How to break a cast iron bath with a sledgehammer. Dismantling and removal of a cast-iron bath

A cast-iron bath, along with its strength and reliability, has one significant drawback - a lot of weight. And when it comes to dismantling a cast-iron bath, the owners have to face a number of difficulties - pulling the product out of the apartment onto the street is not so easy, and in some cases, due to tight passages, it is completely impossible to do. There is only one way out - to break the bath.

Ways to break a cast iron bath

In order to break a cast-iron bath you will need:

• sledgehammer,
• Bulgarian,
• gloves,
• reinforced bags for construction debris,
• soundproof headphones (optional)
• an old blanket or other soft material (optional).

It is customary to break a cast-iron bath with a sledgehammer. Of course, it is worth entrusting the matter to a man. Even a person with an average level of physical fitness, such a task is within the power. Keep in mind that you will not be able to quietly break the bath, so this work must be carried out during the daytime. If possible, warn the neighbors so as not to scare anyone or cause discomfort to anyone. Now, with a clear conscience, you can get down to business.

Before starting work, prepare a tool (sledgehammer), free up space around the bath, so that in the future it will be easier to collect fragments. If you are afraid of damaging the flooring, lay an old blanket or soft cloth over the work area. Be sure to wear gloves to avoid accidentally cutting your hands. As we said, smashing a cast-iron bathtub is accompanied by a lot of noise, reminiscent of bells, so it is advisable to have soundproof headphones.

To make the cast-iron bath easier to prick under the impact of a sledgehammer, cut its sides with a grinder in several places. If desired, you can divide the bath into several parts only with the help of a grinder. But this procedure is laborious, lengthy and is accompanied by a large amount of debris, or rather construction dust. Therefore, it is easier and more convenient to break a cast-iron bath with a sledgehammer.

5-6 persistent blows should be enough for the bathtub to break into at least two parts. If necessary, break large pieces again, then it will be easier and more convenient to take parts of the bath out of the apartment.

Carefully collect small fragments together with the remnants of tiles or other trim, if any, and pack in special reinforced bags designed for construction debris. So you can easily get rid of the old cast-iron bath.

In most cases, bathroom renovations involve replacing an old bathtub with a new one, or even a new one, and in both cases, you will have to go through an operation such as dismantling. In principle, it is not difficult to perform, but if you have to deal with, then you don’t have to look for it here - you’ll have to sweat a lot. In this article from the site, we will talk about how to properly and with the least labor costs to dismantle a cast-iron bath. Moreover, at your choice, we will offer as many as two ways to solve this problem.

Dismantling a cast-iron bath photo

Dismantling a cast-iron bath: a way to keep the bath intact

In fact, such a dismantling of the bath will require you to tear it from its place, install it in a certain position and simply pull it out of the apartment, while spending a huge amount of effort. You can’t cope here alone - at least two pairs of strong male hands will be needed. The only way to make the job easier is to avoid intermediate inconclusive actions that usually occur when people do not know what they are doing. The principle "maybe it will pass" only leads to unnecessary labor and loss of strength - you can avoid this if you follow a certain sequence. The question of how to dismantle a cast-iron bath is solved as follows.

1. First you need to make sure that the legs are securely fastened to the bath itself - if one of them falls off during the work, then, to put it mildly, troubles can happen in the form of broken toes or hands, and possibly even more serious injuries. In most cases, the legs are attached with wedges - they must be all in place and tightly packed (adjust them if necessary).
2. As a rule, almost all cast-iron bathtubs were connected to the sewer, as cast-iron as the bathtub itself - from many years of operation, these cast-iron siphons are so rusty to the bathtub that it is not possible to unscrew them in a normal way. Therefore, we simply take a grinder, put on goggles, lie down on the floor next to the bathroom and cut off the siphon with a grinder.

