How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John

During my bathroom renovation, I managed to get the old bath out and
new bath useable within a day. When I say useable, it was not
siliconed or held in place in any way - just the drain pipe connected.

If you are short of time and money - you might be best advised to
forget it. Bathroom renovations tend to be expensive and time
consuming.

"julvr" wrote in message
.. .
How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John

SWMBO?

I replaced my tub with a helper, one day for demo prep and one day to
reinstall the tub. New valves and new shower. The drain tried to kick our
ass. A quick trip to ACE hardware bought all of the needed unknown/planned
for products. The it took the better part of a week to install the
finishes.
I used the tub with a sponge and very little water until the grout dried and
was sealed.

Tubs would be a major undertaking in my book. I installed a AS whirlpool
tub.

I would never try to live in a home with one bathroom and do a remodel
again.

lid (julvr) wrote in
:

How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area,

That's the -best- time to do it!
It allows for getting the old tub out and the new one in much easier than
if you're trying to keep the walls "intact".Especially if the toilet or
something else is next to the tub.

and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John



Go to Home Depot and look at the tubs there,you'll get an idea of what's
involved. As long as the drain is in the same place,it would not involve
any plumbing.(IF the tub spout is above the tub,coming out of the wall).

Take the SWMBO,shop for prices and styles.
You can even talk to one of their people about it,face-to-face.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

You have to see the big picture here, and look to the future. Tell her "sure
honey, I can do it in a day". Then take a week, and make all kinds of
excuses why it isn't done. She's get so ****ed that she'll never again
insist on doing it her way.

"julvr" wrote in message
.. .
How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John

How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

Depends on your skill level.

I am replacing the walls in the bath area

Why and what kind of walls?

Is this just a soaking tub? Or is it a tub/shower setup? If it's just a
soaker tub (jacuzzi, etc) then you're only talking about dropping a tub
shell into a frame and handling the surface around it (usually tile). If
it's a full tub/shower then you're talking about dealing with a tub with a
lip around it and tiling down onto it. Again, depending on your skill level
it's not all that difficult. I mean, think about it, if the average nitwit
contractor can do it, how hard can it really be??

Doing it right, and dealing with the inevitable complications, is where
experience counts.

Yes it is a big job and will probably cost at least twice what you
estimated. Isn't that always the way with home renovations? What's
the old bath made out of anyway? Older ones (like 1970's) tend to be
enameled cast iron which are really really heavy. Me and a strong
helper were really struggling to get my tub out the bathroom door and
out the nearest window.

BTW what's SWMBO?

Never mind I googled it. Better nip this "must be obeyed" in the bud.
My rule is if she doesn't help, she aint telling me how to do it - I
don't tell her how to to cook so she's not telling me how to renovate.

Just out of curiousity how *does* one R&R a tub? Assume wedged in by 3
walls. Does the weight of a cast iron tub alone keep it in place? But the
big question is how the drain is connected/disconnected. I'm not planning
to do one but reading this makes me wonder.

This house has two bathrooms back to back with the baths back to back so
the drain/overflow area is not accessible from behind. I don't even know
how this got installed since I presume some sort of rear or under access is
needed. Or is it? Maybe it was all done from the side before the wall was
closed up. The wall between bathrooms is double thick or greater. Slab
floor.

In article .com,
says...
Older ones (like 1970's) tend to be
enameled cast iron which are really really heavy. Me and a strong
helper were really struggling

Bust the tub up with a sledge hammer if it is cast iron.

My solution is to tell her "sure honey, I can do it". Then take a week, and
make all kinds of excuses why it isn't done. She'll get so ****ed that
she'll never again insist on doing it her way.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Never mind I googled it. Better nip this "must be obeyed" in the bud.
My rule is if she doesn't help, she aint telling me how to do it - I
don't tell her how to to cook so she's not telling me how to renovate.

If you are replacing it with one fo those crappy fiberglass tubs, then
you can probably do it yourself. If you want a cast iron tub, pay
someone else to do it.

On Wed, 18 Jan 2006 23:01:37 GMT, lid (julvr)
wrote:

How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.


