Choosing and buying a bath is only half the success. The final result will depend on the quality installation of the product. Correct installation will allow you to use plumbing fixtures for a long time with maximum comfort. But if even the slightest mistake is made during installation, this can cause a breakdown. Sometimes it can be eliminated by repair, but it also happens that an incorrectly installed bath requires replacement.
Training
The installation instructions for the acrylic bath in the first stage provides for the preparation of the room. To do this, remove the old device, dismantle the drain and clean the sewer pipe. A piece of corrugated hose is inserted there. All joints are sealed.
It is recommended to level the floor or take care of this only in the area where the bath will be installed. It is recommended to turn off the water before starting the preparatory work, and after completing the preparation, remove garbage from the room. The place where the bath will stand should be covered with cushioning material to provide protection against damage. Experts recommend buying a bath immediately before installation. Long-term storage of the product under inappropriate conditions can cause material deformation.
Safety precautions
Do-it-yourself installation instructions for an acrylic bathtub follow safety precautions. You can do the work yourself, because the weight of the device is low. However, this feature of acrylic has a drawback. The material is quite fragile, so you need to handle them carefully. Even if the product falls from a small height, it may cause cracks and chips. The same result is possible if a heavy object is dropped into the bowl. The surface of the acrylic may be scratched by rough handling.
Before installation, you should study the recommendations. They are attached to the product. The bottom must be attached to the frame or legs in the places indicated by the manufacturer. If the position of the bath changes over time, this can lead to deformation or damage.
Before you do the installation of an acrylic corner bath yourself, you should once again make sure that the product has good quality. To do this, look at your passport. Then proceed to the inspection of the device. To do this, click on the walls. If they bend or the product emits an unpleasant odor, this indicates that low-quality acrylic was used in the manufacturing process. This bath is better to change to another.
The walls should not be visible. You can use a flashlight to verify this. Make sure that the package contains everything you need for installation. It is important to pay attention to the number of supports. The fewer they are, the stronger the product.
Installation procedure
Do-it-yourself acrylic bathtub installation can be carried out according to one of several technologies. One involves the use of legs as supports, while the other uses a brick frame. You can carry out installation on the factory frame with legs. In order to ensure maximum bath strength, some craftsmen use a combined installation method. The product rests on the legs and the brick frame.
The easiest way to cope with the installation is when a frame or legs are supplied with the design. But to work with bricks you need to have certain skills, since the masonry will need to be done smoothly and accurately, observing the exact dimensions. Regardless of which installation method was chosen, access to communications should be ensured. It is easy enough to achieve this goal when mounting on a frame or legs. However, if brickwork is performed, then a gap of several bricks should be left in order to carry out maintenance of communications.
Foot mounting
Do-it-yourself installation of an acrylic bathtub on the legs is carried out according to the following algorithm: first, the supports are installed in the places provided for them. After the bath is mounted in its place, and the legs are adjustable in height. The position of the plumbing fixture is fixed, then finishing work is carried out. To screw the legs on the inverted bath, you should find places for fastening. They will look like holes or mounting pads. The legs are fixed in these places.
If installation is carried out on the site, then the legs should be installed on the rails attached to the bottom of the room. The installation of an acrylic bathtub in the bathroom should in no case be accompanied by drilling holes in other places on its own. This can cause deformation of the material, and the bowl in this case can turn over, because the place for the legs is selected taking into account the distribution of the load.
An empty bath can stand almost evenly on improperly installed supports, but when it is filled with water, you may encounter cracks and leaks. As soon as the legs are installed, the bath can be turned over and mounted on supports. The bottom is covered with soft material so as not to spoil the surface.
At the next stage, you can proceed to adjust the legs. First, align the sides of the wall. After the position of the external sides is adjusted. For adjustment, you can use the building level, a screwdriver and a set of keys. Installation of an acrylic bath at this stage is as follows: one of the corners should be raised to the desired height by the rotation of the foot screw. The level is placed at a neighboring corner, and the position is leveled. By the same principle, it is necessary to adjust the location of the remaining corners. If errors were found, they must be corrected.
If the bathroom is already tiled, the adjustment process can be complicated. In this case, you will have to adjust the height of the rim so that it coincides with the lower edge of the trim. Experts advise to first install the bath and only after proceed with the finishing work. Installation of an acrylic bath is sometimes carried out with a slight bias towards the sewer. To do this, the height of the legs varies with a difference of 2 cm. However, most often the slope is provided in the design for manufacturers. The next step is to connect the sewer and water supply.
Additional work
Since acrylic baths do not retain heat very well, experts recommend laying a layer of thermal insulation. For this, foam is used. The bath is turned over, its outer surface is wetted with water, and after that the base is treated with foam. The material is fed in with a thin stream so that the foam does not slip from the sides when drying.