   

   Dismantling the bath using a grinder photo

3. In most cases, the old cast-iron bathtub is lined around the perimeter, which also creates some problems when dismantling it - it makes it immovable. This tile, mortar (or what you have smeared around the edges with) should be removed around the entire perimeter - only after that the bath will gain mobility, and it will be possible to continue dismantling the old bath. Further, as they say, a matter of technology.
4. Now the bath should be moved away from the wall. All methods are good here, but the most effective is a crowbar or a mount. If you work together, then you can try to simply pull it away from the wall so much that a person can freely pass there - 400-500mm will be enough.
5. Now we put the bath standing up, for this one will have to climb behind the bath. We take the bath by one of the sides and simply raise it to a standing position - in the process of work it will be possible to intercept the legs. They will play their part and serve as excellent handrails to help you transport the bathtub through the doorway, which is the next step in deciding how to take out the cast-iron bathtub?
6. The technique of transporting the bathtub is very important here - without observing it, it will not work to take out the bathtub. It must be brought into the opening while standing, in an expanded position at 45˚ - as soon as the legs pass behind the doorway, simultaneously with the removal of the bath, it will need to be slowly turned around the door frame. In this way, you will ensure free passage for the other two legs.
7. Everything, the main work is done - the front door to the apartment has a width of 900mm and does not present any obstacles for taking out the bath. The bath can be taken out into the street, loaded into a car and transported to the country, where you will find for it at least a dozen ways to use it, allowing it to extend its life in a different form. For example, an artificial reservoir can be made from it.

   

   How to clean a bath photo

As you can see, the question of how to dismantle a bathtub made of cast iron is easily solved, but even if you know how to perform these works, you still have to sweat a lot.

How to break an old cast iron bath: dismantling with a sledgehammer

This is the easiest way to resolve the issue of how to clean the bath - and with this approach to business, you will have to strain much less. In fact, you just have to break the old cast-iron bath with a sledgehammer - as they say, break - do not build or even dismantle. But, despite this, such a dismantling of the bath should also be done, as they say, with feeling and arrangement, so that God forbid you do not injure yourself. If we represent point by point this method of removing the old cast-iron bath, then the order of work will be as follows.

1. As in the first case, to start such a dismantling, the old bathtub must be cut off from the grinder and freed from cement mortar around the entire perimeter. Also, the bath will need to be slightly moved away from the wall - 10-15 centimeters will be enough.
2. Two cuts with a grinder and a couple of blows with a sledgehammer will allow you to divide the bath into two equal halves. For this to happen, you need to know where and how to make cuts. There is nothing secret here - cuts are made on the curved edges of the bathtub clearly in the middle on its two sides. The wings of the bathtub must be cut through completely - they give the bathtub additional strength. After that, we simply hit the bottom of the bathtub with a sledgehammer, and it kind of folds down.

How to break a cast iron bath photo

In principle, in almost all cases, this is enough to freely take out the old cast-iron bathtub on the street with the efforts of two strong men. But if you decide on your own how to break a cast-iron bath, then to facilitate the task, it is generally better to chop it into pieces, put it in bags and take it to a landfill or scrap metal collection point. For further work, the grinder is no longer needed - the sledgehammer does an excellent job of crushing brittle cast iron into small pieces.

How to dismantle an old cast-iron bath with a grinder, see the video.

How to dismantle an old bath: work safety is paramount

So, we figured out the question of how to cut a cast-iron bath, now it only remains to highlight the topic of work safety. Without this, nowhere - the unorganized work of two people and even simply the wrong use of a grinder or a sledgehammer can lead to serious injuries. So what should you beware of when dismantling a cast-iron bath?

1. Inconsistent work of two people. Each step or movement must be strictly verified and coordinated. Imagine what happens if someone relaxes at the wrong time and the bath crushes the other person? Quite often, in the process of dismantling cast-iron bathtubs, hands are injured. They are either pressed against the wall or dragged between the bathroom and the door frame - the last place is the most traumatic, so you need to be extremely careful here.
2. Grinders and sledgehammers, which, as a rule, emit a lot of small particles in the process of work that can damage the eyes and skin of a person. This is especially true when working with a bathroom - its enamel is chipped off in large pieces that can cause serious injury. When doing such work, you need to take care not only to protect your eyes, but also your whole body, for example, wear tight pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Let it be a little hot, but your body will not suffer!

How to dismantle a cast-iron bath with your own hands photo

This is how things stand with the answer to the question of how the cast-iron bath is dismantled. It should be understood that despite the seeming ease of the whole procedure, in fact, this work is complex and difficult. In many ways, it depends on the size of the cast-iron bath - if we talk about a small bath 1.5 m long, then it is easy to handle. But with large products of this type (for example, with a bathtub 1.7 m long), things are much more complicated, and their weight, which goes off scale for 100 kg, is to blame.

