Garden tub set below sub floor!

Looked at a home that has a garden tub set BELOW the sub floor. The house is a Ranch with a partial basement. Tub is not above the basement, so I believe it is in a crawl space. Want to replace it with a standard tub ABOVE the sub floor; like a tub should be. Any estimates on how much time and money will it take. And what kind of structure problems could there be? Have only done one walk through, so I don't have lots of additional detail. Sorry no pictures. If this is too involved, it would sway me to change my mind. Thanks.

Is there a dropped subfloor under the whole thing? If so, then filling it in to make it level with the rest should be fairly easy. You'd have to see what was done to depress it. My guess is they were trying to minimize the top lip height. If it was really hacked up, it could be serious work to repair.

When walking into the foyer, I had to step up one step to get into the living room and the bathroom is on that same level. What concerns me is that they dropped the entire tub into the floor, so the floor is level with the rim of the tub. Basically the tub is a big whole in the floor. I hope that makes sense.

A sunken tub was popular years ago, but not any more. The water and drain lines would need to be raised to connect to the raised tub. Will a pony (short) wall be installed all around the tub? three sides? Would you go back to a free standing tub. Cost of the new tub is the most important, followed by framing/deck to support the tub (unless free standing claw foot type), then faucet, (free standing faucets to go with free standing tubs can be expensive), then the plumbing to reroute lines. Plumbing wise only, (remove the old tub and disconnect/cap lines then return to set tub valve rough, water lines, and rough plumbing drain. Then return to install tub and faucet/valve.) I would guess around $1200.00-$1500.00 not counting the price of tub or valves/faucet.

Pony walls would be installed. I wasn't aware that sunken tubs were popular, I just thought the home owner was eccentric. If there are contractors/plumbers out there who have remodeled this type of bath, then I feel more comfortable. thank you Jadnashua and McConnellPlumbing for your quick replies.

If the tub was literally hung from the lips, then it is a problem. If it is setting on a structure, it may not be as big a deal to raise it to 'normal' height. A cast iron tub might work in that situation, but still should sit ON something, not be hung.

Good point. I am going to have to ask the homeowner if the tub was original to the house (built in 1977) or if they installed it. I may even bring in a contractor with me. If the tub is original to the house, then I would imagine that the builder did it properly. If the homeowner did it, then that could be a concern.