re: Claw foot tub: Yay or Nay?

Depends on the kind of area I suppose.

Forget the advise on here about the combos. We have two combos, she soaks in hers primarily and I use the shower 99% of the time. I don't know, maybe it's cause I don't have a 40" waist that the shower doesn't stick to me. We kept the clawfoots as it's a turn of the century house and they were original.

If potential tenants are younger, the tile shows better and is certainly what they are accustomed to.

What about a walk in shower?

Bought a1906 claw foot tub for $350 and paid $350 to have it blasted and painted on the outside and $350 to have the porcelain inside refinished.

Came out like a brand new tub that is much better quality than anything made today.

I ain't reading 2 pages of sarcasm, but I will attempt to answer you directly. Clawfoot tubs are beautiful, timeless, and functional. The cast iron holds heat much longer than conventional tubs and compared to fiberglass, they are almost impervious to chips.

The tough parts are as follows:

Plumbing. The plumbing is exposed so alignment it critical. I had to move the old tub drain trap 2 inches in the floor to get the alignment right on mine and that cost me $700. You also have to be careful with marring fittings since everything is finished. Getting everything to line up is a bitch.

Shower. I didn't even try this one. I did an English telephone faucet with a hand shower to avoid this headache. That said, we have a seperate tile shower in the bathroom already. Maybe try to run the shower head through the wall and find a super long neck to reach the rub. You can always run the shower rod from wall to wall if your drywall is right.

Flooring. These tubs can slide a bit on tile or marble floors. This can ruin the plumbing, so put a gob of clear silicone under each foot once the tub is in place and lined up. This actually works quite well.

Surrounding walls. I used a tile wainscoting up to about waist high. If this is off of the budget, use drywall rated for showers and baths and a primer and paint that are right for the application.


If you do it right, you will love the tub. We got ours through Signature Hardware for about 1200 and it is a beast. Plumbing was about another 400 or so. It wont be much trouble to put in if you are fairly handy.

Home Depot makes a line of acrylic Clawfoot Tubs that are sold under the Elizabethan Classics line. Bought out a local company in BR for it and other assets back in the early 2000's. Eliminates the cost of the Tub and the weight issues.

Always thought they were cool and then stayed in a suite in the mansion at Nottoway for my Anniversary two years ago. Between the short arse bed made for the short arse people of the Antebellum South and the awkward size, shape and inconvenience of getting in and out of the Clawfoot tub in the suite, I was cured of my like of them.

They may retain heat. They may look great. But the utilitarian and aesthetic pluses are outweighed by the practical minuses in my book.

My advice: if it saves you money, go grab an acrylic version to save on install headaches and costs to reglaze. If you are genuinely worried about conscience in the shower, don't opt for one at all.

We have two in the backyard.

Getting in and out of a claw foot tub when you've had one too many is a PITA.