Such processing is carried out after the position of the frame and legs is adjusted. The legs also need to be foamed to strengthen them. As soon as the thermal insulation layer is applied, the plumbing fixture is left for 8 hours until it dries. After that, the bath is turned over and set in place. It can be closed with a decorative screen or finished in any way.
Frame mounting
Installing an acrylic bathtub on a frame with your own hands is almost no different from mounting on legs. However, the volume of work will be greater. The elements of the frame at the first stage should be unpacked, and then turn the bowl upside down. Now you can mark the outer side of the bottom, indicating the mounting location of the frame elements.
For fasteners, holes are drilled, brackets are screwed to the bottom. It is necessary to attach legs and other elements to them. After the lower and upper drain holes are connected, a siphon can be assembled. All connections are sealed. The bath is turned over and installed in its place. Its position is leveled, and the horizontal is checked by level.
On the wall should be marked the places for installing hooks to prevent the bowl from turning over. For fasteners, drill holes, then you can proceed to install the hooks themselves. The bath is hung on them, and the position is checked by level. The installation of an acrylic bath on the frame is completed by connecting a siphon to the drain. Then the tightness of the connections must be checked. The bathtub is filled with water, and after a while you can inspect the connections. If a leak has been detected, then the problem area is treated with sealant.
About drilling features
When drilling the housing, care must be taken. It is necessary to deepen by 6 mm, otherwise you can perforate the body through. Specialists wrap insulating tape on the drill to indicate the depth at which it will be immersed in the thickness of the material. Self-tapping screws must be installed on the case, places for installation of acrylic in which are greater than on the steel case are provided for their installation.
Fasteners supplied with the frame are not recommended to be replaced. Their sizes are selected so as not to spoil the surface of the bowl. The fasteners can be replaced with elements matching the fasteners supplied by the manufacturer. A screwdriver is used to tighten the fasteners. It is better to refuse to use a screwdriver, as this can cause a breakdown in the thread of a self-tapping screw.
Brick installation
Installation of an acrylic bath on bricks is often carried out if it is necessary to implement non-standard design solutions. Such supports can be used with some features of the room. Sometimes the bathtub is supplied without a frame at all, in order to reduce the costs for the buyer. But the use of bricks can achieve increased strength.
The design will be ready to serve for many years, and its creation will take no more time than to install the factory frame. For the manufacture of the basis should be used:
- metallic profile;
- solution;
- brick;
- self-tapping screws;
- Master OK;
- hammer;
- sealant.
The frame is formed as follows: the position of the lower edge of the side of the bowl must be noted on the wall. According to the marking, several holes are drilled to install fasteners. The metal profile can be fixed in the next step. On the floor are designated places where the brick bases will be located. By marking, masonry is performed. Once the solution has dried, you can install a bath. The next step will be the connection of communications and the processing of joints with sealant. The installation of an acrylic bath provides for the verification of the correct installation and tightness of the joints.
How to avoid mistakes
A metal profile located at the bottom level is used to improve the reliability of the base. The step from the installation location of the profile to the floor should be 0.6 m. Doing this value is no longer worth it. The brick base can be formed in the form of two supports or a rectangular frame. It is important to maintain the same distance from the brick supports to the ends of the plumbing fixture, while the drain should remain free.
The installation of an acrylic bath may include the use of a rectangular frame. If you decide to apply this technology, then you should take care of the hole. It will guarantee access to communications. The difference in height, if necessary, giving the bath a slope towards the drain can be achieved by laying between the bricks of the metal plate. Its width should be 1 cm. If you have experience, then you can achieve the difference by laying more of the solution.
Features of installing a corner bath
Before starting the installation, it is necessary to prepare the walls. They should form a right angle. It is necessary to carry out these works at the stage of rough finishing, when the base is leveled with putty and plaster. Correspondence of the angle to the standard is checked by a construction triangle.
Do-it-yourself installation of an acrylic bath is best done before wall cladding. Before carrying out the main work, you will need to dismantle the old tank and shut off the water supply. It is important to follow a certain sequence. It provides for disconnecting the device from the sewer. After that mono turn off the drain. The old bath must be removed from the room, and the drain hole must be wiped and covered with a rag.
Then the base is formed. The best material for this is brick. Before the solution has completely dried, it is necessary to leave supports for 12 hours. The installation of an angular acrylic bath is carried out in such a way that the device is firmly pressed against the wall. It is important to ensure access to the pipes. Before mounting, the angle of the walls should be aligned. The need for this is possible only where a new plumbing fixture will be installed. Leveling is also subject to gender.
It is important to remember also the need to remove construction waste. If you still cannot decide whether it is worth providing bias, then you can heed the advice. Some provide it. As practice shows, disastrous consequences should not arise. In addition, the bath will always remain dry. If you are installing with the help of legs, then you can give a certain angle with the help of clamps.