Cast iron tub

[james]

Now this was fun. We needed to remove an old 80's style cast iron tub (it's not Avacado, but it was close) and replace it with a walk-in shower. Those tubs are really heavy, and one of our builders told me you could break it up with a sledge hammer, and carry out the pieces.

It's true. Serious gloves and goggles, a furniture pad, a sledge, and a little while later, the tub is gone. Good clean exercise.

You always keep learning.
James

[christo]

Re: Cast iron tub

I've seen it done on the DIY shows. Is it as fun as it looks?

[james]

Re: Cast iron tub

I gotta say yes. Also, when something is really ugly, it's better taking it out and looking at the bare studs and plywood. It sort of soothing compared with ugly.

With all the work we are doing on the, we should be watching more DIY shows. We used to watch Changing Rooms, but many of the new shows seem to be more like reality TV than This Old House.
James

[Archena]

Re: Cast iron tub

Um, Avocado is definitely 70's.

The DIY network may be different - dunno, I have a lousy cable provider - but HGTV is 90% interior decorating nowadays.

More table saws and fewer color wheels, please!

So I'm a weird girl... ~shrug~

[dmun]

Re: Cast iron tub

I've busted up a tub. Fun isn't the first word that springs to mind. The scrap metal place will be happy to take it in one piece, if you have a hole big enough to push it out of.

[vincent]

Re: Cast iron tub

Taking it out in one piese isn't too awful bad if it happens to be on the first floor...the second floor is another story..I've busted up a good half dozen with a sledge hammer and carried out the pieces..and Dmun..i agree..fun isn't the first thing that comes to mind but it sure can be a good stress reliever

[jwnorris]

Re: Cast iron tub

<snip ...the second floor is another story... <snip>

Too funny.

J W

[james]

Re: Cast iron tub

Even half a cast iron tub is heavy. You should have heard the hauling guy complain.

And before you say something, we are trying to recycle as much of our old stuff as possible. :-)

Does anybody need 15 solid fir interior doors? I am going to remove them nicely, and list them on Craig's List.
James

[Acoma]

Re: Cast iron tub

James, do some photos. All depends on how they look.

[nissanneill]

Re: Cast iron tub

James,
you are definitely going the wrong way with the removeal of a great tub.
I have a very hott one every night to get rid of the aches and pains that a shower simply can't achieve. Also you can't get realy warm in a shower without doing the twirl for 10 minutes. Nothing like a hot bath I say.

Neill

[Pannabecker]

Re: Cast iron tub

We got rid of an old cast iron tub too. Not a pretty clawfoot one, just an old ugly one. I put a shower in it's place too. This was my first experience building a shower pan with rubber liner etc. I lost a lot of sleep worrying about this but it turned out great. We then put a bathtub in our bedroom. People thought we were nuts. We have a fireplace in our bedroom so we can take a bath and watch the fire. I have to admit we hardly ever do that though because we have a hot tub on our patio and we use that to soak in instead. Hmmmm, maybe we are nuts having a tub in our bedroom and a tub in our outdoor kitchen. Karen

[nissanneill]

Re: Cast iron tub

Ahhh Karen,
you bought back some of of those old wonderful experiences in our early marriage days of sharing a romantic bath with my wife. (Just celebrated our 34th anniversary last saturday).
There is nothing like sharing a bath (or a shower for that matter) with a close friend.
No wonder she refuses to skinny dip in our pool in those very still, very hot nights that we get occassionally.

Neill

[callan88]

Re: Cast iron tub

I tore out an old cultured marble Jacuzzi tub the same way and replaced it with a 20 square foot tile shower two years ago. Very satisfying job. The book SETTING TILE by Michael Byrne is an outstanding reference for shower construction. Also there is a tilesetter out of Houston named John Bridge who maintains a great website that has a photo file of some unbelievable DIY projects. Click the Tile and Marble box on his main website.

[Archena]

Re: Cast iron tub

There are other uses for claw foot tubs, you know....

[Pannabecker]

Re: Cast iron tub

I wonder what that would sound like. Not exactly an instrument you could carry to play in the orchestra.

callan88, I got some of my information for the building the shower pan from the John Bridge website. He has a big fan club. Many people quote him.

Karen