My grandmother lives in an old five-story building. Remember these houses - "Khrushchev"? Coming to visit my grandmother, warm memories from childhood immediately roll in. I think many of you spent your childhood years in such "Khrushchev". The apartments there are small, but I did not pay attention to this before. I was small, but everything around me seemed big!
When these houses were designed, they were given a service life of no more than 30 years. But soon the idea to provide all citizens with free housing ended in failure. It's time for a market economy. And the "Khrushchev" as they stood 30 years ago, so they still stand.
And although the apartments in the "Khrushchev" were very modest in size, they managed to stuff bulky cast-iron bathtubs into them. Why did people overpay for cast iron, sacrifice precious square meters? It's all about the reliability of such baths. Their service life is over half a century. How long do metal enamel baths last? On the strength of a dozen years, and then over time their appearance deteriorates greatly.
Since the conversation has already turned to steel bathtubs, let's talk about their pros and cons. Immediately, I note that they have an order of magnitude more disadvantages than advantages. It is not for nothing that cast-iron products were popular in the USSR.
Let's start with pluses:
- 1. Steel structures are lightweight. They can be easily moved from one place to another.
- 2. Bathrooms made of steel do not require complex installation. You can cope with their installation yourself, without resorting to the help of builders.
This is where the good ends. Now let's move on to cons, which I counted more:
- 1. Steel is very easily deformed. If you weigh more than 100 kg and regularly take a bath, then soon, it is quite possible that the bath may be deformed.
- 2. What happens if a solid object is dropped into the bath? That's right, cracks will appear on the enamel.
- 3. With a strong pressure, the water hits the surface of the bath loudly. Noise is created, which is very disturbing with poor sound insulation in the apartment.
What are the benefits of cast iron bathtubs?
So we got to the "immortal" cast-iron baths. See for yourself how many advantages I found in these products:
- 1. The weight of a cast-iron bath reaches 150 kg and even more. I agree, it's not easy to install. But when the installation is finished and the bath takes its rightful place, you will not be able to move or move it. And if the bath is in place, then nothing threatens the connections of the sewer pipes.
- 2. Cast iron has a good heat capacity. Hot water drawn into the bath will cool down for a long time due to the large thickness of the walls. By the way, even with a large pressure, the water does not make much noise.
- 3. Did you drop something heavy and hard into the bath? It's OK! Cast iron is not deformed and the enamel will not suffer.
But I have another question. Did the Soviet government really care about its citizens so much that they installed good and expensive baths in Khrushchevs? It's hard to believe this.
I shared my thoughts with my dad. He opened my eyes to some things. The fact is that in his youth his father worked as a plumber. "Khrushchev" literally erected before his eyes.
He said that the plant shipped already defective steel tubs, they had chips and cracks that appeared during movement and loading. The fact is that warehouse workers did not have the habit of carefully handling the products that came to them. Therefore, bathtubs were dropped, hit, etc. Cast iron bathtubs withstood such careless handling, and besides, because of their rather big weight, no one will rearrange and lift them once again.
How were the heavy cast-iron structures transported to the upper floors? Everything is simple, with the help of cranes! Since the products are very reliable, they were not afraid to transport them in this way.
Another advantage of cast iron bathtubs was their durability. This was especially true when installing them in hostels. Residents of this housing stock are not distinguished by accuracy and frugality towards common material property. As the saying goes: "It's not your own - it's not a pity!". But cast-iron baths, even with such careless handling, could serve "faithfully" for many years and decades.
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