new home buyer with a cracked tub

[ezekiel198]

I apologize for the pure ignorance contained within this post but I am looking for information and I have no idea what to search for to find it.

I am buying a house. It was built in 1997. The downstairs full bathroom's tub was installed incorrectly (no subfloor) and as a result, is now cracked. The sellers are willing to fix the crack. They wanted to just patch the crack but my realtor was able to negotiate a more permanent fix, but they won't reinstall the tub and put a new subfloor in. The guy who came out to look at the tub said that he would be drilling holes in the existing tub, injecting something underneath the tub that would create a subfloor, and put some sort of fitment over the exiting tub and seal it off. He said he's had great success with this route. I am trying to do research on the longevity/reliability of this method. This info is coming through my realtor so I wasn't able to talk to him and find out exactly what this method is called and if its a widely accepted practice of repairing a subfloor.

Any help you all could give would be greatly appreciated!

[Gary Swart]

I would never accept a patch job on a tub. I'm not a contractor nor a builder, but I think it's pretty obvious that the tub has to be replaced and the sub floor problem dealt with. Forget about dealing with the realtor, he just wants to close the deal so he's playing both sides. Have a licensed contractor examine the situation. My bet is he will give you about the same advice. If you accept this shady deal, you will be stuck 100% for the eventual replacement and repairs. Might not hurt to consult an attorney either. I really think you're being flim-flamed.

[Terry]

Except that when you are buying a home, much of that is negotiated.
We can't see the home from here, but if it's an older home, and the crack can be repaired, then that is an option.
You would want to know if there was real floor damage, or if it was the tub needing repair. Do they sell the home to you? Or do the settle in some way that brings both parties to the table?
When I bought my last home, there were some things that could have been fixed, and I looked at it as something I would do after the sale closed.
The toilet downstairs for instance had a wooden plank covering the inside of the tank. I didn't really care because I replaced all three toilets the weekend I moved in.
Now I need to get rid of the black and white squares of marble on the kitchen counters.
The Costco kitchen sink faucet has been replaced, that was driving everyone nuts. The disposer quit the first few months, but it was working when I moved in.
There was no fan in the main bath, and that got fixed right away.
I went with a Panasonic for that with a light. And of course I'm wired up for bidet seats.

[cacher_chick]

That repair would not be acceptable to me, but I would not lose the house over it.

Ask them to reduce the price a couple grand, stating that you will have the bathroom fixed on your terms, not theirs.

Make sure there is not water damage caused by the leak before you negotiate any further.

[hj]

There are "fiberglass fixture repairers" which can repair the crack and refinish it so you would not see the repair, but I don't know any of them which would intentionally "drill holes in the bottom of the tub" first. There should be many ways to inject a "filler" under the tub without damaging the tub further, and I would not even consider someone who suggested drilling the holes.

[Tub Refinisher]

Drilling holes and injecting foam is a widely used and very successful method for this type of repair. Many experienced bathtub refinishers do it. You just need someone who has experience and uses the special foam kits that are made for this, and not some stuff from Home Depot.