How to dismantle a cast-iron bath in Khrushchev. How to break a cast-iron bath: useful tips from experts. How to dismantle an old bath: work safety is paramount

The procedure can be carried out until the size of the parts satisfies you. What else can be cut and how to cut? It’s difficult to find an alternative to a grinder, of course you can make cuts along the sides and with a hacksaw, but you won’t be able to cut further.

Where to put with benefit?

You will be surprised, but even from an old, rusty bathtub you can benefit, on how to do this below.

Scrap metal removal

You can sell it for scrap metal and earn good money. Some companies even offer free dismantling and removal services, this will save you a lot of time and effort. More about .

Second Life

With a little imagination and "straight hands", you can make really amazing things out of cast-iron fonts. Furniture, ponds and even barbecues. More useful inventions from a cast-iron bath in our article.

Useful video

We have prepared for you an interesting video about dismantling:

Conclusion

As you understand from the article, dismantling a cast-iron bowl is a difficult and troublesome procedure. But we put everything on the shelves, so you can easily cope with this difficult task. Be sure to pay attention to the fact that by handing over the font for scrap, you can not only get rid of unnecessary problems with the removal, but also get extra money.

The need to cut the cast-iron structure arises when dismantling communications. You will learn about how to cut cast iron and structures from it from the material.

Most often, the need to cut the cast-iron structure arises when dismantling outdated communications. Hope for a speedy completion of the work collapses immediately - in the Soviet Union, pipes were connected with cement, sulfur and aluminum, so it is incredibly difficult to cut them. But a couple of working methods are known. You will learn about how to cut cast iron and structures from it from the material below.

As with any metal, cast iron cutting methods are divided into thermal and mechanical. The choice of a particular tool depends on the design features. The following is the equipment that saws (or cuts) cast iron:

• pipe cutter;
• angle grinder;
• chisel;
• hacksaw for metal;
• jigsaw
• plasma installation;
• gas cutters.

Now it is worth evaluating cutting with the help of these tools with cast iron objects.

pipe cutter

This is a special device for cutting pipes of different materials. There are manual (mechanical) and electric tools. Both types are suitable for diameters 15-360 mm.

First, a carbide disc is mounted on the apparatus. The removable element has a number of advantages over classic abrasive ones. For example, 4 times faster cutting speed, no sparks and no need to add any substances to the cutting zone. A diamond coating is applied over the cutting edge, which prolongs the service life of the products. Examples of pipe cutters for cast iron pipes are portable Exact Pipecut products for diameters less than 360 mm.

Alas, rarely a home pipeline can be easily cut with a pipe cutter. It may be difficult to access the tool or the cutting point is bent so that the device cannot be captured. Therefore, it is worth considering other options.

Angle grinder

Cutting around is more efficient than with a jigsaw, so more often users choose a noisy grinder. When buying a cutting wheel, prefer products on a bakelite bond, because they are an order of magnitude stronger than their ceramic counterparts.

Hacksaw for metal

Working with a chisel and hammer

This pair of products will help separate cast iron in a hard-to-reach place. Dismantling work begins with pipes remote from the riser in places where a grinder or a hacksaw cannot be inserted. Since cast iron is a brittle material, it is easily destroyed after point dynamic loads.

A good percussion instrument has a rubber or polymer tip to soften the impact slightly. This is necessary so that the pieces of cast iron do not scatter around, do not fall into the riser and do not create a blockage.

A chisel and hammer work great with Soviet-era cast iron, that is, combined with sulfur, aluminum and cement. As you move towards the riser, there is usually more free space to work, so further cast iron can be cut off with a more efficient device. As with a grinder, when working with a chisel, it is recommended to cover areas of the body into which a cast-iron fragment can fly off.

The productivity of work is extremely small, but sometimes you can’t do without them.

Electric hacksaw

It is much more convenient for the user to work with an electric saw than with a grinder, although the principle of operation is not much different. A lightweight device with smaller dimensions than an angle grinder, the web is consumed more slowly than the disk, if it is correctly selected (marking HSS or BIM, and the length is also taken into account).

Less injury risk, the speed of the process is something between a grinder and a manual hacksaw, the cheapness of consumables and their availability are the advantages of cutting cast iron with an electric hacksaw.

Plasma cutting

The method relates more to industrial than to household, so it will not be considered in detail. If the goal is the minimum consumption of material, speed of work, noiselessness, there is no better equipment for cutting cast iron. The plasma will make cuts in workpieces with a thickness of more than 200 mm, and the sawn material will hardly have to be processed at the end of the work.

