What to look out for in a good quality Free standing baths
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By admin/October 18, 2018 Category: Basins, Bathtubs, Designers, Educational, General 0 Comments
Freestanding Baths Quality is a huge determining factor when it comes to the purchase of long-term investment items such as a bathtub. In the purchase of items such as this, it is in the consumer’s best interest to do thorough research about the options that they have available to them. This includes assessing the quality of the products to ensure that they will, indeed, last as long as you expect them to. It would be a dangerous assumption to make if you consider your perceived quality to equate to true quality without examining your options. The quality of a product refers to the calibre of that item as compared to its available alternatives in the market. It is where durability and composition meet to, not only meet customer expectations but to effortlessly exceed them. Quality is the difference between buying a Freestanding Baths every few years because it has cracked, chipped or otherwise deteriorated in its short lifespan, and enjoying your bathtub for more than 20+ years.
The key criterion to consider when making a bathtub purchase is the material from which it is made. The material options available in the market include plastic (ABS), acrylic, castiron, enameled steel, cultured marble, proprietary composites, and stone. For the purpose of this article, we will be comparing the proprietary composite DADOquartz with other solid surface materials in the high-end of the spectrum that one would consider when finally building one’s dream bathroom space. To ensure that the product you are buying is of a high-quality one needs to consider characteristics such as ‘full-bodied’, ‘solid body’ or solid surface within the bathtubs. ● Ensure the product has full-bodied construction Full-bodied construction means that the product is made of the same material through and through. If you were to cut the product in half across any axis, you will find the same material on the inside as on the outside. You cannot go wrong with stone bathtubs in this criterion. Full-bodied products are made from granite, marble, onyx, travertine, basalt or sandstone. These bathtubs are truly one of a kind and they have the most full-bodied construction because they are carved from a single solid piece. This makes them one unique work of art but a pricey one at that. A more affordable and equally full-bodied material would be proprietary composites. These are stone, mineral and resin mixtures that are moulded into a single solid Freestanding Baths like DADOquartz bathtubs. Full-bodied bathtubs are made of a non-porous material with no fissures, veins or other imperfections.
Figure 1: DADOquartz solid material with no fissures, veins or pores Some composites, however, do not completely qualify as full-bodied. This is because it is made from a material such as crushed fillers mixed with resin, set and then followed up with a gel coat. The material is quite durable, but should the product become scratched it would be irreparable and it would also be revealing the often-unpleasant subsurface material.
Figure 2: Other solid material with fissures, veins and pores – the surface can crack or break easily.
If you find that the product has differing materials in other areas, this could mean irreparable cracks or that the structural integrity of the article could be compromised.
Figure 3: Other fabricated solid material
Figure 4: Does not contain a solid foundation � Surface coatings This criterion investigates the true surface of the product and scrutinises the thickness of the product’s rim. Judging this measure ensures that the surface that you have associated with quality is truly the material that the product was fashioned from and not simply a coating to cover up a different material. What you can do to verify this is to have a look at the bottom and the side of the products to see that there are no colour and material variations.
Figure 5: Other solid material with visible pores
Figure 6: DADOquartz smooth finish from the inside to the outside The surface of a bathtub or basin will almost always look smooth and even, as this is part of the customer’s expectations, which breeds perceived quality. However, this smoothness needs to be consistent throughout the product’s surface. If you turn a basin upside-down and find bubbles, veins, and crevasses in the material, this should be a red flag. Bubbles show that the fibre matrix is not a stable as it should be, this could lead to cracking and product failure in some cases. It would also be possible that one of these bubbles could show up on the surface of the product at a later stage.
Figure 7: Other solid material – bottom of basin
Figure 8: DADOquartz – bottom of basin Most bathroom ware products made from solid material are typically layered with a gel-coat finish which is equivalent to a paint finish. This also allows these products to be manufactured in a range of solid colours and with a high gloss finish. Although scratches on this surface can be buffed out, with time, the gel-coat finish, as with all paint finishes, can become brittle and expose the material underneath, leading to cracks. This material doesn’t stand up as well as proprietary composites like DADOquartz that has no additional coating on the products because of the quartz material used in manufacturing. The DADOquartz bathtubs and basins are non-porous meaning that they are free of hairline cracks, ensuring a surface that is resistant to micro-organisms and bacterial growth, easy to clean and silky smooth to the touch.
Figure 9: Example of visible coating The quartz used in DADOquartz bathroom ware is a high-quality stone that is crushed and mixed with resin and minerals and then moulded into a single solid piece. This piece undergoes extensive tests to ensure that there are no fissures, veins or other imperfections that could compromise the strength or appearance of the product. This results in a durable, long-lasting, scratch and stain resistant bathtub that has no need for any additional treatment or coatings. ● Product Thickness When it comes to the thickness of the bathtub an easy way to compare the strength to weight ratio of a bathtub is to look at the thickness of the bathtub’s rim and waste. Although styles and product designs may differ to accommodate details such as shape or an overflow system, material with high strength characteristics will be able to produce very thin bathtubs without any concern. DADOquartz bathtubs are available with a rim width as thin as 10mm, an illustration of the material’s strength. The manufacturer of DADOquartz bathroom ware is able to produce exceedingly slim bathtubs without compromising the structural integrity of the bathtub due to the unwavering strength and resilience of the material.
Figure 10: Thin rim DADOquartz bathtub
Figure 11: Other solid material DADO Freestanding Baths and Freestanding basins made from DADOquartz With a Standard, City, Compact, and Classic freestanding bathtub and complementary basin range, DADO is at the forefront of the latest bathroom trends and stands out in terms of quality. Using the latest manufacturing technology and innovation, DADO’s freestanding bathtubs and basins are manufactured from the unique DADOquartz material. As a testament to the exceptional durability of all our products, we back our work with a lifetime warranty of 25 years on all bathtubs and basins. Visit our showroom today, and find the next centerpiece for your bathroom.