While a shower can be incredibly efficient and quick, there's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned, classic bath. Nowadays, baths have a place in many contemporary arrangements. Modern models impress with their class, style, and form. Unfortunately, the space underneath them is not as visually appealing. The best way to hide it is simply to enclose the bath. In the market, you will find ready-made enclosures, as well as ideas on how to construct your own enclosure for a corner bath.
Why Does Enclosing a Bath Work?
A corner or rectangular bath are elements that are primarily functional, but also space-saving. They can easily be placed against the wall. This way, they can fit even in a smaller bathroom, and the space that needs to be enclosed is significantly less. The situation is different for freestanding baths. They present themselves much more majestically and elegantly, but let's be honest—they are intended only for spacious bathrooms.
Practical back-to-wall baths often stand on small, unsightly legs, which are best hidden from view. A proper bath enclosure effectively masks all unwanted views, as well as the siphon and drain. Moreover, the bath enclosure also allows you to hide unattractive floors and any gaps. By choosing to enclose the bath yourself, you can gain additional space where you can store all your cosmetics. A bath enclosure is primarily a nod to convenience. Cleaning the space under the bath can be quite a nightmare. In the case of a bath enclosure, this task becomes completely irrelevant.
What to Enclose a Corner Bath With? What Bath Enclosure to Choose?
- To enclose or cover a corner bath, it's best to start by preparing the right frame. System profiles are best suited for this role.
- For a shorter bath up to 1.5m in length, two UD profiles and one CD profile about 4m long will suffice.
- To connect the individual profiles, use sheet metal screws.
- Attach the sheets to the frame with self-tapping screws.
- Expansion plugs are also necessary. These are essential for mounting the construction to the surrounding walls and floor.
- Of course, the bath enclosure should consist of waterproof boards. These are usually 120 x 300 cm in size. Interestingly, usually only one piece is needed. It will successfully enclose the bath even in two layers. Their transport won't be easy. To make it a bit easier, you can pre-cut it with a knife and then break it.
A more solid form of bath enclosure (compared to plasterboard or solutions like ready-made panels) is a brick enclosure. It's based on cellular concrete blocks. Depending on the type, it can be 6 cm or 8 cm thick. Not many are needed—usually, two rows of such products are completely sufficient. Connect the blocks with cement mortar—thin-layer cement mortar will also work. An enclosure made of cellular concrete blocks is durable and extremely solid, which can be important in the case of large corner or rectangular baths.
The most popular solution is a ceramic tile bath enclosure. This solution's popularity has its advantages. First of all, a huge selection of these products is available on the market. This allows seamless matching of the color and pattern of the tiles to the desired arrangement. Tile bath enclosures are extremely durable and very attractive. The downside? If you want to refresh your bathroom, you'll have to remove the tiles and re-enclose the bath. Moreover, tiles, just like a brick enclosure, may hinder access to the inspection hole.
Ceramic tiles maintain their original charm—they don't discolor over time and are moisture-resistant, as well as resistant to minor mechanical damage. Tiles can be laid on any pre-prepared structures. You can easily lay them on plasterboard and concrete block enclosures. Keep a few tiles on hand in case one of them chips or falls off.
Bath Enclosure – Preparing the Surface
- To cover the surface with tiles, start by priming the enclosure surface made from boards or blocks.
- It's best to use a preparation with deep penetration for this.
- If you want to protect against moisture, apply a liquid film additionally.
- To ensure that the enclosure is solid and meticulously executed, you will need several items.
- An elastic adhesive for tiles, decorative tiled cladding, and grout are mandatory.
- Don't forget about sanitary silicone, a meter, a knife, a level, and a drill. Of course, the choice of appropriate tools depends on the specifics of the enclosure.
- Before starting work on the frame construction, start by properly positioning the bath.
- First and foremost, firmly mount the supportive legs.
- The walls surrounding the bath and the floor should already be properly finished—they need to have waterproofing with a liquid film and be grouted.
- The corner bath should adhere to the walls at the point where their sides form a right angle.
Durable Enclosure or Ready-Made Panels?
As you can see, enclosing a bath is a complex topic. Each solution has its pros and cons, whether it's plasterboard or ceramic tiles. So, when choosing the type of bath enclosure, let's ask ourselves if we plan to refresh the bathroom interior relatively often? If not, then it's worth opting for a solid enclosure tailored to the bath model, ensuring access to the inspection hole.