The method is used by large enterprises of metallurgy, industry, where there is a need for cutting and transporting scrap iron. Plasma installations are indispensable for volumetric work.

gas cutting

• gas-oxygen;
• oxygen spear.

In the first case, the workpiece is affected by the thinnest jet of flame supplied under high pressure. The product of combustion is usually a mixture of oxygen with kerosene or diesel fuel. By the way, an effective method in the elimination of man-made accidents.

The second method resembles oxy-fuel, only a thin tube of hardened steel acts as a cutting element. Its tip is heated to almost 1500 degrees (welding / soldering iron / lamp), then oxygen is supplied through it, ignited at the outlet and heated to 2000 degrees. The resulting burning mixture easily copes with thick cast iron.

Both methods are good, but there are disadvantages - it is important to have experience with gas equipment. Responsible and precise cutting should only be done by a professional. The second drawback is the release of gas that is harmful to health during the operation of the torch.

The method is suitable for outdoor work or in the garage. For example, the need to eliminate a cast-iron lock from swing gates. The cutter works quietly, you will not disturb anyone.

Conclusion

Based on the opinion of experienced builders and repairmen, the best ways to cut cast iron are:

• for home - grinder, hacksaw;
• in the garage - gas cutter;
• in production - plasma installations.

Experienced people advise taking several tools into service when working at home, starting with a chisel and ending with a jigsaw.

Do you know how to quickly saw off a cast-iron lock or pipe? Share your experience with readers in the comments.

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, set 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 a sewerage system, 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 bath 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 incorrect 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.

During the repair of a bathroom in an apartment or when replacing old, worn-out sanitary equipment, it is often necessary to disassemble and dismantle the bathtub on your own - a video of this noisy and dusty stage of repair work, as well as detailed instructions for all steps, will help you prepare in advance for possible difficulties and avoid problems. Consider two options - the preservation of the bowl and its complete elimination.

The most difficult of all possible options is the dismantling of plumbing made of cast iron. The task is complicated if the plans include taking out the entire bath, so that later it can be used, for example, in the country. The forces of one person are clearly not enough here - a cast-iron product can weigh under 100 kg, so at least two people will have to work.

There is no trace of the bath

Dismantling the problematic old strapping

After removing all objects that interfere with work from the room, the bath must be disconnected from the entire piping, including the drain. Cast iron plumbing has been in many homes since ancient times, when drain communications were made of cast iron pipes. It is usually not possible to simply disassemble them after many years, therefore, it will be necessary to dismantle the cast-iron bathroom with export in other ways.

First you need to disconnect the overflow. If it is made of plastic parts, there are usually no problems. But on old plumbing, you often have to deal with metal components that are not easy to dismantle. Sometimes you can unscrew this element with the help of pliers, simply by hooking the grate with them and turning it counterclockwise. If the overflow grate is strongly boiled, then you will have to use a grinder:

1. Make a deep cut on the overflow with a grinder.
2. Using the cuts, knock down the overflow grate piece by piece with a chisel.

Incision of the grate and dismantling of the overflow

With plastic elements, problems usually arise much less. It is only necessary to unscrew the fastener on the grate (bolt or nut), after which the overflow can be freely and without effort detached from the bath. The situation is similar with the drain - the siphon is easily disconnected after unscrewing the nut on the metal protective grill.

How to disconnect a cast iron siphon from a bath

To dismantle the bath, you need to disconnect the drain from it. If the drain is made of cast iron, then difficulties may arise at this stage. There are several ways to disconnect a cast iron siphon from plumbing. The first one is similar to that described above - an incision is also made on the top of the drain by a grinder, but already crosswise. The main thing here is to saw through only the drain grate without damaging the bath itself.

Cuts in the drain guard

If the grinder accidentally saws through the cast iron of the bath, then in the future it is no longer possible to put a new harness on it. Of course, if the surface layer of enamel is only slightly touched, nothing terrible will happen, but if a deep cut is made by negligence, plumbing with a new strapping will definitely leak. Next, you need to act in the same way as in the case of overflow:

1. On one of the resulting cuts, place a chisel at an angle of about 45 degrees so that hitting the tool rotates the drain grate counterclockwise.
2. In this way, try to unscrew the drain. If this is not possible, deepen the cuts if possible and simply knock off the ribs of the grate. To do this, the chisel must be placed so that the blows are no longer directed counterclockwise, but inward - towards the center of the drain.

