Jeff_Bathroom
Member
Hi folks,
I've read quite a few threads about which is the best tub for the $ and whatnot. Seems cast-iron is still the best, but I will probably be installing this myself and don't want to break my back.
Having said that, I had this thought and wanted to run it by you all:
I did not have a drop-in tub before, but was wondering if I built this for a drop-in and purchased an acrylic or americast or vikrell or Veritek or fibreglass tub that we pretty much know will not last as long as cast...
Would it be a much easier replacement three or five or ten years down the road if it's a drop-in? If it were not a drop in, seems that the tile over the lip of a standard tub would make make a change-out so expensive and time-consuming that you wouldn't want to do it unless it were really in bad shape.
And in my case, I had to remove a door jamb to slide the old tub out.
Reason I'm bringing this up is that my 22 year old cast iron tub had a dull, ugly finish when I removed it. Seems that ALL the tubs get crappy looking after some use. Seems if the tub were less expensive, light-weight, and a drop-in might make it somewhat easy just to replace the darn thing periodically when it gets ugly, chipped or whatever.
With a drop-in, shouldn't I just be able to disconnect the plumbing, remove the caulk around the lip edges, remove the tub and fairly easily drop in a nice new perty one again? Guess it depends on if you plan to keep your house for awhile. But, I was thinking that if needed, I could replace the tub just prior to selling the house if it's nasty looking at that point. Even mud is easy to remove from a subfloor if the previous unit were embedded in mud. Am I missing any gotchas that you pros can think of?
I've read quite a few threads about which is the best tub for the $ and whatnot. Seems cast-iron is still the best, but I will probably be installing this myself and don't want to break my back.
Having said that, I had this thought and wanted to run it by you all:
I did not have a drop-in tub before, but was wondering if I built this for a drop-in and purchased an acrylic or americast or vikrell or Veritek or fibreglass tub that we pretty much know will not last as long as cast...
Would it be a much easier replacement three or five or ten years down the road if it's a drop-in? If it were not a drop in, seems that the tile over the lip of a standard tub would make make a change-out so expensive and time-consuming that you wouldn't want to do it unless it were really in bad shape.
And in my case, I had to remove a door jamb to slide the old tub out.
Reason I'm bringing this up is that my 22 year old cast iron tub had a dull, ugly finish when I removed it. Seems that ALL the tubs get crappy looking after some use. Seems if the tub were less expensive, light-weight, and a drop-in might make it somewhat easy just to replace the darn thing periodically when it gets ugly, chipped or whatever.
With a drop-in, shouldn't I just be able to disconnect the plumbing, remove the caulk around the lip edges, remove the tub and fairly easily drop in a nice new perty one again? Guess it depends on if you plan to keep your house for awhile. But, I was thinking that if needed, I could replace the tub just prior to selling the house if it's nasty looking at that point. Even mud is easy to remove from a subfloor if the previous unit were embedded in mud. Am I missing any gotchas that you pros can think of?