Bathtub Installation & Removal

A bath is one of the few fixtures in a home that is both practical and emotional. Families want one for bathing children; a freestanding tub can be the centrepiece of a luxurious bathroom; and when it comes to resale, a house with at least one bath is easier to sell than one without. But a bath is also heavy, needs its plumbing planned, and takes up space that a busy household might use better as a shower. Getting the decision right matters as much as the installation.

This page covers freestanding versus built-in baths, bath-to-shower conversions, removing an old bath, and the structural and plumbing points that are easy to miss. When you are ready, Get a Free Quote.

Freestanding vs built-in baths

The first choice is the type of bath, and it shapes the whole room. The two main options behave quite differently:

• Freestanding baths sit as a standalone object in the room and are a genuine statement piece. They suit larger bathrooms with space around them to be seen, and their plumbing has to be brought up through or beside the floor, which needs planning. They are the centrepiece of many of our master bathroom designs.
• Built-in baths are set into a tiled or panelled surround against one or more walls. They are more space-efficient, easier to plumb, and often the practical choice for a family bathroom or a smaller room. A built-in bath also lets you run a shower over it, giving you both fixtures in one footprint.

Freestanding baths look spectacular but need the room to carry them, both visually and structurally. Built-in baths are the workhorse. The right answer depends on the size of the room, how the bath will be used, and whether it needs to double as a shower.

Structural considerations

A bath full of water and a person in it is heavy, and this is the consideration people most often overlook. A standard bath can hold a few hundred litres, and water weighs a kilogram a litre, so the loaded weight is significant and concentrated. Before installing a bath, especially a large freestanding or stone one, we consider:

• Floor loading — whether the existing floor structure can carry the loaded weight, particularly on a suspended timber floor or an upper storey
• Additional support — adding or strengthening joists or blocking where the load warrants it
• A level, stable base — a bath that is not properly supported flexes, which cracks seals and tiling over time
• Access for installation — some freestanding and cast baths are heavy and awkward enough that getting them into the room has to be planned before purchase

This is exactly the kind of hidden detail that separates a bath that sits solid for decades from one that works loose. We assess the floor and the support before the bath goes in, not after.

Plumbing considerations

How a bath is plumbed depends heavily on its type, and it is far easier to get right at the rough-in stage than to retrofit. The main points we plan for are:

• Freestanding baths often need the hot and cold supply and the waste brought up through the floor in exactly the right position, because there is no surround to hide the pipes. A floor-mounted freestanding mixer, or a wall-mounted spout, each dictate different rough-in work.
• Built-in baths are more forgiving, with the plumbing concealed in the surround, but the waste and overflow still have to be set correctly and tested before the bath is tiled or panelled in.
• Access to the waste — we make sure the trap and waste connection remain serviceable, because a buried, inaccessible waste is a problem waiting to happen.

All plumbing work is carried out by registered plumbers, tested before the room is closed in, and done to the NZ Building Code. Planning the plumbing before the bath is chosen avoids the common trap of buying a bath whose waste or filler cannot be plumbed neatly where it needs to go.

Bath-to-shower conversions

One of the most common requests we get is to remove a bath that is never used and replace it with a good shower. For many Auckland households, the bath in the main or only bathroom sits unused while the family queues for a cramped shower over it. Converting that space to a dedicated walk-in shower often transforms how the bathroom works day to day:

• A generous walk-in shower in the bath's footprint is far more usable for most households than a shower-over-bath
• Removing the bath opens up the floor and can make a small bathroom feel considerably larger
• A level-entry or low-step shower improves accessibility and future-proofs the home
• The waterproofing is rebuilt properly as part of the conversion, which also resolves any leaks the old shower-over-bath was hiding

The one thing to weigh is resale: a home should ideally keep at least one bath somewhere for families and buyers. If you have a bath in another bathroom or ensuite, converting the main bath to a shower is usually a smart move. See our shower installation page for how we build the replacement.

Removing an old bath

Taking out an old bath is more involved than it looks, especially with older built-in and cast-iron baths. Cast-iron baths in particular are extremely heavy and are often removed in pieces rather than carried out whole. When we remove a bath we handle the whole process cleanly:

• Disconnecting the plumbing safely and capping or reworking the supply and waste for whatever replaces it
• Removing the bath and its surround, including breaking down a cast-iron bath where it cannot be carried out intact
• Checking the newly exposed framing and floor for the water damage that so often hides beneath and behind an old bath
• Carting the old bath and debris away, and leaving the space ready for the next stage

The area behind and beneath an old bath is one of the most common places we find hidden rot, because overflows and seals leak slowly for years out of sight. Removing the bath is often the moment a hidden problem finally comes to light, and the right time to fix it properly.

Who a bath suits, and next steps

Deciding whether to keep, add, or remove a bath comes down to how your household lives and your plans for the home:

• Families with young children almost always want a bath, and a built-in bath in the main bathroom is the practical choice
• Those renovating a master bathroom or ensuite for themselves may prefer a freestanding bath as a luxury centrepiece, or no bath at all in favour of a large shower
• Resale-minded owners should keep at least one bath in the home, as a house with no bath narrows its pool of buyers
• Busy households with an unused bath often get far more from a bath-to-shower conversion

Whatever you decide, we plan the structure, plumbing and waterproofing together so the result is solid and leak-free. To talk through the right choice for your bathroom, Get a Free Quote, or learn more about Bathroom Renovation Auckland and our process.

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