With a chisel, you can also knock out the cross at the bottom of the grate. This will make it easier to get rid of the remaining parts after cutting. Upon completion of the dismantling of this element, the siphon will hang freely in the opposite section, being connected to sewer communications. To remove it, you only need to break the coupling in this place.

An effective way to dismantle the old strapping

Dismantling the harness before removal

Another way to remove the siphon to dismantle the bath involves using a perforator. The desired element is attached under the bathtub with a large cast-iron nut, which is simply not possible to unscrew in the usual way after many years of operation. But if you use a perforator, then the task is simplified:

1. The tool must be switched to shock mode and a flat chisel nozzle must be fixed in the cartridge.
2. Loosen the large nut connecting the siphon with the drain, acting on the edges of the nut with a perforator in shock mode, so that it gradually unscrews, that is, counterclockwise. After that, it will be possible to dismantle the siphon by hand.

There is nothing complicated in this method, in addition, there is no need to use a grinder, which can easily damage the enamel or even accidentally make a deep cut, rendering the bowl unusable.

After disconnecting the siphon from the bath, cut or break an unnecessary section of the drain pipe using one of the methods described above.

Video: Dismantling in the bathroom without damaging the plumbing

Dismantling of the old cast-iron pipes remaining on the sewer bed

After breaking the drain, it will be possible to remove the cast-iron piping under the bathtub. So that the dismantling of the bath is not difficult, it is recommended to saw off the siphon from the sewer system with the same grinder. True, you will have to work in a respirator, since when working with a grinder, cast iron produces very harmful fine dust, which cannot be breathed without protective equipment.

Dismantling the old cast iron bed

Alternatively, the pipe can simply be knocked down, since all elements are easily pricked. To do this, you can use an ordinary hammer, which you need to hit on the protruding parts - the tee, connecting elements and other parts. After that, the pipes usually loosen and are not difficult to remove without any plumbing tools.

Fast and safe removal of plumbing

After removing the old trim using the methods described above, you can begin to work on dismantling the cast-iron bath. To take it out, you need to, if possible, get rid of all the interfering objects - the toilet bowl, if the bathroom is combined, washing machines, all kinds of shelves, bedside tables. The sequence of work is as follows:

1. Remove the plaster from the end and side walls adjacent to the bath.
2. Turn the plumbing on its side. It is easy to separate it from the wall, just lift and lower it several times.
3. Disconnect the legs. In older models, for this, simply knock out the wedges from the mounts with a hammer.

After freeing from the legs and communications, the bath is simply taken out of the room. If possible, remove the door from the hinges - so it will not interfere with dismantling, and it will be impossible to accidentally scratch it. Also do not forget to plug the sewer socket with some rag material. Otherwise, the room will quickly fill with unpleasant odors.

Scrapping of a cast-iron bath for removal in parts

If you want to dismantle the old bath and install a new one, then the easiest and fastest way to get rid of outdated plumbing is to simply break it with a sledgehammer. Cast iron is a metal, although durable, but it is not able to endure a series of strong blows with a heavy hammer and will definitely crack. After that, even small pieces will not be difficult to take out of the apartment even for one person.

The only significant drawback of this method is the strongest noise emitted during the scrapping process. To knock had less, you can use a grinder. The procedure will be as follows:

1. As in the previous case, disconnect the plumbing from the communications, cut off or otherwise dismantle the drain pipe.
2. On the perimeter, free the bath from the cement mortar. If there is a decorative screen, then it breaks with a chisel and a hammer.
3. Move the bowl slightly away from the edge of the wall. With a grinder, make cuts on the folded edges in the middle on both sides. It is these edges that give the bowl the necessary rigidity, so you need to saw through them completely.

Then it remains to hit the bottom with a sledgehammer a couple of times, after which the bath will “fold” exactly in the middle. The only thing that should not be forgotten throughout the work on the demolition of plumbing equipment is eye protection. Use special masks or goggles, otherwise broken pieces of enamel or chips can lead to injury.

Video: How to break a cast iron bath

The work of disassembling communications, breaking down and removing an old bathtub is not extremely difficult, although its laboriousness for one person is very significant. The biggest difficulty is the dismantling of the cast-iron drain, the stuck nut of which is almost impossible to unscrew without the help of, for example, a perforator. Breaking will also require significant physical effort, so it is better to do the work with an assistant or immediately seek help from a specialist.

Video: The complete elimination of the plumbing system by the grinder