How to Replace A Freestanding Tub

I recently had to replace a freestanding tub in my bathroom. It was more work than I initially anticipated. In this blog I will include what I did and what I found that worked best to replace a freestanding tub from my experience.

The first problem that I ran into was getting the old tub out. This was a lot more work then as they must have installed the tub before they put the doors on. I had a couple of friends come over to help me carry the tub out to a trailer to haul it off to the dump. What we found was that the tub was wider than the doors and so we ended up having to get a sludge hammer and breaking the tub into smaller pieces that we could carry out of the bathroom and get into the trailer. The pieces of the old cast iron tub still ended up being very heavy and requiring a couple of strong guys to carry them out.

The next thing I ran into was picking the right tub to replace it with. I went down to the local plumbing supply and had decided to install a porcelain tub that had a mold or prefabricated walls that were already connected to the tub. With this idea I ran into the same problem with the size. I ended up picking an acrylic type tub. It was both light weight and very good looking.

When it came time to install the tub it felt a little bit flimsy underneath it when I would stand in it. I had to do some research and I found that they often put mortar under the tub to create a stronger base and give the tub the added strength that the tub needed to feel sturdy under my feet.

With the tub that I chose I had to install a tub surround. This was not to bad. I ended up picking out the color that I wanted and then created a template with some wood I used to scribe the size of the walls I wanted to cover. I cut the pieces to size and then glued them to the walls with liquid nails.

I then caulked the corners and anywhere that water could possibly penetrate the wall. I used a clear silicone caulk that should withstand the constant water hitting it.

I didn’t realize how much work replacing a tub actually was.  When I decided to replace our bathtub on my own I didn’t anticipate how much time it would actually take me.  Looking back on it now I would still fix the problem on my own, but I would probably do more research next time to make sure I was replacing the parts correctly.  I think a lot of the problems that I encountered were because I didn’t do my homework and research ahead of time, had I done that many of the problems would have been avoided.  My advice to anyone looking to replace a tub in his or her bathroom is to do your research and really get to know the best way to replace a tub.  By doing this it will not only save you from a lot of problems, but it will also save you a lot of time.