Things to Consider when Choosing a Small Freestanding Bath

Often but not always if you are looking for a short bath you may be trying to fit it into a small space. If this is the case then there are a couple of things to take into account when you are measuring the space that you are going to put your short freestanding bath in. First make sure to take into account tiling, if your walls are going to be tiled but are not yet then you must take into account the space that will be taken up by the thickness of the tile adhesive and tiles once the wall is finished. Also, especially in older houses, make sure that you measure the distance between walls at the height at which the longest part of the bath will be, i.e at the height of the top edge of the small bath you want to fit. Ideally measure with a laser measuring taps machine as these will give you the most accurate measure. You should leave yourself at least 10mm all around the bath in order to have a realistic chance of fitting the bath into the small space.

Fitting of waste kits or pipe shrouds (used for covering the water feeds going to taps that are mounted on the edge of the bath) to a short bath will not enlarge the bath's footprint, and nearly all taps will remain within the footprint of the tap ledge on a short roll top bath that has one if the tap holes are drilled centrally in the tap platform. If you have small bath with feet (e.g. ball and claw feet) then almost invariable these will also remain within the footprint of the bath and will never extend the length required to fit the bath in.

Also bear in mine when choosing a smaller freestanding bath that the width of the rim of the bath will affect the amount of usable bathing space inside. Typically a traditional roll top bath will have a roll top edge that is about 80mm wide. In contrast contemporary style baths typically come in two edge styles, one having a wide flat edge similar in size to the roll top baths at about 80mm wide and other having a slimmer edge at more like 30mm wide. Because this size diference is repeated at both ends and both sides of the bath this means that for baths with similar outer length and width measurements those with the slimmer style of edge will have approxiamately an extra 100mm length and width inside the bath itself compared to those with the wider style of edge.