"Antique" bath/shower stall

Hello all. We have just bought a semi-detached brick Edwardian in Melbourne. Although we're outsourcing the hard stuff, I expect I'll have lots of questions over the next couple of months as we try to make it habitable.

First question for now - the bathroom is a museum piece and will be replaced (immediately, if funds allow - otherwise, as soon as poss). It includes a cast iron clawfoot bath and a corrugated metal shower screen thingie that sits on the edge of the bath. It has been suggested to us that these are original and might be worth something. I'm a bit doubtful, but anything to help balance the tidal outflow of cash sounds good right now! Can anyone suggest the best way of trying to sell stuff like this?

Cheers
Miles

Hi Miles and welcome to the forum! You will find a wealth of information, advice and opinion. Especially opinion :D:D:D

Your advice may be correct, though it seems to be horrendously difficult to find the right buyers at the right time for these things. I have seen a squillion (technical term) of them in my travels ranging from "free, please take" to many hundreds of dollars. Reproductions are made of both bath and screen and range in price/quality.


It really all depends on the condition of yours and whether you would consider keeping them for your bathroom...... I would be happy to have a chat with you about your plans as part of the work I do is advising people on the renovation of their period homes. I am thinking you either in Brunswick or Coburg or similar. The architecture of the inner north is something I am very familiar with and would be happy to have a discussion if you’re interested.

There is a bunch of ways people sell these things, though Trading Post is on the demise and eBay is only a fledgling affair in the period architecture side of things - possibly a bath restorer may be interested in the two, but it will strongly depend on the quality/condition of the bath/screen

hope this is at least a little helpful. How much work do you intend doing on your new/old home yourself? Done with care, this can save you a fortune. Do you have any/much experience in doing such things? If not, there's a bunch of advice here regarding tools and equipment that you'll find invaluable.

I know a few people, including one couple who repeated the exercise in two houses, who bought old cast iron baths and had them resurfaced. Looks fantastic.

However, the cost of the refurbishing is quite high so the cheaper the acquisition, the better. And it doesn't matter what condition they are in - one of the acquired bath tubs had been used as a horse trough for years.

You may not get much for yours but money is money. Existing feet is an added attraction.

The shower screen sounds interesting. Wonder how it would look if the frame was chromed and perhaps the corrugated metal replaced. I remember seeing a photo somewhere of a renovated period bathroom with a corrugated shower screen. Looked terrific.

One man's meat ...

Thanks, Steve and Wombat, for your responses. After posting it did occur to me to check eBay – sure enough, there are half a dozen similar baths currently being auctioned (not attracting a whole bunch of bids, it must be said…). I couldn’t find anything like the shower screen, but I may not have been searching too smartly. So, eBay might be worth a shot – I’ll also call a bath restorer and see if they’re interested.

We don’t plan on retaining them in the renovated bathroom. Although we want to respect the history and integrity of the building (which the previous owners, sadly, didn’t), we’re not looking to reproduce a "period" look – if you know what I mean.

Steve - the house is in North Carlton and has had a biggish extension added (we guess around early 80s). We suspect the marriage ended before the reno and it has basically been left unfinished (bare solid plaster and plasterboard; untiled & unventilated second bathroom; electric cable dangling out of interior walls; external walls clad in rotting plywood… etc) for 20 years. We don’t want our marriage to be another casualty, so are getting pros in to fix wiring, roof plumbing, plastering etc – and, if we can afford it, one nice bathroom. Then we’ll move in and live in it for a while before figuring out what we want to do, and how much we can do ourselves. I’m not very experienced, but keen to learn – I am enjoying browsing on this forum – lots of good stuff here!

Thanks again

Miles

cool Miles - I know the area well and the situation in fact (though from the outside) - let me know if there's anything I can help with - I have around 600 publications in my library here at home, so if you feel the need for a consultation regarding the return of your home to its former etc etc etc.....sing out.

I would suggest that you take some photos before you dismantle the bath/shower screen. Might help in off loading the screen.

Actually, wouldn't mind having a look at it myself. Not a prospective buyer unfortunately - just curious.

Hi - success on eBay - thanks for the suggestion! Now we start on the renovation... Pics of bath and "before" shot of bathroom attached.
Cheers
Miles