Bathtubs

[LegacyGT]

Can anyone point me to any building codes or australian standards regarding bathtubs?

[bricks]

what r u worried about?,

[nic]

Sorry, to highjack your thread but I'm putting in a new acrylic bathtub soon and was wondering if I need to lay it on top of a mortar bed or just on top of the flooring ?
Maybe said codes would have the answer to my question ?

Thanks

Nic

[LegacyGT]

looking to install a home made bathtub. material TBC.

[bricks]

Unless you bath comes with a factory fitted frame then you need to bed it in mortar.

Basically you need to have at least 40mm of mortar minimum under all parts of you bathtub.

You pretty much lay it like a big brick. with the left over mud pushed up around the sides ( not too important how much is left only about 150mm up the sides.)

Standard bath you'll need about 80-100 kgs of dry mortar.( 4-5 20 kg bags).

When building the hob you can, build it first and use it as a kind of depth gauge for sinking the bath the right height from the floor. OR place your bath and build the hob to suit. Make sure that the tiles under the edge of the bath will help support the sides when you get in and out.
If your sides are still moving after you tile the top of your hob first you can crawl under and fill the edge with space invader foam to help stiffen them up.

If your bath is up against the wall chase it into the gyprock or bricks so that the tiles will sit flush over the little raised edge of your bath ( helps with water profing. Other wise it can be as far off the wall as you like.

Regulations for each state are tricky so I won't be able to tell you anything for certain (S.A. im pretty good tho).

[nic]

g'day bricks

We removed the current bathtub (pressed steel), and that one was just sitting on the joists. They had built a wooden frame around it to hold the sides up and I think to help have it sit in place.
In you explanation you would need to put the mortar on top of the cement floor sheeting and drop the bath on the wet mix ?
Does that also mean the drain pipe is surrounded in mortar or would you leave some sort of clearance ?

Thanks

Nic

[LegacyGT]

what about for floor standing bathtubs? any rules or regulations?

[bricks]

never seen or done a floor standing tub unless you mean one that comes with its own fibreglass legs in which case the legs r ok if the manufacturer says they r.

RE: the waste pipe.

sorry to forget that step but yes I leave a small section of the mortar out so I can connect the bath after i set it down, while the mortar is still wet. After the concrete is dry i then put the plug in and fill the bath to the top and check for any leaks in the connection. I watch while the water drains away too. After im happy with it a mix up a small amount of mortar and push it in from the side. so that the whole bath is supported .

The hole i leave would be aproximately 150-200mm wide and just far enough in to enable my fingers to get around the connection. I usually use some scrap foam or newspaper as a makeshift retaining wall which i remove after ive set the bath and the mortar is starting to dry up a bit.