Urgent Bathtub Removal Question...

Hello All,

I have a dilemma. We are remodeling our guest bathroom and removing the existing tub and replacing it with a new tub and matching surround set.

I have all the tiles removed, all the rotten wallboard removed. All of the drain assemblies are removed.

However, the tub lip is not secured to the studs at all. But this sucker is not budging. I can only guess it is set in thinset or something on the concrete floor.

How is it best accomplished to remove/bust it away from the thinset? Just use a sledgehammer and beat it away?

Any help appreciated....I am at a standstill and I dont want to make it harder to fix my goof ups.

Did you undo the drain? What is it made of? If cast iron, the thing could weigh over 300#. Cast can be broken by sledge (wear protection - the shards can be very dangerous). A fiberglass or acrylic can be cut up with a sawsall. Sometimes, people will use expandable foam under those things...sticks VERY well. To put in a new one, use a plastic sheet over whatever you bed the thing in to make it easier for the next guy.

Thanks for replying....

Yeah I undid the drain assembly and capped off all water supply lines.

The tub is probably 20 years old and quite frankly, I don't know what it is made of. I'm guessing cast iron because it pings if I hit it and it seems pretty solid.

Look at the exposed lip, or the overflow or drain, and see how thick it is. Thin sheetmetal is steel. Cast Iron is considerably thicker, and the "stuck" feel could be just its heavy weight. You could bend a steel lip with a pair of pliers. Not so or CI.

Cast will normally be more of a thud than a ping.

We are trying to remove an old builtin tub on the second floor (steel tub, house built in 1964) and are stumped on disconnecting the drain so we can pull the tub out. How does the drain come apart?

Usually, there are crossbars on the drain screen. If you put something in there to unscrew that part, usually the thing comes apart. They make a special tool with prongs, but sometimes you can do it with a pair of screwdrivers, or the handles of a pair of pliers.