Bathroom Floor and a New Bath

[CHarr]

I've got 18mm moisture-resistant chipboard (in good condition) on my bathroom floor, but we are renewing everything, including a new freestanding bath (not bigger than standard) that stands on four 'Dragon Feet'. I'm a bit worried about the weight of the bath/water/bather creating excessive pressure points where the feet stand, and wonder whether I can do anything simple to spread the load, so that I don't need to strengthen the floor.

I'm going to put (suitable) fake-tile laminate flooring down, and wondered whether that alone would be sufficient to spread the load.

 

[crazydaze]

I wouldnt lay and it is not recommended to fit the bath on top of the laminate as the weight will not allow the floor to expand and contract which is what all expanding floors will need to do.

You could put the bath feet on blocks and lay the laminate AROUND these with an expansion gap and a finish that would make a feature of the feet stands and help spread the load a bit.

The best floor you could fit would be a LVT like Amtico or Karndean. You would lay a 9mm ply floor to the chipboard, the LVT is stuck to this, then install the bath directly on top. Alternatively, 9mm ply and a stone or ceramic tile fixed to the ply.

One thing worth considering is that if you ever want to change the floor, with a stand alone bath like you propose, almost all options will mean removing the bath to lift the floor, fit a new floor and then re-install the bath if you want a decent, proffesional finish for the floor under the bath. Once in situ it's almost impossible to get a decent finish to any floorcovering.