57" Alcove Tub - Does It Exist?

WatertowMA

WatertowMA

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We are remodeling the late 60's/early 70's bathroom in our 100 year old home. The current shower/tub combo built-in was not original to the house and was added by a previous owner remodel. It is an odd 57" length. We want to replace it with an alcove tub and tile the surrounding 3 walls. The mega home improvement store tell us the only option is to buy a 54" tub and to build out the walls to make up for the 3 inches. The only wall we could cut into to expand to a standard 60" tub would require major replumbing that we want to avoid. We can't believe we are the first to encounter this dilemna. Does a 57" length alcove tub exist anywhere? We'd really prefer to not do a clawfoot/freestanding tub since that makes showering, its primary purpose as opposed to bathing, much more difficult.
 
Are you absolutely sure it is a 57" tub? The tub is measured studwall to studwall, not between finished walls.
 
module

NO ONE ever made a 57" preformed tub or shower module. If they had they would have had to creat a complete production line, costing mega dollars, and they would have only made and sold ONE of them to your previous owner. Because NO ONE else would EVER have built a 57" space for a unit. That being said, your unit is probably 60", but it is very unlikely that you would be able to jockey a new unit like that into the space, unless you have a very unique room design. One way to tell if a new one will fit is to try to remove yours in one piece. If you cannot get it out, then you will not get a new one in.
 
WatertowMA said:
We are remodeling the late 60's/early 70's bathroom in our 100 year old home. The current shower/tub combo built-in was not original to the house and was added by a previous owner remodel. It is an odd 57" length. We want to replace it with an alcove tub and tile the surrounding 3 walls. The mega home improvement store tell us the only option is to buy a 54" tub and to build out the walls to make up for the 3 inches. The only wall we could cut into to expand to a standard 60" tub would require major replumbing that we want to avoid. We can't believe we are the first to encounter this dilemna. Does a 57" length alcove tub exist anywhere? We'd really prefer to not do a clawfoot/freestanding tub since that makes showering, its primary purpose as opposed to bathing, much more difficult.
Click to expand...

As HJ pointed out it could very well be a 60" model. The other point to consider would be the fact that the house is 100 years old, although the bath was remodeled in the 60/70's.

It could be that there was a very heavy plaster coating on the walls and they just built walls out after the tub was in.

I have seen, in my own home, a re-tile job, where they built the tub walls over the existing plaster/lath/tile job and just capped the ends with wood corner-round painted to 'match'.

If you measured drain to head wall, it was close to 58". Another 1/2" on either end could do 57".

I think there's a 60" tub lurking under your tile..............

HE
 
Tear out the walls and measure end to end...I bet it is 60" +/- 1/4"
 
Don't listen to them. The 57" alcove tub does exist, because I have one, too. I also find it somewhat insulting to be told that I don't know how to use a tape measure. My house was built in 1928, and I believe it was a Sears "kit" house, with pretty low end fixtures that may or may not have been updated over the years. Our cast iron tub has areas where the porcelain coating is wearing thin, making it look dirty. Unable to find a replacement, we have decided to get the surface refinished. Hope this helps.
 
Alice K said:
Don't listen to them. The 57" alcove tub does exist, because I have one, too.
Click to expand...

No you don't. They have never made a 57" tub.
60" minus 3" for tile backer an tile is 57". That's normal with a 60" tub. So yes, you have a 98 YO cast iron tub that is showing wear. The replacement tub will be 60".
You will need to remove tile and tile backer to fit a new tub in. Or..............you can refinish what you have and leave the old pink tile too.
 
Terry said:
No you don't. They have never made a 57" tub.
60" minus 3" for tile backer an tile is 57". That's normal with a 60" tub. So yes, you have a 98 YO cast iron tub that is showing wear. The replacement tub will be 60".
You will need to remove tile and tile backer to fit a new tub in. Or..............you can refinish what you have and leave the old pink tile too.
Click to expand...
Soooo, any thoughts on this? I’ve been doing baths for 20 years. And I’m stumped. And the wall the tape is up to is 4 1/2” thick.

AAFD1954-E47C-4B1F-98C5-A73BFE85C96C.jpeg
 
So remove the tile backing and then give us a measurement.

accord_wild-05.jpg


Framers normally give me 60-1/4" between the walls.
 
Last edited:
As was said a couple of times...tubs are installed between the rough framing. You cannot measure between the finished walls to determine what size that is. Tubs are made at 6" increments (and not that many other than 60" ones in the US). Most of those larger than 60" tend to be acrylic or some other material other than CI.
 
I am in a roughly 100 year old house, with a beat-up cast-iron tub. While smashing it apart, I noticed an imprint on the back of the tub with a 1926 date.

Turned out our alcove is 59" from stud to stud. I'd already bought the 60" tub by the time I figured that out. So I just cut some notches in the studs to get it in.
 
I also just want to say, thank you Terry & others for these forums! I have learned so much here. So many experts, and nobody dunking on the novice DIY'ers.
 
Terry said:
No you don't. They have never made a 57" tub.
60" minus 3" for tile backer an tile is 57". That's normal with a 60" tub. So yes, you have a 98 YO cast iron tub that is showing wear. The replacement tub will be 60".
You will need to remove tile and tile backer to fit a new tub in. Or..............you can refinish what you have and leave the old pink tile too.
Click to expand...
 
I just bought an older house with a 57-inch cast iron tub. Seems to be from the 1950s with the thicker "bump-out" in the middle. I googled the typical lengths for those type of tubs, and the most common were either 54 or 60 inches, but also came in 57-, 66- and 72-inch lengths.
 
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