Roll Top Bath
Roll top baths with claw feet have been a popular choice in period style bathrooms for many years, but recently there has been a move toward free standing baths for use in more contemporary surroundings.
The claw feet have been replaced with more modern designs or in some cases with a wooden cradle, and the overall shapes of the baths have changed to tie-in with the minimalist style of today's bathroom.
Roll top bath sizes are normally slightly larger than the standard 1700x700mm and because the baths are very deep they tend to hold a lot of water - up to 250litres.
When choosing any large bath, as well as making sure your heating system is up to the task of filling it, you should also ensure that the bathroom floor can take the extra weight.
Some roll top baths are available un-drilled (i.e. they have no tap holes) but most will be pre-drilled with 2 tap holes. Tap positions can be in the centre of the bath or at the end depending on the design.
As roll top baths are freestanding they tend to look their best in large bathrooms - check our bathroom design section for more details. Being freestanding also means that the pipework for the bath can be visible from some angles. Standpipes can be used to cover the hot and cold water supply pipes, and special overflows are available for the waste water from your roll top bath. You still have to get the pipes to and from the site of the bath however, and this usually involves running the pipework under the floor - so be sure to check that this is feasible. An alternative methods is to opt for a wall mounted bath shower mixer or bath filler - obviously this is only feasible if you are installing a roll top bath near a wall.
The term roll top bath is sometimes used generically to refer to any freestanding bath - even those with flat tops!