I scoured the internet for a while before finding this tub from Lowe’s for less than $300– brand new, narrow (only 29″ wide as opposed to the usual 30″ or 32″), and a drain on the right hand side. The drain could have just as easily been on the left but I wanted it on the right because there is room on that side for the plumbing behind the wall. I ordered it at Lowe’s and used a 10% off discount–yay!– and they delivered it to our house. Compared to the old tub that got taken out of the bathroom, this one was very light. It’s made of fiberglass and plastic. Our contractors were able to install it and the surrounding parts seen below in a day!
After they brought it in, they finished framing the door.
Below is a picture of the little alcove where the toilet used to be:
It’s now about half-covered by the tub, despite the tub being so narrow! I knew the tub would go into some of that space but I didn’t visualize how much of it would be covered. Hmm…
Above is a view of the new wall the contractors put up to surround the tub plus the plumbing in place! The gray metal-looking stuff on the walls is kind of like drywall that is waterproof, at least as it was explained to me. (The tiles will go over it eventually.)
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This is so helpful. I have a tight space in an old carriage house downtown that I need to take out the large cast iron original tub and install a new shower. I wanted a tub again, but could not find one narrow enough. I am off to Lowe’s to search for one identical to the one you found…. Problem solved, I hope… And thank you for doing all of the looking…. A great website, for sure…..
Now, any advice for how to get that original tub down the narrow stairway????? 🙁
I could only find a narrow one at Lowe’s that was less than $1,000… everywhere else is a bit pricey! Haha and it took 4 grown men to get the original down the hallway and even then they scraped some paint off the chair rail (which is fine since we’re going to repaint anyway). Good luck! 🙂
Two way to get rid of an old cast iron tub.
1- Sell or give it away and make getting it out a condition of sale. Freecycle is your friend when you want almost anything gone. Make it free and someone will take it. Old tubs are somewhat desirable i fin relatively decent condition. Lot of people would like to have them to replace the fiberglass tubs that someone put into their house last time it was renovated. It’s like a yo yo this renovation game.
2- Put safety glasses and hearing protection on and break it up with a sledgehammer. Cast iron will shatter into moveable pieces without too much trouble. You might want to cover it with a heavy blanket or tarp first. Youtube seems to have some videos, but I haven’t watched them. I know what will happen. You also need to be somewhat attentive to where and in what direction you hit the thing, so if you opt for that route, you might want to see how other folks have done it so a video might be valuable for that. Once you get it broken and down the stairs, someone will be glad to get the scrap metal if you offer that to the public for free.
I don’t know if you’ve found your other fixtures already, but when we were renovating our bathroom we found some amazing deals on craigslist. It took a few weeks of prowling, but we were able to get a matching kohler toilet and sink (from two different people) and a brand new (still in box) faucet for probably 25% of what they would cost brand new. Just a thought. It’s definitely luck of the draw but can really pay off! Love the site, btw. I’ve really enjoyed following along.
Um no definitely hadn’t thought of Craigslist for fixtures!!! What a great idea! We did get a fridge and washer/dryer off Craigslist but it never occurred to me to look for bathroom faucets and things like that. Thanks so much for sharing!