As a rule, repair work in the bathroom is inextricably linked with updating the plumbing equipment, in particular, replacing the bathtub with a newer model or shower box. One way or another, the old plumbing equipment will require dismantling. Usually this process does not cause any particular problems, but if a cast iron bath is installed in the room, you will face some difficulties.

Usually, Replacing a bathroom with the installation of new equipment can be fraught with all sorts of problems. The sequence of actions in the event that you need to leave the old container intact will be such that you will have to remove the plumbing fixture from its installation site and transport the container from the apartment to the street with difficulty. This is a rather laborious process. Here it will be useful to attract several helpers.

Only two people can take the cast-iron bath out of the room

When carrying out such work, it is necessary to adhere to a certain algorithm. The dismantling sequence has some features that make it possible to facilitate the technical process as much as possible. You can optimize the dismantling of a cast-iron bath as follows.

First of all, you should carefully check the quality factor of the brackets that fix the bath in its original position. If one of the supports is knocked out during dismantling, there is a possibility of injury. Therefore, you should protect yourself in advance.

If during the installation of the structure you wedged the legs of the tank, make sure that all elements are in place and securely hold the tank. Loose wedges can simply be knocked out with a hammer.

Previously, the bath was connected to the sewage system through a cast-iron siphon. Due to the action of such a factor as corrosion, the articulation of the parts of the drain system is compacted to such an extent that it becomes unrealistic to disassemble the piping while maintaining the integrity of the elements. In this case, you should separate the part by cutting it with an electric cutting machine. At the same time, do not forget to follow safety precautions and use safety glasses. To cut off the flange connecting the drain trim, you will need to lie down.

Sometimes you can disconnect the bathtub from cast-iron communications only by cutting the pipe with a grinder

Another common problem is that today in most cases the walls of the bathroom are tiled. This will create some inconvenience in the event that it is planned to dismantle the old bath. The tile should be removed along with a layer of hardened adhesive construction mixture around the perimeter of the product. This is necessary so that the old container can be pulled out. At the current stage, the dismantling of the bathroom can be considered completed.

A method for replacing a cast iron product in which the container remains intact

Starting work on removing the tank, first of all, the plumbing fixture should be pushed forward. The most convenient way to do this is with a lever, for which it is advisable to use a crowbar or a mount. Provided that two people are involved in the work, it would be most correct to move the bath from the wall by about half a meter, that is, so much that one of them could easily fit there.

You need to take the bath out of the room on its side

After that, lay the container on its side. To do this, it is necessary that one of the workers is between the wall and the side of the product. Now the product must be taken out of the bathroom. Here it is appropriate to use the bath supports as handrails. By holding them, you can conveniently transport the cast-iron container.

At the current stage, you should follow some rules. If you neglect these recommendations, you will not be able to take out the plumbing fixture. You need to move the product into the doorway on the edge and, given the turn, first remove the front legs. Further, gradually turning the container, take it out of the bathroom in such a way as to be able to hold the second pair of brackets.

Now it remains to take the product out of the housing. Since the size of the front door leaf is usually at least 800 mm, this will not cause any particular difficulties. How to deal with the old tank is up to you. Maybe you decide to take it to a country house, where the container can be used in at least a dozen different ways, allowing the old plumbing fixture to perform a useful function. In particular, an old cast-iron bath can serve as the basis for a decorative pond.

Dismantling a cast iron bath with a hammer

If you decide to rent a cast-iron bath in the scrap, it can be recommended to use such a simple way to remove the old product from the bathroom, as the destruction of the bath body with a sledgehammer. This is the easiest and most rational option for dismantling. In order to reduce the likelihood of injury, it is necessary to adhere to a certain sequence of actions. Work should be carried out in this order.

First you need to cut the sides of the bath in half with a grinder

First of all, it is necessary to cut off the connection of the bath to the sewer with a grinder and free the sides of the plumbing fixture from the layer of tiled mortar and the remnants of the cladding around the entire perimeter. The tank should be moved from the wall by about 10–15 cm.

In order to easily split the body of the bathtub into two parts with a sledgehammer, it is necessary to apply files with a cutting machine on certain areas of the surface. Cuts must be made on the rounded part of the container strictly in the middle of the product on both sides.

The sides of the bathtub must be cut through completely, since in this case they serve as a supporting element in the structure. Now one good blow with a hammer on the bottom of the tank will be enough in order to divide it into two equal parts. In this case, the bath, as it were, will fold down.

