Before I did the remodel, I talked with Home Despot folks.
They endorsed breaking up the tub with a sledge hammer.
Well, when I was doing it, the sledge just bounced, and
I could swear the tub smiled at me.
I used an old pick. The kind with a point on one side, and
a flat end on the other. An old one, with plenty of heft. I hit
the tub with it, made a pointed fracture, followed that fracture
line along, and had that tub outta there in an hour. I ended
up bringing a 4"x4" piece of the tub back to the HD guys to
encourage them to mention using a pick the next time
someone asked.

And hey, have you been to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore?
I wanted a comfortable tub for a second bathroom, one that
I could almost stretch out in. Found a Jacuzzi-style one, with
its jets and all. Price had started at $250, but it had been a
month, so the price had been cut to half of that. It's deeper,
so I can comfortably take a soaking bath in spite of being
fairly tall (6' 5").
If you have a ReStore you could rethink some of your concerns.

Oh, and that window in the photos. Glass block, and a vent
fan would do so much for you.
I took a humidistat, wired it backwards so that it came on
with humidity rise instead of fall, and that's what turns on
my ceiling vent fan. It runs till the humidity drops in the bath
area, then turns itself off. Worked so well, the A/C is being
controlled with the same arrangement.
On Dec 3, 10:46*am, dgk wrote:

Of cousre, if I can't just refinish the tub, or it's likely that the
pipes will need to be replaced, then it's also a total gut job. I
can't pull out that tub.