In case you're looking for a dependable, no-nonsense bathtub, you've probably find briggs tubs while moving through do-it-yourself sites or wandering the particular aisles of a hardware store. They've already been a staple within American bathrooms with regard to decades, mostly because they offer a solid balance between cost and performance. Whenever you're staring with a gutted bathroom and trying to decide where to spend your hard-earned cash, the bathtub is a big decision. It's literally the focal point of the room, and when it's within, you really don't would like to have to it back out there since you made a mistake.
Briggs has carved away a specific specialized niche for itself. These people aren't usually the particular brand you proceed to if you're looking for a $10, 000 copper mineral soaking tub that will looks like a piece of modern artwork. Instead, they're the brand people turn to when they want something that looks clean, stays white, and doesn't cost more than their initial car.
Precisely why People Keep Choosing Porcelain on Steel
One of the main reasons briggs tubs remain therefore popular is their own construction. Most of their classic models are produced from porcelain-enameled steel. Now, if you're a new comer to the entire world of plumbing fixtures, you might be wondering why that matters. Usually, you're choosing between 3 materials: acrylic (plastic), cast iron (super heavy), or porcelain on steel.
Porcelain on steel is often the "sweet spot" for a lot of homeowners. It gives you that high-gloss, glass-like finish that you get with heavy cast metal, but it doesn't weigh five 100 pounds. If you're remodeling a bathroom upon the second ground of an older house, you really have to think about floor joists. Lugging a throw iron tub up a flight of stairs is a headache, and sometimes the floor literally can't handle the weight. Briggs tubs provide you that durable, rigid feel below your feet with no logistical headache of the heavy-duty metal bathtub.
The Truth of the "Feel"
Let's talk regarding the "thud" aspect. You know if you step into a cheap plastic bathtub and it type of creaks or bows a little below your weight? That's exactly what people are trying to avoid when they buy a steel tub. Briggs tubs experience solid. Because the metal is rigid and the porcelain is usually fired onto this at incredibly high temperatures, the surface is hard plus scratch-resistant.
There's also heat retention aspect. While steel doesn't hold heat quite so long as thick cast iron, it's significantly much better than a thin polymer shell. If you're someone who enjoys to spend forty-five minutes in the bubble bath reading the book, you'll enjoy that the water doesn't turn snow cold in 10 minutes.
Installation Isn't a Nightmare
If you're a DIYer, or even in the event that you're hiring the pro, the set up process for a standard Briggs alcove tub is pretty straightforward. They usually have a leveling pad or perhaps a flat bottom which makes setting the bathtub much easier than the old-school way of using a mortar bed.
I've seen a lot of people try to save money by buying the cheapest probable tub they may find, simply to invest double on work because the bathtub was warped or difficult to levels. Briggs has been doing this lengthy enough that their production tolerances are usually pretty tight. The flanges are straight, the drain holes are where they're said to be, and the dimensions are consistent. That might sound boring, but when you're trying to tile a wall structure around a bathtub, "consistent" is the particular most beautiful word in the British language.
Keeping Things Clean
Nobody actually loves cleaning the bathroom. It's a chore we all tolerate. One particular of the concealed perks of the particular porcelain finish upon briggs tubs is usually how easy these people are to keep whitened. Unlike acrylic or fiberglass, which may be considerably porous and dip up oils, dyes, or hard water stains over time, porcelain is basically glass.
As long as you don't go with it with steel wool or some crazy abrasive chemical that eats the particular finish, it's likely to stay shiny for a long time. A bit of mild soap and a soft material usually does the trick. I've seen Briggs tubs that are usually twenty years old plus, once they're clean, they look nearly just like the day they were set up. You can't often say that regarding plastic tubs, which tend to yellow or even get "dull" spots what your location is most frequently.
Deciding Among Models
While Briggs keeps this simple, they do possess a few different styles. You'll mostly observe "alcove" tubs—the types that fit directly into a three-wall nook. They are the workhorses of the American suburbs. They often feature the slip-resistant bottom, which is a must-have in case you have kids or if you're getting a little old and don't would like to do a Charlie Brown slip-and-fall each time you shower.
They furthermore offer different levels. Some people choose a deeper tub for soaking, whilst others want a lower "apron" (the front wall of the tub) in order to make it simpler to part of plus out of. Issue is the only bathing room in the house and it's being used by everybody from toddlers in order to grandparents, that decrease profile is a lifesaver.
Exactly what Are the Downsides?
I wouldn't be doing our job if I actually didn't mention the trade-offs. No item is perfect. The particular main "risk" with any porcelain-on-steel tub, including briggs tubs, is chipping. When you're installing a heavy stone tile walls above the bathtub and you drop a hammer or even a heavy item of marble right onto the advantage, the porcelain may chip.
Unlike a solid surface tub exactly where the color will go all the way through, once a person chip porcelain, you'll see the black steel underneath. You can fix it with a repair kit, yet it's never quite the same. So, when you're installing one, keep it covered using a weighty drop cloth or even even a piece of scrap plywood until the floor tile work is completely finished.
Another thing to think about is the sound. If you're just running the tap, a steel tub is a little bit louder than the usual dense cast iron or heavy composite bathtub. It has a "ring" to it. A lot of people don't care—it's a bathtub, not a recording studio—but if you're delicate to noise, it's something to bear in mind.
Price vs. Value
In the world of house renovation, it's easy to get sucked into the "premium" trap. You start off looking for a simple tub and abruptly you're looking at atmosphere jets, chromotherapy lamps, and heated backrests. If you possess the budget for that will, awesome. But for the particular rest of all of us, briggs tubs represent an extremely truthful value.
You're spending money on a product that does exactly what it's supposed to do. It holds water, it's easy to clean, plus it looks professional. By saving a several hundred (or the few thousand) bucks on the bathtub itself, you might find you have additional room within the budget for those extravagant faucets you loved or that sophisticated tile you believed was out associated with reach.
Last Thoughts on Selecting Briggs
At the end of the day, your bathroom need to be functional 1st and pretty second. Luckily, with briggs tubs, you don't really have in order to sacrifice one for the other. They will have a traditional, clean aesthetic that will fits into a modern minimalist bathroom just as properly because it does in a traditional "farmhouse" style home.
If you desire a tub that's going to last for the following 2 decades without giving you much trouble, it's hard to move wrong here. Just be sure you measure your own space twice, pick the right drain positioning (left-hand or right-hand—don't forget that! ), and maybe grab a buddy to help you set this in place. It's among those upgrades that makes the whole room feel "finished" with no draining your entire cost savings account. Honestly, in today's market, locating something that's actually built to last in a fair price feels like a win.