New bath. Enamel or acrylic?

[ScreamingBeans]

We don't have enough space for a shower so use our bath for showering as well.

I've been told acrylic aren't as strong as enamel so no good for showering, but there seem to be loads of acrylic shower baths so they must be able to cope with it. What's the problem with them? Has anyone got knowledge/ experience of them?

Also acrylic bath cleaning - do they stay nice and glossy after 7 or 8 years or do they start looking crap?

Can't help you re acrylic but I can tell you that the enamel on our rolltop bath and very expensive double butler sinks in our rental have tiny chips in them just from them having metal plus. If I had sunk the kind of money my LL must have done into them, I wouldn't be best pleased!

I guess rubber plugs exist for a reason (but you need SS strainer baskets with Belfast sinks).

Acrylic are cheap - that’s why there are lots around

go enamel if you can afford it

Modern acrylic baths are very hard-wearing. I would go acrylic over enamel now days

with the right understructure an acrylic bath is fine for showers. speak to the builder.

they keep heat better as well.

Those of you with acrylic baths, do you find they are still nice and shiny (I remember our old one went dull and matt and impossible to clean after a few years. But that was a long time ago).

I spent more on an enamel bath and 7 years later is still looks new… BUT I have to say, the water does get colder very quickly! (20mins) Apparently water stays warmer for longer in acrylic baths and with hindsight I wish I’d bought one for that reason.

Admittedly I haven't had a new enamel bath but my older one was freezing, especially in winter. Bath was cool within minutes.
I said I'd never have another one as we were on an immersion heater so there was no topping it up.

I have a 7 year old Carronite acrylic bath, which still looks good as new and shiny.
This is even with nobhead husband dropping the shower head into it when cleaning (sharp square edged- would definitely have cracked most things).
I was recommended the brand by a builder friend as being more durable and keeping the water warmer for longer. It was more expensive, but we have no complaints.

My in laws have a Carronite bath - it's lovely! But very expensive.

Be careful if you buy an acrylic one that it is good quality and professionally installed. I once bought a house where the acrylique bathtub actually had a hole ( burn hole ?) in the bottom. Also they have to be perfectly installed because with the weight of water and bather they deform and can detach from the walls allowing water to seep in at joins.

F

Yes, this happened to us. The sealant needs to be done really carefully too.

I've got a 25 year old acrylic bath in my family bathroom. It's used for lots of showers and is shiny with no dull patches.

I have an acrylic bath with shower over. Showering is fine but baths go cold quickly, I rarely have a bath because of it. It's clean and shiny. Don't get one with a non slip pattern on the bottom, they never look clean as the dirt gets trapped.

Thanks for all the pointers, I think I'm coming over to an enamel bath again