Clawfoot tub-feet falling off

Hi there:

My husband and I just added a bathroom upstairs. We took the old clawfoot tub from the downstairs bathroom upstairs, stripped and repainted the outside of it, and tried to set it up in the new bathroom. The problem is that we cannot get it balanced on the feet. There are no screws, bolts, or anything such on the feet or tub. There is just a sort of catch and then the weight is supposed to hold it. We moved it once before for a flooring issue and it was a little tricky to get back and balanced but we did it. Now we cannot seem to get it for anything and wonder if we just lucky. Is there a trick to these weight balanced tubs?

Thanks for any advice at all.

Angie

A flat and level floor...you may need some shims. Keep in mind also that the tub itself may weigh 300-400 pounds, then fill it with water and a person, and it could be closer to a half-ton. Your subflooring must be able to handle those point loads, or it might end up punching holes in the floor. It should be okay, but figure maybe 250# on a very small spot.

Clawfoot feet falling off

Jim:

I don't think the floor's being flat or strong enough is the problem. When we gutted the space we added and sistered joists significantly, added new subfloor and tile. The floor should be plenty strong and very flat and even pretty level for an old house. We even had problems getting the front two feet to sit sturdy before we added the back two. Then it seemed sturdy but as we even wiggled it a little to make sure it was sturdy, something would settle and one or two feet would fall off. Do we just need to keep trying? I just wanted to see if anyone had advice about how these are just supposed to sit or anything?

Thanks.

Angie

If the part on the tub is tapered, you may want to try to tap them onto that wedge to anchor them. Take a straight-edge and see if it is actually flat. It may not take much. The thing must sit level and on all 4-feet. Except on a perfectly level floor, 4-feet will rock and it doesn't take much.

clawfoot feet falling off

Jim:

I think the little wedge is tapered. We will try tapping them in to see if it secures it just a little. That might do the trick-a little is all I think it will take. Will let you know but not tonight. We're done for the night here - it's after 8:30.

Thanks.

Angie

you can

tap the feet in towards the center of the tub-gently! make sure the are tight. in the old days they often used a coin under the foot so that the tub wouldn't rock.

legs

A lot of those legs used a square "cut nail" to secure them to the tub.

Very old post but given the lack of information on this subject and how long it took me to figure out the solution this is for the next person searching for a way to keep clawfoot tub legs from falling off:

The bolt on legs (with an actual nut & bolt) are easier to figure out. Just do everything with the tub flipped over on a shipping quilt then set it up.

For thclawfoot tubs with 'wedged' in legs that have a tab that slides into a slotted area on the tub's bottom...

A lot of these tubs had 'paired legs' and will be stamped / marked on the inside of the leg. If you look before you disassemble the tub - fine, easy to match back up. Otherwise it's a 50/50 shot of getting the right pair on the lower (drain) side. The reason is they could be matched as a slightly shorter pair for the drain end (my case) or they could have been machined to fit the tub. These should be stamped but rust/paint/refinishing... well. Mark them when you remove them or just prepare to play 'mystery leg' until you get it right.

A lot of these 'wedged' legs used a little clamp on doo-dad whatchamacallit that was supposed to secure the leg in place after inserting it. There will be a 'stove bolt' that goes through the doodad into a captive nut in the leg's tab. Once tightened BY HAND it is supposed to secure the leg from falling out. Sometimes that works... a lotta times it don't on all four legs.
Once you get the legs paired up properly with the shorter legs on the drain end, TAP (do NOT hammer!) each one securely into the slot with a hard rubber mallet. (A flooring nail-gun hammer works great for this but any hard rubber mallet will work. Again - NOT a steel hammer!) Just give each leg a few hard whacks with the RUBBER MALLET to snug the leg's wedge into the tub's slot. Now put the doodad on the end and position it against the end of the slot to prevent the leg from backing out. Grab a few cut nails (I used flooring nails) and gently tap one in between the tub and the leg's tab. GENTLY! And don't drive it all the way in - you're just trying to snug up the metal-to-metal of the leg's tab and the tub's slot.

Here is another link showing the type of slot and tub legs I'm talking about. (Too lazy to take photos from under my tub!)
https://www.oldtownhome.com/2014/11/26/How-Does-One-Attach-Claw-Feet-to-a-Clawfoot-Tub/

I used to slather the mating surfaces with JB Weld, then pound the leg in with the rubber mallet. Never had another problem after I started doing that.