With a heavy hammer, you can break the remains of the bath into small fragments so that you can take them out in bags alone

The fulfillment of these conditions will be enough to facilitate the dismantling of the bath. Two workers can take parts of the old product out of the room, although this can be done alone. To do this, it is advisable to split the parts into small fragments, collect them in strong bags and take the bath to the place where scrap metal is received or to a landfill. In order to break parts of the bathroom body, cuts with a grinder do not need to be made. Cast iron is a rather fragile material, and the remaining parts of the structure can be easily broken into small pieces with a sledgehammer.

Safety precautions when dismantling the bath

In the course of work, injury-prone situations may occur. This may be caused by inconsistency in the actions of two people, non-compliance with the rules for working with a cutting machine or hammer. Most often, injuries occur in several typical cases. Let's consider them in more detail.

If the bath shoes are tiled, remove the container from the fixtures and lower it to the floor

The likelihood of injury may arise due to uncoordinated actions of workers. It is very important to precisely coordinate each action. In the event that one of the assistants accidentally releases the bath, the second person will not be able to hold the product on his own and will be pinned down with a cast-iron container. Most often, during the dismantling process, the hands suffer. The limb can be pressed against the wall or stretched between the body of the product and the frame of the doorway. At this point, special vigilance should be exercised, as this is one of the common causes of injuries.

Care must be taken when lifting the edge of the tank. The bathtub can slip on the slippery surface of the tile, and one person cannot hold it. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to lay a non-slip gasket under the side of the sanitary container. It could be a rubber mat.

In the case when the edges of the product are firmly embedded in the wall, the dismantling procedure is somewhat complicated, and additional sources of injury may arise. It is quite problematic to beat off a layer of old tiles and cement mortar from the sides of the plumbing fixture so that the product can be freely pulled out. In this case, you can make the task easier by knocking out the supports of the structure in turn. After that, you need to apply force so that the container falls to the floor. Before detaching the racks of the structure, it is necessary to put a layer of shock-absorbing material under the bathtub on the floor to compensate for the force of impact when the tank falls.

In the process of working with tools such as an electric grinder and a hammer, a lot of small pieces of scale, metal chips or fragments are inevitably scattered, which can cause serious injury if they come into contact with the skin or eyes.

Special care must be taken when breaking the body of a sanitary ware into small fragments. In this case, the enamel coating of the bath breaks off in large pieces, which, flying off, can cause serious injuries. During the work, not only the organs of vision, but also all parts of the body should be protected from damage. To do this, you can wear work pants made of dense material and a jacket or a thick shirt with long sleeves. Of course, in such clothes you can become covered with profuse perspiration, but in any case it is preferable to get injured.

Do not neglect eye and hand protection, because this will help to avoid accidental injuries.

Increased injuries during dismantling activities can be avoided by following the necessary safety requirements.

Getting rid of the bath

To free the room from the details of the plumbing structure, you will need the help of several strong men. In addition, this requires transport. The services of loaders and cargo taxis can be quite expensive. Today there are companies that export bathtubs. You don’t need to do anything yourself, just call a team, and the specialists will quickly and efficiently dismantle. You do not have to pay for this - the company pays for its costs and makes a profit by selling scrap metal. In addition, the old bath can serve for a long time if the damaged layer of enamel coating is restored.

To get rid of an old bath, you can contact a company that disposes of such plumbing.

During renovations in the bathroom, the question often arises of updating old plumbing.

The first candidate for a replacement is always a bathtub, especially if it is a cast-iron model that has been standing there since Soviet times.

After all, the industry offers the consumer a wide selection of other, more modern materials: acrylic, wood, and even. Products made from them are often more practical than Soviet cast iron. But, of course, and.

But the question arises: how to dismantle and remove such a colossus? As they say - "break, do not build." Let us consider in detail all the nuances of this laborious process.

In total, there are 2 main ways of doing work:

1. dismantling while maintaining integrity:
   • only the case itself (when it is not important to keep the coating)
   • font enamels (when the bath is planned to be used further for its intended purpose, for example, after restoration)
2. destruction.

The first option is simpler in terms of dismantling itself, but it causes big problems when removing the product. After all, such a font weighs an average of about 100 kg.

This method should be used if you still decide to restore the coating or do something with your own hands from the case itself.