Wait 'til summer. You can bathe in the back yard while the
remodeling drones on.
--
tbl

If cast iron, just take a 10# sledge hammer and break it up. Imagine the
tub is someone you dislike and it will go very quickly.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Yes it is a big job and will probably cost at least twice what you
estimated. Isn't that always the way with home renovations? What's
the old bath made out of anyway? Older ones (like 1970's) tend to be
enameled cast iron which are really really heavy. Me and a strong
helper were really struggling to get my tub out the bathroom door and
out the nearest window.

just did my bathroom. replaced enamel over iron tub with a plastic type.
since mine was easily accessible from all sides(gutted walls and open from
the basement )the plumbing was very easy with pvc. broke the old tub into
1/4 pieces with my bfh. tub,plumbing,faucet were about 500 bucks.
"Dave Combs" wrote in message
...
If cast iron, just take a 10# sledge hammer and break it up. Imagine the
tub is someone you dislike and it will go very quickly.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Yes it is a big job and will probably cost at least twice what you
estimated. Isn't that always the way with home renovations? What's
the old bath made out of anyway? Older ones (like 1970's) tend to be
enameled cast iron which are really really heavy. Me and a strong
helper were really struggling to get my tub out the bathroom door and
out the nearest window.

"tom&kel" wrote in message
...
just did my bathroom. replaced enamel over iron tub with a plastic type.
since mine was easily accessible from all sides(gutted walls and open from
the basement )the plumbing was very easy with pvc. broke the old tub into
1/4 pieces with my bfh. tub,plumbing,faucet were about 500 bucks.
"Dave Combs" wrote in message
...
If cast iron, just take a 10# sledge hammer and break it up. Imagine
the
tub is someone you dislike and it will go very quickly.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Yes it is a big job and will probably cost at least twice what you
estimated. Isn't that always the way with home renovations? What's
the old bath made out of anyway? Older ones (like 1970's) tend to be
enameled cast iron which are really really heavy. Me and a strong
helper were really struggling to get my tub out the bathroom door and
out the nearest window.

Unless the enamel is totally shot, no way would I replace a cast iron tub
with one of those crappy plastic things. A deep-cleaning with the stuff you
have to buy at the janitor store, followed by a coat of wax, can often do
wonders. Even if the enamel was shot, I'd probably go with a liner, if I
could find someone that had tight-fitting ones for my model of tub, so it
didn't get noticably smaller.

But, having said that, if SWMBO insisted, I'd get another iron tub,
especially if I was doing a total gut job on the bathroom (what is another
few hundred dollars at that point?) I would probably pay a plumber to
install it in the bare room, just like a new rough-in. Like the others have
said, getting it in the room is the hard part, since the bathroom is
basically built around the tub.

aem sends...

In article , SQLit
wrote:

"julvr" wrote in message
.. .
How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John

SWMBO?

She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Not sure you've ever had one of those, else you'd know this already.

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/

Frank Warner wrote:

In article , SQLit
wrote:

"julvr" wrote in message
.. .
How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John

Well that depends. How old is the house, are the walls in the tub area
floated concrete, Green board, Hardy board, drywall? I'm doing one now and
it's not easy. I'm lucky I have a drain access panel which makes it easier.

I cut out the old steel tub that had rusted at the drain. Spent some time
carefully removing the cement and lathe so I could get the new tub in by
myself, thank god it was an acrylic tub. Hooked up the drain through the
access panel and reinstalled metal lathe and floated in new cement wall
that were damaged. Two coats, scratch coat and then the brown coat. All is
level and plumb and now ready for tile. 3 days up to now, the biggest wait
is the cement work and waiting between coats. If all your doing is wall
board of some kind then your time will be less. I'm not replacing the
plumbing but I could, the customer says no, I warned them but its beyond me
at this point. I probably have 10 hrs into it.

Good Luck,

RV

--
"You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK"

I would consider hiring a company to refinish the bathtub, if possible.
I've seen great results.

John Churchill
Builder and Cont. Ed. Instructor at Emory University
Author of www.renovation101.com

Frank Warner wrote in
:

In article , SQLit
wrote:

"julvr" wrote in message
.. .
How hard is it to replace a bathtub?

I am replacing the walls in the bath area, and SWMBO wants me to
replace the bathtub while I'm at it. Unfortunately, I am very short
of time and money (more money than time), but if it's possible to
replace the bathtub in say a day, then now would be the time to do
it. At the same time, I'm not really ready for a new major
undertaking.

I'm fairly handy. I can plumb copper pipes, but I've never tackled a
bathroom before.

Any advise or information is greatly appreciated.

John

SWMBO?

She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Not sure you've ever had one of those, else you'd know this already.

-Frank


Googling the term came up with the answer.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net