Tub type for an apartment?

I have a tenant moving out and his apartment is in desperate need of some updating. Currently their is a standard size baby puke green cast iron tub with matching sink and toilet, and even some green tile to boot. I’m going to be ripping out the fixtures, walls, and the floor (although I hope to save the subfloor).

Now I’m trying to decide between a cast iron tub, a plastic tub, or one of those one piece enclosure tubs.
A cast iron tub I know is supposed to last a long time (the baby puke green one is 30 years old and in great shape) but if I have a tenant abusing it (I don’t know how you’d abuse it though unless you take a hammer to it) can it get wrecked? I hate to spend $450 on a tub and another $500 on the enclosure to have to rip it ten years down the road because the tub rusted. Not to mention probable damage to the floor when removing it.
With plastic I still have to spend the money on an enclosure and the tub is much easier to damage. I don’t like the idea that if the tub gets damaged their really isn’t any repairing it and I may have to wreck my floor and my walls for sure to change it.
I’m inclined to go the real cheap route and use one of the enclosures since it’s a rental but if that gets wrecked the floor still may be damaged. How easy are those to break?

Any input or ideas would be appreciated.


Edit:
I just had an idea. If I go with the full kit fiberglass tub is their anything preventing me from just tiling the entire bathroom floor (save a small area for the drain) and setting the tub right on that? That way if five years from now it needs to be changed I can just pull it right out?

Also what holds the fiberglass tubs in place? I've installed cast which I know are held by their own weight but never a fiberglass which I'm assuming fiberglass must be secured somehow?

You can get a porcelain/steel bathtub for around $100 at Lowes. I would get that and tile the walls above it.

Most of the apt. complexes I worked at began systematically replacing the fiberglass tub/showers after every one of them failed at some point.

This isn't a complex, it's my two family home, that's why I'm a bit more concerned about it. I've heard a lot of bad things about steel tubs. Would I probably be better off spending the extra couple hundred dollars over a steel tub with tilled walls and going to a cast tub?

tub

Do not even consider a porcelain steel tub. They are the easiest ones to damage, and once the finish is broken the metal underneath starts to rust. A composite tub, such as Americast, has durability similar to cast iron. There is no tub you can install properly and just "slide it out" when it fails. They all set into the walls and are partially secured by the walls impacting on them. Tiling the floor under the tub would have the advantage of eliminating the potential leak point where the tiles meet the tub's apron.

The only tub I can think of that will "slide out" is a clawfoot tub. But that doesn't sound like the look you are going for.

We always use the cheap porcelain steel tubs in apartments. When they get chipped, just like porcelain sinks, we fill the chips. There's also companies that refinish them by spraying a special epoxy paint--but you usually get 10-20 years out of the tub before that is needed. We rarely ever replaced a porcelain steel tub. As I said before, we had to replace every fiberglass tub/shower due to cracking and peeling.

Of course, you get what you pay for, so the more you pay for the tub, the better quality it will be.

BTW, if the only thing you don't like about your tub is the color, why don't you have it refinished and change the color?

http://www.miraclemethod.com/photoGallery/photo_gallery.htm

Can you reglaze the exsisting tub?

Yes but you wont like it that is as bad a plastic tub.

Well I honestly haven't seen this thing in about two years. Last I saw it it was in good shape but I can't stand the color and as long as I have to gut the bathroom it would be stupid to put the ugly thing back in. I've herd almost nothing but horror stories about re-glazing the few good stories I've heard have been where thousands of dollars were spent to repair antique tubs. so re-glazing is out.
I have no problem spending the money on cast iron. I'm just looking for the tub that will take the most abuse. So I suppose it's between the steel and the cast. The cast should outlast the steel though right?

A cast iron tub will provide significantly greater service life...it is strong enough to not flex, which is why the finish lasts. As long as you don't use an abrasive cleaner, it should last for decades. Steel tubs will not last anywhere near as long.

hj said:

Do not even consider a porcelain steel tub. They are the easiest ones to damage, and once the finish is broken the metal underneath starts to rust. A composite tub, such as Americast, has durability similar to cast iron. There is no tub you can install properly and just "slide it out" when it fails. They all set into the walls and are partially secured by the walls impacting on them. Tiling the floor under the tub would have the advantage of eliminating the potential leak point where the tiles meet the tub's apron.

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I second this motion Arericast are very nice and not very $$$ You will have a nice tub with interlocking walls made for the tub. I have installed a few of these and they are very easy and light.