Baths

Before purchasing a bath for a remodeled bath or a new one, consider what baths are made of these days.

With hundreds of shapes and sizes to choose from, buying a bath can be overwhelming. Even for the standard 32- x 60-inch bath, you have several choices of materials. And the material you select determines the bath's price, durability, and cleanability. Because it involves walls, floors, plumbing lines taking out and replacing a bath isn't something you'll want to do again for a long, long time.

Here are your choices : Plastic, either fiberglass or acrylic baths offers the greatest design flexibility because it can be molded into many shapes. It's warm to the touch and insulates well, too, so water doesn't cool as fast as in enameled steel or cast iron tubs. Plastic is also the lightest bath, weighing in between 60 and 70 pounds. Although it doesn't chip easily, abrasive cleaners will damage the surface. Enameled steel, formed steel with a porcelain enamel coating, is the least expensive bath. But the material brings drawbacks: Steel conducts heat, meaning tub water cools quickly; the surface is prone to chipping; and it weighs about twice as much as plastic. Cast iron baths, like steel, are coated with enamel. However, they don't chip as easily as steel because the enamel coating is thicker than on steel baths, and cast iron is more durable and resistant to impacts. At first, a cast iron bath will pull heat from water, but once it heats up, it will keep water warm for a long time. Cast iron's main drawback is its weight, 350 to 500 pounds, which may complicate upstairs installations.

Cast polymer baths traditionally replicate the look of marble, granite, or onyx, and are now available in a range of solid colors. Cast polymer baths costs a little more than acrylic; however, its surface doesn't stand up as well. With time, the gel-coat finish on cast polymer baths can become brittle and expose the material underneath, leading to cracks.

Proprietary composites. Heavy-gauge steel, porcelain enamel, and resins combine to create a bath that offers all the benefits of cast iron with half the weight.

Of the plastic baths, acrylic is a better buy. It's more expensive than fiberglass, but more durable, more resistant to staining and fading, and easier to repair and clean.

We supply baths of various varieties and brands.