillants and worcesters oommph!!

 

[Guest123]

......and they're crap at the weigh in. All that work for pennies!

 

[Millsy 82]

Years ago we went through a spell of removing alot of these 1 person said my mum wants this can you take it out without damaging it, No problem I said, 3 weeks later another person said pretty much the same, I turned around and said either give a good tip or get somebody else to do it.

They weigh a bloody ton in the end we were giving the hooligan apprentice a lump hammer and 20mins alone with it.

 

[AWheating]

has anybody seen a risk assessment and method statement for removing one?? i have read a few and if you had to follow it in the real world you would never bother turning up on site.

 

[gravytrain]

a while ago my best landlord customer says can i refurb one of his bathrooms.
well it had a massive cast iron bath so i sent him a quote and then told him he could bring the price down if he ripped out himself.
ok he says. ha ha. that was 2 years ago and he still reminds me about how terrible it was geting the cast iron bath down two flights of stairs
oh dear says i, didnt realise it was cast iron.....:smilewinkgrin:

 

[woodsy]

Never done it myself but my old fella tells me he used to carry them up stairs on his own with a claw hammer wrapped in rags thru the overflow hole.

 

[andyg0507]

horrible things, took one out this week, and god knows how anyone pulled them up stairs on there own, it took me and a kitchen fitter + owner to get it outside, and even then a*se cheeks were clenching!

 

[JCplumb]

A while back they were very sellable and you could sell one for enough profit to mroe than pay for the expense of removing windows etc. to get them out. Is it not that way any more?

 

[goz666]

Took a few out, last one I was just about to smash it and the customer said '' I've given that bath to my son, he's getting it restored for his house'' so me and my mate had to carry it downstairs in one piece and without ripping the wallpaper off, sweating that day. My mates dad said when he was fitting them one man inside like a turtle with hammer through overflow hole and one man behind lifting the back.

 

[tamz]

Yes they were carried up normally by one man (or boy) with another guiding the tail. It is no old folks tale. It was done that way because it was easier but still not easy.
Put the taps on with it standing up and lift it on your back like a turtle. Kind of like a coal man with a cwt sack of coal. All the weight is on your shoulders and back. As a boy it was a kind of initiation thing. You just did it. The second guy guides you around the kites. If you try to lift it with 2 or more men up a std staircase it is a nightmare and too hard to do.
Taking them out now is harder than putting them in. You would need to come down the stairs backwards or slide it taking a few lumps out the walls.

we smash it in 2 pieces, slide it down the stairs with someone at bottom taking weight the other at top guiding it, then carry it outside, not got time to smash it into 4 pieces or need a bigger hammer to do it quicker haha

If you need 2 of you to carry a half bath you need more proteins :lol:
Smash it into 4 with a half dozen more hits (buy a bigger hammer or see above:wink

 

[SimonG]

Or you can do what I do...........try and persuade the customer to keep the bath and get it refurbed

 

[tamz]

Or you can do what I do...........try and persuade the customer to keep the bath and get it refurbed

That would be a bit hard on a council contract :lol:

 

[GQuigley67]

not just me that thinks half a bath is heavy, everyone on the contract that has to move them thinks so, I certainly wont be lifting half a bath myself, not just heavy but also awkward. I can move them myself just dont fancy carrying it from the house to the van. hats off to you if you carried one of them up the stairs yourselves glad I didnt

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

It was either get them up there or get the sack! It sure wasn't for macho reasons as far as I know.

 

[SimonG]

That would be a bit hard on a council contract :lol:

True!