Freestanding Bath ?

[wavingfuriously]

hi everyone, can you tell me about freestanding baths please? I know they look lovely but any disadvantages ? never had one before and just fancied making bath time a bit more aesthetically pleasing in our new bathroom..
guess if it's not against one wall then you really having to watch the splashing about thing! Ta

Visibility of the pipework to the taps and (on baths with exposed legs) the waste are the two most common considerations.

The former you can dress up with pipe shrouds to look more dressy (or hide entirely with a wall-mounted bath filler) and the latter can be minimised so that it's not an eyesore.

Thickness of the bath "rim" can also be a concern; many are extremely thin and can be quite uncomfortable if you enjoy lying in the bath with your head back for long periods. There are headrests available to mitigate this.

In our last en-suite we had a modern one that sat on the floor so you couldn't see the waste. The current one has feet but I can't say I see anything unsightly from the angles I look from. And yes, I have accidentally made massive waves and a lot of mess but only on a few occasions. If you're going to use the bath for kids, you might need to tile all around it.

ah great stuff so far guys! thank you..

We have one. Hard to clean under the bath
The Hoover doesn't go full way and I often get down on my knees and still can't reach.
Besides ours is a small bathroom and a normal bath would have been a good space saver.

Make sure you sit in one first - if you are short and your feet dont touch the end its difficult to read in the bath as you keep slipping down! I love roll top baths - you can normally get a deeper bath than wider modern baths.

I have a cast iron claw foot bath. I love it. The pipework is underneath and you can't see it unless you lie on the floor

Had a smallish one from Bathstore with claw feet and it was lovely. It ran along a wall and the taps were in the middle so pipes were hidden against the wall which was handy and avoided the need for expensive aesthetically pleasing waste pipes.
With kids it's a bit of a pain to fish out lost bath toys, mop any overflow/splashing and difficult to balance products on the rim.
Was lovely and deep so while not very big it would fill to a suitable level for toddler or adult very quickly.
It was too small to get comfy in while in labour. Couldn't easily lie on my side.
Im not really a bath person but I imagine it would be a bit tedious to balance a book or a wine glass or a candle on the side.

brilliant thanks SO much people...going to come back with some questions please..going to look at a few ..

I think I have exactly the same one from Bathstore! It is a great bath but do have tiles if DC are going to splash a lot. Also try not to jam a free standing bath up against a wall. You need cleaning space behind it. Our en suite bath is a bigger free standing one with no feet. Its a lovely large bath and is easy to clean.

I have got a Burlington claw footed acrylic one and absolutely love it. Cleaning underneath is fine really - just shove the Dyson cordless I have under for dust and you can mop but don't find I need to.
This is my second one - my previous house had a cheaper acrylic one and it didn't retain heat so well.

Do climb in before buying, in a showroom, as some are more comfortable than others.

My understanding is that all the pipework has to be below the floor or in a wall, boxed in- you can't have the waste and h/c pipework about floor.

Recently refitted our bathroom and would have loved a freestanding bath, but paid for expensive flooring and no way would it be taken up to fix pipes underneath.

I have one in my rented house and it gets cold so quick! I wouldn't want to own one

I am in the process of buying one. I think I'm going to go for a Charlotte Edwards one.

I would love cast iron but think it would be too heavy.